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Richard Yanowitz asked about tools for a client who wants to make a
multimedia presentation about software:
This is a minefield for the inexperienced and your client needs to
understand exactly why he wants multimedia over any other type of
presentation. I've seen some pretty cheesy presentations, simply because
the author of the presentation didn't know a) how to correctly use
multimedia elements, b) what they were trying to "show off", and c) who
they were presenting to.
Just adding sound and motion to a demo does not a multimedia presentation
make. There are many tools, ranging from the shareware Slim Show up to
Authorware and Director. (On the Mac, I'd recommend Passport Producer Pro,
but there's no PC version so that's a bummer.) Other tools need some
expertise (especially the likes of Director).
The drawback about multimedia presentations is that sometimes (often!)
everyone gets caught up in the Gee-Whiz of the multimedia and forgets to
look at the content of the demo. Customers confuse the attributes of the
presentation with the attributes of the software. ("How come there's no
video in the software?" - Duh.)
If all your client wants to do is add some sound to a PowerPoint
presentation, he probably can't go too far wrong. Beyond that, there be
dragons.
--Beth
Beth Agnew
Senior Technical Writer, InSystems Technologies Inc.
65 Allstate Parkway, Suite 100
Markham, Ontario, Canada L3R 9X1 mailto:bagnew -at- insystems -dot- com Tel: (905) 513-1400 ext. 280
Fax: (905) 513-1419
Visit us at: http://www.insystems.com
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