Digital Workshop

I need to make two versions of the next project I'm working on, and am looking for the simplest way.

It's a multimedia presentation that will either:

- be used by a presenter who'll mouse-click to reveal the next text block and image (like a glorified powerpoint)

- be used as a standalone presentation where there'll be a voiceover and text and images will be synced to the voice (probably using a timeline).

This isn't a choice at the beginning, but two separate versions altogether.

When I've done this type of work in the past, I've found that although the basic layout of the screen of course remains the same, other than that, I'm looking at making two different programmes; I've used Select Case for the version that a presenter can click through (so that they can also right-click to go back a step) while I've used "Sync to end" of the audio clips to make a standalone version. (This could be done with a timeline now)

So... how would someone else tackle making two versions like this?

Hi,
i have already done that in the past (a working method but without using the timeline) :

1) on the audio (video) program i look at the timecode of my audio(video) files to know precisely the time when the action must occur

2) In opus, a button (on a master page, because it must display on every page) witch set a variable ; if the variable is set to true, then the program read a script, if it is set to false it do nothing (it wait for the presenter left/right click that make the presentation going forward/backward... or showInTurn/HideInTurn) (I usually use a master page to allow those function on all page)

3) The script to read when the button is set to true work like this :
- as long as the audio (video in my case) play, it look at the position of the audio (video) : var position = NameAudio.GetPosition()
- if the position reach the position xxxx : if (position >= xxxx) {Picture01.Show()} ... and so on

I think now, that using the timeline shoud be lot more easy to manage but this method work .

benoit

This is a very good question (and I don't mean that in a patronizing way). My first reaction was "Oh that's easy, I'd do xxxx", but the more I think about it the more difficult the choice becomes!

Last time I had to do this, ILM4.51 was the most suitable tool available, and the choice was pretty much clear cut - make 2 versions.

Now, as Benoit has shown, scripting offers all sorts of conditional changes.

Ah, decisions... decisions...

I think I would probably still plump for making 2 versions. I personally find it easier to deal with visual things than coding if-then-whatever type stuff in hidden-away places. I would probably make the automated version, have the client happy with that and then strip it down to the 'powerpoint' version. The obvious risk is that any last minute changes the client wants will have to be done twice ...but I think on balance I would prefer that to tracking down conditional scripting that is not working right because I messed it up when I changed something.

Now if the client had a history of being particularly indecisive, I'd probably scrub that choice and use scripting!

Rob
www.visibleform.co.uk

maybe for the voice over version you could use the mouse and keyboard recorder feature of XE rather than a timeline.
then you would only need one publication, and just publish it with mouse playback turned on or off.

Linda --

I created a single presentation which, on the opening selection Page, had a choice of different languages. If you selected French, the variable <Language> was equal to "1." English was "0." I could easily add additional languages using the Select and Case programming feature.

Each Page had an "On Show" which checked to see which language was to be used. The Text Objects for the correct language would appear, and I had different Frames for each language which drove the voice over narrations.

For editing, I used the "Conceal in Editor" feature, so I only had to view one language at a time. I found this easier to maintain, than making the same changes to multiple screens.

Everyone's answers make sense (though I need to check out the mouse recorder options Alan mentioned)... other than that one, I think it confirms the idea that I'm still best off treating it as two different projects.

What's happened in a number of projects recently is that we've been commissioned to make a pub for a one-off high powered presentation (to Government etc) where there's a physical speaker who clicks through the points on stage.

In each case, the presentations have been so successful that the client has then asked for a voiceover version that they can distribute more widely.

Each time I've had to more or less start from scratch with the actions, changing Select/Case to Sync to End.

We are just about to start on another Government presentation, and I thought I'd try to learn from the past, and allow for both versions first.

But it seems that, whether I make the pubs at the same time or one after another, there's not an obvious "shared action" route to follow. I was wondering if the timeline might be of use here... I could do the narration version on the timeline, but I think I'm right in saying that it can't be stopped and started, so, no, it wouldn't work for a click-through version.

I'm not a script user, btw, so I'm looking to do this without ever having to learn script.

Interesting conversation......