Webcasting Software?

November 7, 2005 10:17 AM

Webcasting: I'd like to create some streaming video content, synchronized with powerpoint/.jpgs - Can anyone help?

I don't have any trouble with creating the content (windows media video only) or streaming it, what I need is a presentation interface to display the content to users and syncronize the audio/video with the powerpoint/images. Basically, I'm looking for a software package that will make it easy to generate and sync many presentations using custom templates, not a service provider or archiving/streaming solution, which is most of what Google seems to throw at me. Anyone have any experience with this? (Other than MS Producer, which requires plugins and is not customizable enough, as far as I know).

posted by loquax to computers & internet (11 comments total)

Oh, the target audience is windows only, IE only, and price is not really an object. Thanks very much!
posted by loquax at 10:18 AM on November 7, 2005

You might want to try something like Vegas Video or Adobe Premier. Both are "video" apps, but you can drop in individual jpegs and audio and press the whole thing out into a video. Mac PowerPoint has a "make movie" option under the file menu. If the windows version has the same option, that should take care of your powerpoint content. You can then mix the PPT video with audio in your video editor.
posted by b1tr0t at 10:26 AM on November 7, 2005

Thanks, b1tr0t, I'll take a look.

Also, I should add that by synchronization, I mean the ability to skip ahead or back by clicking on slides, or by advancing the video, so I suppose I need the ability to add time markers more than syncing.
posted by loquax at 10:49 AM on November 7, 2005

Try googling for "powerpoint to flash"
You'd might want to use FLV (Flash video) for the streaming videos so it will integrate well.
posted by Sharcho at 11:32 AM on November 7, 2005

Another vote for FLV... you can set up action script to pickup the end-event triggered by the last bit of a video clip and then have that load in whatever kind of images, titles or power-point equivalents that you may need. This would allow users the ability to skip forward in sections without bypassing this information as if it were encoded directly in the movie.
posted by prostyle at 12:45 PM on November 7, 2005

Windows NetMeeting.
posted by Rothko at 12:48 PM on November 7, 2005

There's always WebEx and Macromedia's product Breeze that are designed for doing web presentations.
posted by stovenator at 2:54 PM on November 7, 2005

Obviously, that should be Webex.
Sorry 'bout the bad link.
posted by stovenator at 3:00 PM on November 7, 2005

Windows Media encoder might do the trick best of all its free
posted by tke248 at 8:28 PM on November 7, 2005

I've answered basically this same question once already. Take a look at Apresa's offerings.

I am also told that the free Microsoft Producer add-on to powerpoint does the same thing as Apresa, but for free. This is heresay - I haven't tried it myself.
posted by blindcarboncopy at 10:29 PM on November 7, 2005

D'oh, didn't read the last part of question about MS producer. Never mind that part, but do take care at the other product.
posted by blindcarboncopy at 10:30 PM on November 7, 2005