Archive For December2010
Before creating content, verify your screen resolution
So you have been asked to create a PowerPoint presentation?
Your first instinct is open up the program and start working and the next thing you know you have a 50 slide masterpiece with titles, photos and transitions out to wazoo.
And then it comes time to make the presentation and the format of the presentation screen is different than your presentation format.
How does one avoid this? Ask the event planner or venue about what type of screen they will be using before you start working.
The first thing you should do before you create is check the page set-up in PowerPoint.
A venue with a widescreen will typically use a 16:9 on screen show page set-up.
(16:9 widescreen is the default in the newest version of Office, but most of us are still working with older versions)
What do you do if you have already created a presentation in a 4:3 ratio? The first step is to save a different copy of the presentation to preserve the original version.
On the new version you can change the page setup as needed. Beware, you will need to revisit each and every slide to make sure that your text still lines up. And most importantly, you will need to resize all of the photos in your presentation as PowerPoint overcompensates for the change by stretching out all of the pictures.
Did Widescreen kill the podium sign?
We think it is fair to say that the widescreen format has become the industry norm in video playback and IMAG. Every now and then the standard 4:3 ratio gets used, and still works for basic Powerpoint presentations.
As any event producer knows, the podium/lectern sign is an easy way to brand an event. With the 4:3 IMAG shot, camera operators could easily fit both the speaker and the entire podium sign in the shot. After switching to widescreen, we have noticed that podium sign rarely makes it into the shot..especially with a tall speaker.
While it would be easy to dispense with the podium sign altogether…and take that worry away as to whether we used enough gaffe tape so that the sign stays up for the duration of the event; it still looks great in still photographs.
We are working on hybrid design that will keep a large logo in the center of the sign, but also will include smaller graphics at the very top of the sign for the video footage of the event.
As you see we have the logo with the text front and center, and then the smaller graphic at the top would be captured by the IMAG.