by Norman Harris
Where would we be without presentation software? These days anyone
thinking of speaking in front of an audience must have one essential accessory - the slideshow. In almost every case this will
be in the form of a PowerPoint presentation, usually because it's the only presentation software the speaker will be aware of.
You did know there are other choices didn't you?
An alternative is WildPresenter Pro from Wildform. With Wildform's expertise in Flash, this Windows 2000/XP only product naturally uses the Flash format for its presentations. This gives it a number of benefits such as the ability to be viewed on just about any computer system, and that includes PDAs.
Having experienced the steep learning curve of many Flash animation packages it was a pleasant surprise to see just how easy WildPresenter was to use. Its wizards cover almost every aspect of the program making even the more complex tasks incredibly easy.
It comes with a variety of templates for slide presentations, and if you already have any PowerPoint templates then these can be imported as well. In fact the program is very PowerPoint friendly allowing you to import any existing presentations. WildPresenter retains all the original PowerPoint effects which can then be edited, if you wish, and spiced up with some Flash effects.
If you've used PowerPoint then you should be familiar with the way it uses slides. WildPresenter uses the same concept of slides, and master-slides which can be sorted by simply dragging and dropping them into order. Bitmapped images can be used as backgrounds, or you can create a custom gradient rather than a single colour. There are also dedicated bezier drawing tools to compliment the range of built-in shapes, which include arrows, flow chart shapes, banners and stars.
Like them or loathe them there's no getting away from the fact the Flash effects can be very eye catching. Used in moderation some of the effects can give a professional look to a presentation and really bring it to life. By the same token it's quite easy to overdo it with some of the more zany ones. WildPresenter leaves the choice up to you with more than 400 text effects, 171 object animations and 45 slide transitions. Many of these can be customised, just in case you can't find any that suit. There's just about any combination of fades, rotations, skews, bounces, waves and explosions. You are sure to find the right style to suit the point you are putting across.
The appearance of a Timeline in it's interface is the main give away that you're using Flash. The great thing about WildPresenter is that you're not forced to bother with the Timeline at all and can create your presentation entirely from the slides. The advantage of the Timeline is that it enables you to tweak the presentation on a frame-by-frame basis, giving you absolute control over the timing of events.
WildPresenter is more than just Flash version of a slide presentation program though, as it can also be used to create interactive demos or tutorials for computer based training. It's also ideally suited for video and audio content as it provides all the tools you need to create these types of presentation.
Its screen capture utility can record exactly what's happening on your screen, including mouse movement. Just as with any slide presentation, text and objects can then be added, and with a few buttons in the right place an interactive experience can be created. You can add a narration (voice-over) track to explain points or to give audible instructions. WildPresenter's screen capture can also record video from an external source such as a webcam or video player.
If you have any existing audio or video files then these can be converted to use in WildPresenter. Just select any WAV, MP3 and WMA audio files or AVI, DV, MOV/QT, MPEG, MP4, and WMV video format files and WildPresenter will convert them into the Flash SWF format or, in the case of video you can choose the more efficient external FLV Flash video format. Bitmaps in JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP, TIFF and PSD format can also be imported, and converted. There's even a batch process feature so you can get on with other things if you have a number of files to convert.
As the brightness or contrast of video footage will often look incorrect on a computer screen, this can be corrected, as well as filters applied to remove noise and make other changes. A portion of the screen can be selected with the crop tool, and if you have any copyright worries then a watermark can be overlaid on the video. With all the video clips you can include on-screen playback buttons to put the viewer in control.
When it comes to publishing the presentation WildPresenter has a comprehensive list of options. Amongst them are options to export the files with the necessary HTML code for web playback, and Flash is an ideal format if you want to stream video on the Internet. For those concerned with security the playback of these can even be confined to a single URL.
While there's little chance of anyone not being able to play your presentation back, you can also create projector executables, with a player wrapped up in with the presentation, just to make sure. These stand-alone projectors can be created for Windows, Mac or Unix systems. Being Flash based, file sizes are a minimum and are ideal for distributing on the Internet with the certainty that your audience will have no problems playing them.
In some ways the program might look a little dated, but it gives impressive results and is well worth a look. WildPresenter Pro is priced at $499 but there's an introductory offer on at the moment which takes it down to a very reasonable $299. At this price it's a bargain and you can't fail to be impressed by its results, not only for making slide-shows but a host of other applications.
WildPresenter Pro is published by Wildform Inc. The software is available directly from Wildform at www.wildform.com/products/wildpresenter. A demo version of the software is also available.
About the Author
In addition to his freelance writing, Norman Harris runs NH Technology, an audio-visual and multimedia company. He can be contacted through his website at www.nhtechnology.co.uk.
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