The Logical Blog by IconLogic

PowerPoint: Playing Multiple Audio Files

by AJ George

 

A couple of weeks ago I discussed some points for working with Audio in PowerPoint; today, a bit of elaboration. What if you want to play two audio files automatically at the same time (say, for example, you want a song to play but you also want a recorded narration to play simultaneously)?

1. Insert both audio clips onto the desired slide (Insert > Audio). 
2. Hold down [Ctrl] and select both sound icons. 
3. From Audio Tools > Playback locate the Audio Options area and select Automatically from the drop-down menu. 
   
   One might think that was all it took, but your work is not done. 
   
   
    
   
4. Choose Animations > Animation Pane. 
5. From the Animation Pane, select the down arrow next to each audio file and choose Start With Previous. 

 

 

Both sounds will now play automatically, and at the same time. 

Note: If there are additional animations on the slide, be wary about the order of the sounds on the animation pane and selecting Start With Previous. You want the sounds to be the first things listed on the animation pane, unless, of course you would like the sounds to begin after other animations. 

 

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About the author: AJ George is IconLogic's lead Technical Writer and author of both "PowerPoint 2007: The Essentials" and "PowerPoint 2008 for the Macintosh: The Essentials."

Adobe Captivate Question: Can I Apply to All?

I am trying to make a change to a slide object and want to apply those changes to similar slide objects. I know that Captivate now supports Object Styles (which are great). However, not all object Properties are controlled by the style. Is there a way to apply other kinds of Properties to objects project-wide?

Answer: There is an Apply to All button for these kinds of changes. After altering one caption, look at the right of the group on the Properties panel for a little arrow. Click the arrow and you'll see the Apply to All feature.

Note: Apply to all is not available for all object Properties and most changes are best handled by Object Styles.

Writing & Grammar: Should I Put a Comma after But?

by Jennie Ruby

Here are some sample sentences to consider:

 

"[Switching from video games to electric cars] may not sound like the most obvious career shift, but, given Frohnmayer's location, it might be a smart one." Issie Lapowsky, "Electric Paradise?" Inc. Feb. 2011.

 

"We did do market research, because we needed the validation of "experts" to raise money. But personally, I didn't need it." Bruce Flohr, as told to Leigh Buchanan, "The Effectual Entrepreneur in Action," Inc. Feb. 2011.

 

"Windows smartphones haven't been taken seriously until now. But the new Windows Phone 7 platform is easier to use than previous versions...." John Brandon, "Windows Phones Get a Makeover," Inc. Feb. 2011.

 

One government agency I recently worked with has a rule in its style guide stating that there should be no comma after the word but. Yet the reason they have to state that rule is that many writers want to put one there. Writers on some level may be realizing that even though but is a conjunction, sometimes it feels like a transition word--a key difference being that transition words do require a comma, but conjunctions do not. (Some examples of transition words are however, therefore, thus and hence.)

 

In our example sentences above, Lapowsky's sentence illustrates the feeling that but is a transition word.  The comma after but makes the reader pause. However, it also makes the phrase "given Frohnmayer's location" seem nonessential, by surrounding it with commas. If this were my sentence, I would not have put a comma after but precisely because it makes that phrase look nonessential when it is not. My favorite grammar reference, The Gregg Reference Manual, agrees--the comma after but is overkill.

 

Nevertheless, the sentence flows well, the reader can pause after but and still understand the sentence, and the copy editors at Inc. let it go. I chalk this up to the leeway writers should have in guiding the reader on where to pause in the sentence, as well as to slippage in the distinction between conjunctions and transition words. More and more writers are using but as a transition, and if readers can understand the sentence, why stick with an arbitrary rule?

 

Another sentence with a similar structure and published in the same magazine, my second example above, does not have the comma after but, even though in this case the word "personally" is in fact nonessential and could legitimately be surrounded by commas. Yet the flow of the sentence works without the comma just fine.

 

The third example illustrates a situation where the word but is not followed by any kind of interrupting phrase, and it is very clear that there is no question of putting a comma after but there.

 

Should you put a comma after but? Not if your style guide says not to and not if there is no interrupting phrase. But if you do have an interrupting phrase, perhaps you should make a well-considered judgment-call based on the flow of the sentence.

 

Here is a challenge: Find all the sentences in this article that have a conjunction followed by a complete sentence but no comma after the conjunction.  Then evaluate whether you would have put a comma after the conjunction. I would love to hear your opinion on these sentences. Hint: the conjunctions in English are but, or, nor, and, yet, for, and so. 

 

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Are you an eLearning developer who has been tasked with creating an effective voiceover script? If so, consider attending Jennie's Writing Effective eLearning Voiceover Scripts class. Jennie also teaches the Writing Training Documents and eLearning Scripts and the Complete Review of Grammar class.  

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About the Author:  Jennie Ruby is a veteran IconLogic trainer and author with titles such as "Editing with Word 2003 and Acrobat 7" and "Editing with MS Word 2007" to her credit. She is a publishing professional with more than 20 years of experience in writing, editing and desktop publishing.

Adobe Captivate: If You Must Resize PowerPoint Presentations... Maintain!

by Kevin Siegel

It's relatively simple to import a PowerPoint presentation into a Captivate project. You can import a presentation into a new project, or add PowerPoint slides to an existing project.

If you want to import the presentation into a new project, you can either select From Microsoft PowerPoint from the Create New area of the Welcome screen, or choose File > New Project > Project from MS PowerPoint.

After opening the PowerPoint presentation, Captivate will scan the presentation and the available slides will be presented in the Convert PowerPoint Presentation dialog box.

At this point, you have a serious decision to make, and it's about the Width and Height of the new Captivate project you will be creating once the PowerPoint import process is complete. 

Before changing the Width or Height, you can select the Maintain aspect ratio check box.

If you change the Width or Height without selecting Maintain aspect ratio, you could end up with slides that are out of proportion. However, if you select Maintain aspect ratio, and then change the value of the Width, the Height will automatically change to a proportional value, and vice versa.

The decision to select Maintain aspect ratio depends largely on the size of your other Captivate projects. If the size of other Captivate projects has already been determined, let's say that it is something like 722 x 533, and the size of an imported PowerPoint presentation is initially 960 x 720, selecting Maintain aspect ratio might not be a good idea. If you change the Width to 722, the Height will become 541, not 533. If you deselect Maintain aspect ratio and then change the Width and Height to match existing Captivate projects (722 x 533), the resulting slide quality might be so out of proportion, the image quality might not meet with your approval.

It sounds like you might be caught between a rock and a hard place when it comes to whole Width and Height thing. If you're looking for a recommendation, I've got one for you a bit later.

Earlier I mentioned how you can create a new Captivate project using PowerPoint slides. But if you have already been working on a Captivate project, you can import a PowerPoint presentation by choosing File > Import > PowerPoint slides. After opening the PowerPoint presentation, you will see the alert dialog box below:

If you click the Yes button and allow the PowerPoint slides to be imported, the PowerPoint slides will be resized to match the size of your project (you won't have the option to change the Width or Height at all). Depending on the quality of the images used in the PowerPoint presentation you imported, the results you see in the published Captivate project might not be ideal.

So what's a developer to do to ensure the PowerPoint presentation matches the size of the Captivate project? I suggest that you resize the PowerPoint presentation before importing it into Captivate. That way there won't be a need to touch the Width or Height of the presentation during the import the process at all. For instance, if your Captivate project is 720 x 480, change the size of the PowerPoint presentation to 7.5 x 5. During the Captivate import process, the PowerPoint slides will change proportionally to 720 x 480.

If you want to learn how to change the size of a PowerPoint presentation (and see a handy PowerPoint to Captivate size conversion chart), read AJ's article.

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Looking to learn Adobe Captivate 5? We offer Beginner and Advanced classes. Both Windows and Macintosh developers can attend these classes.

PowerPoint: Changing Slide Sizes for Importing into Captivate

by AJ George

 

If you plan to import a PowerPoint presentation into Adobe Captivate, it's a good idea to first resize the PowerPoint presentation from within PowerPoint. If you resize the PowerPoint presentation, the size of the imported slides you see in Captivate will match the width and height of your Captivate project. 

 

While resizing a PowerPoint presentation is easy, there is a slight problem. PowerPoint's measurement system is in inches, while Captivate works in pixels. Converting inches to pixels isn't something most of us can do without a calculator. But we've got you covered... use the chart below when resizing the PowerPoint presentation.

 

To resize a PowerPoint presentation:

1. In PowerPoint (2007 or 2010), choose Design > Page Setup.
   
   The Page Setup dialog box opens.


2. Using the chart above, change the height and width of your presentation to match the pixels of the Captivate project.

As I said, the actual process of resizing the presentation is simple, and takes just seconds. However, consider resizing the PowerPoint presentation early in the game. Changing the size of a presentation will likely result in slide object resizing and moving. Check your PowerPoint slides carefully before importing the presentation into Captivate. 

 

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About the author: AJ George is IconLogic's lead Technical Writer and author of both "PowerPoint 2007: The Essentials" and "PowerPoint 2008 for the Macintosh: The Essentials."

PowerPoint 2010: Working with Audio

by AJ George

 

Adding audio to a PowerPoint 2010 slide is simple. All you need to do is choose Insert > Audio and then open the audio clip. However, when it comes to adjusting the audio, the option you might be looking for can be difficult to find. 

 

In a perfect world, you would be able to make adjustments to an audio clip by either right-clicking a slide's sound icon, or by using the Audio Tools. And for some things, these techniques work. For instance, if you need to trim the audio, select the audio clip on the slide and choose Audio Tools Playback > Trim Audio. 

 

But what if you wanted to stop the audio after three slides? What if you wanted the audio to play across all of the slides, but you don't want the audio to start until you click? You won't find these options among the Audio Tools or by right-clicking the audio icon. For these tasks, you'll need to use the Animations tab. Even then, the options are buried. 

 

How to Specify When Music Playing Across Multiple Slides Will Stop

1. Select the icon for the sound file on your slide.
2. From the Animations tab, ensure Play is selected.
   
   
   
   
3. Still on the Animations tab, locate the Effect Options button and click the More Arrow below it to Show Additional Effect Options. (Note: the button itself will be grayed out, but you will still be able to select the More Arrow below it.)
   
   
   
   The Play Audio dialog box will appear.
   
    
4. Ensure the Effect tab is selected, and from the Stop playing section, select After and then use the up and down arrows in the slides field to indicate for how many slides the audio should play. 

How to Start Music that Plays Across All Slides On-Click

1. Follow steps 1 and 2 above.
2. Select the Timing tab. 
3. From the Start drop-down menu select On Click.
4. From here you have two options. If you would like the sound to play by clicking anywhere on the screen, say after a title appears, then select Animate as part of click sequence. Just be sure if you select this option, that you properly arrange the sound on the Custom Animation pane so that it begins in the desired order. If you do not want the sound to start at a specific time, but rather by clicking a specific object, select Start effect on click of and then choose the object that will trigger the sound from the drop-down menu.
   
   Note: If you would like to be able to click the sound icon on your slide during the presentation to start the audio, select the Audio Settings tab and ensure that Hide audio icon during slide show is not selected. It will, after all, be difficult to click the sound icon if you can't see it. ;)

 

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About the author: AJ George is IconLogic's lead Technical Writer and author of both "PowerPoint 2007: The Essentials" and "PowerPoint 2008 for the Macintosh: The Essentials."

Reader Feedback... eLearning & Grammar: Should eLearning Text Contain End of Sentence Punctuation?

We received lots of feedback concerning last week's article, eLearning & Grammar: Should eLearning Text Contain End of Sentence Punctuation? Here is a sampling:

NO PERIODS and it is indeed to minimize visual clutter. That's why I use bullets whenever possible instead of lists. That's why I use bubbles. I need to communicate fast, and since periods were invented for that, I figure that any improvement on the speed of communication is alright.

 

Joan Dickerson, PhD, Technology Transfer Associates

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I don't write eLearning, but I do write numerous internal communications and web pages for my law firm, many of which contain quick instructions for outage workarounds. In general, I avoid punctuation at the end of instructions. One sticky situation that forces punctuation is a two-sentence instruction, caption, or bullet. I can't put a period at the end of one sentence and not at the end of the next sentence! Usually at that point I punctuate the entire series, for consistency.

Shelley List, IT Communications, DLA Piper LLP

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I tend to leave it off to keep things looking cleaner, unless the Program Manager asks specifically for end punctuation to be included.

Michael Hunsberger 

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Even though we may write at only an eighth grade level, I feel correct punctuation is important. We use periods at the end of all sentences. If bulleted lists are a full sentence, it has a period at the end. If the bulleted list is a short phrase or simply a list, no periods are used.

Brenda Sing, Instructional Design Specialist, HR-Microcomputer Education Services 

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Your article was very interesting. Reminds me of what happens when you get a bunch of English teachers together in a room and try to have all of them agree on anything about English. Good luck.

I took your lead and looked at several cartoon strips for guidance. They too proved equally interesting--they were consistently inconsistent. No definitive answers there.

I found myself going back to what an English teacher told me--be consistent in what your do. Readers just want to be informed. However, assuming all spelling and grammar are correct, many readers will be quick to queue in on inconsistencies. Right or wrong, being consistent has worked well for me and I hope it works well for others.

David J. Fitzpatrick, M.S., MCP, Instructional Technology Specialist

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Two thoughts: 1) Consistency. If you have some captions with multiple sentences and therefore need to use periods in those captions, it might seem odd to have other captions without punctuation. I would choose one style and stick with it throughout the session. 2) If the corporate style guide says to use periods, use the periods.

Kay Honaker, Documentation Team Member, Active Network

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We use periods at the end of all sentences in captions for consistency. Even if the caption has only one short sentence, not all captions contain only one sentence. Some of our captions contain two sentences, although we try to limit them. Periods would be needed between sentences and, therefore, also at the end, and because of this, we'd rather be consistent. Of course, one could use semi-colons, but this can be sloppy if this rule means you have to overuse them.

Lisa Rowan, Instructional Designer (ISD), Availity, LLC

Adobe FrameMaker 10: Why are there Checkmarks in the Catalogs?

by Barb Binder 

When I started working in Adobe FrameMaker 10, one of the first differences I noticed was the appearance of checkmarks in front of the formats in the various Catalogs. My first guess was that the check marks indicated whether or not a format was being used in the document, or not. But I would see checkmarks on formats I wasn't using (i.e., CellBody) and when I applied a format, sometimes the checkmarks didn't show up. At least not right away.

After doing a little research, it turns out I was right about the checkmarks. They do indicate format usage within a document. In the example below, the poem starts out using the Body format, and is appropriately checked.

 

When I assign a Heading1 format to the title, a check should appear in front of the Heading1 format. It might appear right away, but the only time you can count on FrameMaker accurately updating the list is when a file is being opened. For that reason, we now have a Refresh Catalog button. Clicking it makes FrameMaker refresh the list to show an accurate accounting of used and unused formats.

 

While we are examining the buttons at the bottom of the Catalogs, take a look at the new choices under the Options button. For the first time we have the ability to sort the items in our Catalogs, and to safely delete all unused formats. Nice! (Note: the sorting and display options you apply in one document will also be applied to all of your other documents. Don't worry, you can change them back at any time.)

 

If you are wondering why I still haven't addressed the checkmarks in front of the 5 formats (CellBody, CellHeading, Footnote, TableFootnote & TableTitle) that are not yet used in the document, it's because I can't find anything in writing on the Adobe website. But here's what I think: since those five formats are automatically applied when you insert a footnote, a table footnote and a default table, FrameMaker has them identified, and ready to go for when you need them. 

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About the author: Barbara Binder is the president and founder of Rocky Mountain Training. Barbara has been a trainer for nearly two decades and has been recognized by Adobe as one of the top trainers world-wide.

Adobe Captivate: When It Comes to Images, Choose Your Quality

by Kevin Siegel

As a Captivate developer, you are constantly striving to offer the nicest-looking published file, at the smallest possible size. One thing you can do to lower the size of your published video is control the quality of your slides. Captivate offers four image quality levels you can specify. You can apply the settings to individual slides, or for all of the project slides. The levels, which are available in the General group of the Properties panel, include Low (8-bit), Optimized, JPEG and High (24-bit).

Low (8 bit): This option will publish your slides with the smallest possible size and should be the one you try first. While your published SWF will be smaller when compared to using the other modes listed here, this setting will lower the quality of the published images so much, you may not like it. According to Adobe, "This option works well for most images and for all the screen recorded content, but can fail if the image contains too many colors or many colors with different transparencies." In other words, you don't want to use this option if a slide contains high-end PNGs or Photoshop documents.

Note: Using the Low (8-bit) option, JPEG images will be published as JPEGs. The compression JPEGs is controlled by the JPEG quality percentage via the SWF size and quality preferences (via File > Publish Settings).

Optimized: All of the images in the project will be published as bitmaps (even the JPEG images). This option will result in nice-looking images, but will increase the size of your published SWF dramatically.

JPEG: This option is similar to Optimized, except all of the project images will be published as JPEGs instead of bitmaps.  Since the JPEG format does not support transparencies, some images could end up looking fuzzy.

High (24-bit): Publishes images as 24-bit bitmap images (except JPEGs). This option will result in the hightest quality images, but the largest published SWF.

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Looking to learn Adobe Captivate 5? We offer Beginner and Advanced classes. Both Windows and Macintosh developers can attend these classes.

Adobe Capitvate 5 and Adobe RoboHelp books now available in the iBookstore

I'm very excited to announce that I was able to use the Adobe FrameMaker to Adobe RoboHelp workflow to convert my print books on Captivate and RoboHelp into the ePub format. And After a bit of complex paperwork, those books are now available for purchase on the iBookstore. If you have the iPad, iPod or iPhone, you can access the iBookstore today and purchase the books. To learn more about the iBookstore, click here.