MACROMEDIA BREEZE PRESENTER User Manual
Breeze Presenter User Guide
Trademarks
1 Step RoboPDF, ActiveEdit, ActiveTest, Authorware, Blue Sky Software, Blue Sky, Breeze, Breezo, Captivate, Central,
ColdFusion, Contribute, Database Explorer, Director, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Flash, FlashCast, FlashHelp, Flash Lite,
FlashPaper, Flex, Flex Builder, Fontographer, FreeHand, Generator, HomeSite, JRun, MacRecorder, Macromedia, MXML,
RoboEngine, RoboHelp, RoboInfo, RoboPDF, Roundtrip, Roundtrip HTML, Shockwave, SoundEdit, Studio MX, UltraDev,
and WebHelp are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Macromedia, Inc. and may be registered in the United States or
in other jurisdictions including internationally. Other product names, logos, designs, titles, words, or phrases mentioned within
this publication may be trademarks, service marks, or trade names of Macromedia, Inc. or other entities and may be registered in
certain jurisdictions including internationally.
Third-Party Information
This guide contains links to third-party websites that are not under the control of Macromedia, and Macromedia is not
responsible for the content on any linked site. If you access a third-party website mentioned in this guide, then you do so at your
own risk. Macromedia provides these links only as a convenience, and the inclusion of the link does not imply that Macromedia
endorses or accepts any responsibility for the content on those third-party sites.
This software is based in part on the work of the Independent JPEG Group.
LAME (MP3 encoder) Supply of this product does not convey a license nor imply any right to distribute content created with
this product in revenue-generating broadcast systems (terrestrial, satellite, cable and/or other distribution channels), streaming
applications (via Internet, intranets and/or other networks), other content distribution systems (pay-audio or audio-on-demand
application sand the like) or on physical media (compact discs, digital versatile discs, semiconductor chips, hard drives, memory
cards and the like. An independent license for such use is required. For details, please visit: http://mp3licensing.com.
Copyright © 2001-2005 Macromedia, Inc. All rights reserved. This manual may not be copied, photocopied, reproduced,
translated, or converted to any electronic or machine-readable form in whole or in part without written approval from
Macromedia, Inc. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the owner or authorized user of a valid copy of the software with which
this manual was provided may print out one copy of this manual from an electronic version of this manual for the sole
purpose of such owner or authorized user learning to use such software, provided that no part of this manual may be
printed out, reproduced, distributed, resold, or transmitted for any other purposes, including, without limitation,
commercial purposes, such as selling copies of this documentation or providing paid-for support services.
Acknowledgments
Writing: Suzanne Smith
Editing: Lisa Stanziano, Anne Szabla, and Mark Nigara
Media Design and Production: Adam Barnett, John Francis, Aaron Begley, and Mario Reynoso
Special thanks to Erick Vera, Stephanie Gowin, Patrice O’Neil, Rosana Francescato, Pauly Matthews, Tim Wood, Tracy Seibel,
Cecil Kift, Robert Thompson, David Yun, John Falcon, and the entire Breeze Presenter engineering and QA teams.
Second Edition: August 2005
Macromedia, Inc.
601 Townsend St.
San Francisco, CA 94103
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION: Welcome to Macromedia Breeze Presenter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
About Breeze Presenter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
About Macromedia Breeze. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
About Breeze Presenter instructional media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Additional resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
System requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Installing Breeze Presenter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
CHAPTER 1: Creating Presentations with Breeze Presenter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
About the Breeze Presenter workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Planning Breeze Presenter presentations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Breeze Presenter best practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Creating Breeze Presenter presentations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Previewing a presentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
CHAPTER 2: Editing Breeze Presenter Presentations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Changing the presentation title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Adding a presentation summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Changing slide properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Adding and editing presenters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Adding attachments to presentations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Using animation, image, and Flash (SWF) files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
CHAPTER 3: Working with Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
About audio recording equipment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
About recording audio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Setting audio recording quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Changing the audio input source. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Calibrating microphones for recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Recording audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Importing slide notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Exporting scripts into PowerPoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Adding silence to an audio file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Adjusting audio volume. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Editing audio files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
3
Using the Audio Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Setting audio quality for a presentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Previewing audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
CHAPTER 4: Adding Quizzes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
About creating quizzes and questions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
About branching in Breeze Presenter presentations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Creating quizzes and questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Changing question slide order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Deleting question slides. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Setting reporting options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Setting an e-learning pass rate for a quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Using feedback messages in quizzes and questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
About using Breeze Presenter presentations with a learning management system . . 65
CHAPTER 5: Designing the Presentation Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Working with themes in presentations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Using PowerPoint templates for Breeze Presenter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Adding a logo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Including slide notes in presentations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Automatically playing a presentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Looping a presentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Changing slide display timing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
CHAPTER 6: Working with Breeze Servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
About Macromedia Breeze. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Accessing your Breeze account. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Managing the Breeze server publishing list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Publishing to a Macromedia Breeze server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Adding a Breeze Presenter presentation to a Breeze meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Viewing a presentation in a Breeze meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Viewing a presentation in Breeze Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Using presentations with Breeze Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Using presentations with third-party learning management systems (LMS) . . . . . . 98
CHAPTER 7: Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Optimizing Flash (SWF) files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Controlling inserted SWF files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
4 Contents
INTRODUCTION
Breeze Presenter Quick Start Guide
Macromedia Breeze Presenter has 10 demonstrations that you can watch to learn how to do
important tasks. The demonstrations are short, about 1-2 minutes in length, and show tasks such
as creating a new presentation, adding audio, and publishing a presentation to a Breeze server.
Open the Quick Start Guide.
7
8 Introduction: Breeze Presenter Quick Start Guide
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to Macromedia Breeze Presenter
Macromedia Breeze Presenter is a software tool for creating e-learning content and high-quality
multimedia presentations rapidly. Breeze Presenter uses Microsoft PowerPoint, a popular
application that is part of the Microsoft Office suite, as a base. Finished presentations are in Flash
format (SWF file) and are SCORM and AICC compliant.
Breeze Presenter is an excellent complement to Macromedia Breeze. You can create content that
includes interactive quizzing and surveys, audio, and a customizable viewer with Breeze Presenter.
Breeze Presenter sends the PowerPoint (PPT) and Pocket PC (PPC) files, as well as presentation
data, to the Breeze server. Then, you can simply log on to the Breeze server and, using Breeze
Manager, complete the publishing process by selecting permission and folder options.
You can add straightforward or sophisticated quizzes to presentations. Breeze Presenter supports
six different types of questions that can either be graded or used as surveys. You can use branching
to guide users through different paths in the presentation based on their answers to quizzes.
Breeze Presenter provides a simple interface for using a microphone to add audio narration to
your presentation. In addition, you can easily synchronize your PowerPoint animations with your
audio narration.
The Breeze Presenter intuitive interface and its complete integration with PowerPoint eliminates
the need for additional training or Flash programming. In minutes, you can transform static
PowerPoint files into dynamic web experiences by adding audio, video, multimedia, interactive
quizzes and surveys, and extensive branding. When you have created your content, simply publish
it to a Breeze server.
After you have installed Breeze Presenter, you access the program from within PowerPoint.When
you open PowerPoint, a new menu named “Breeze” appears in the menu bar. For more
information, see “Installing Breeze Presenter” on page 12.
7
About Breeze Presenter
Breeze Presenter lets you create sophisticated, high-impact presentations and e-learning content
quickly and easily in three steps: design, edit, and publish.
Designing Breeze Presenter presentations
From within PowerPoint, Breeze Presenter can help you do the following tasks:
• Use an existing PowerPoint presentation as a base for a Breeze Presenter presentation. This can
save you the time and effort creating a new presentation. (See “Creating Breeze Presenter
presentations” on page 14.)
• Perform accurate PowerPoint conversions, including full support for PowerPoint animations.
(See “Using animation, image, and Flash (SWF) files” on page 26.)
• Customize the look and feel of the presentation viewer interface with company logos, colors,
and presenter biographies and photos. (See “Working with themes in presentations”
on page 69.)
Editing Breeze Presenter presentations
Breeze Presenter can help you change presentations to suit your needs in the following ways:
• You can enhance PowerPoint presentations with multimedia. Add multimedia including audio
(such as voice-over narration), quizzes and surveys, or Flash files and Flash video without
leaving PowerPoint. (See “Recording audio” on page 34 and “Creating quizzes and questions”
on page 43.)
• You can import prerecorded audio into a presentation and match the audio to PowerPoint slide
animations. (See “Working with Audio” on page 29.)
Publishing Breeze Presenter presentations
You publish your presentations so that users can view them. Breeze Presenter offers the following
features:
• Breeze Presenter is deeply integrated with all Breeze products including Macromedia Breeze
Training, Macromedia Breeze Events, and Macromedia Breeze Meeting, as well as Macromedia
Captivate, Flash content, and Flash Video (FLV) files. (See “Publishing to a Macromedia
Breeze server” on page 86.)
• You can view presentations in the interactive Breeze Presenter viewer. (See “Viewing a
presentation in a Breeze meeting” on page 93.)
• You can use Breeze Presenter content with learning management systems (LMS). Breeze
Presenter creates SCORM and AICC compliant content. (See “Setting reporting options”
on page 61.)
About Breeze Presenter projects and content
There are many ways you can use Breeze Presenter. If you think creatively about new ways to
work with Breeze, you can then publish even more engaging content using Breeze Presenter.
8 Introduction: Welcome to Macromedia Breeze Presenter
Breeze Presenter helps you create rich, on-demand presentations such as the following:
• Sales presentations to drive lead generation or deliver a quote to a prospective client
• Marketing presentations to enrich customer experiences with high-quality, advanced, Flash
presentations
• Executive presentations that require rich content such as keynote speeches or annual status
speeches
• New product launch presentations
• Financial updates or earnings calls
• General corporate communications
Breeze Presenter offers diverse ways to work with interactive, e-learning content such as the
following:
• Product training or tutorials
• Human resources and compliance training
• Self-paced support and customer service training
• Formal assessments
• Professional development
Breeze Presenter features
Breeze Presenter includes the following features:
PowerPoint Integration Create presentations in the PowerPoint application with no special
training or expensive technical experts.
Breeze integration Use Breeze Presenter presentations in Macromedia Breeze Meetings, Breeze
Events, and Breeze Training.
Publishing to Breeze You can publish your presentation to a Breeze server with a few simple
steps.
Advanced audio editing With the Audio Editor, you can edit imported and recorded audio
from within Breeze Presenter. You don’t need a separate audio-editing application.
Slide notes integration You can create slide notes in PowerPoint and use the notes in Breeze
presentations, for example, as a script for recording audio.
Creating quizzes Add sophisticated questions to presentations, and make them interactive to
assist in and assess the retention rates of users.
Creating surveys Poll users and obtain information without requiring them to “take a test.”
Breeze Presentation themes You have full control over how your presentations look,
including colors and fonts. You can use one of the themes included with Breeze Presenter, or
create a custom theme for a distinctive look or to meet a specific objective.
Importing additional content using attachments You can add relevant content, such as
documents, spreadsheets, web pages, or images to presentations to give users easy access to
additional, related information.
About Breeze Presenter 9
Importing additional multimedia content You can add Flash (SWF) files and Captivate
simulations and demonstrations to enhance presentations and reuse existing content.
Advanced video capabilities You can place video files directly into presentations to quickly.
SCORM and AICC compliant content With Breeze Presenter, you can easily make
presentations containing e-learning features SCORM and AICC compliant.
Enhancing presentations with audio narration or music Include audio files such as voice-over
narration, sound effects, and music into presentations to add the dimension of sound. You can
import existing files or record new sound files right in Breeze Presenter.
Adding search capabilities Enable users of your presentations to quickly find information,
whether it’s a slide or an attachment.
Reducing file size You can create presentations that are rich, multimedia experiences, but are
intelligently compressed to create a small finished file that is easily sharable with anyone using a
web browser.
Adding custom presenter information Add a presenter photo and information such as name,
title, and a short biography to personalize presentations. A single presentation can have multiple
presenters and you can add customized information for all of them.
About Macromedia Breeze
Breeze is a complete enterprise solution for creating, managing, and delivering your online
presentations, web conferencing, and rapid e-learning. Breeze quickly and easily converts existing
PowerPoint presentations into valuable assets that employees, customers, partners, investors, and
suppliers can access through most web browsers. The Breeze system offers a complete solution for
your online multimedia presentation and training needs.
Macromedia Breeze is available as an enterprise solution or as a hosted application service. To
learn more about Breeze, please visit the Breeze website at www.macromedia.com/go/breeze.
About creating online presentations
You create your online presentations in Breeze Presenter first, and then publish the presentations
to Breeze. Breeze Presenter can help you quickly and easily create presentations from your desktop
PC by making it easy to do the following:
• Add audio narration to the presentation and synchronize animations.
• Convert presentations automatically into online-ready versions.
• Publish your presentation to Breeze.
About managing online presentations
You can use Breeze to accomplish the following tasks:
• Organize your entire presentation library into a single, sharable repository.
• Control access and permissions to presentation source files and converted Breeze presentations.
10 Introduction: Welcome to Macromedia Breeze Presenter
About delivering presentations over the Internet
Breeze lets you do the following:
• Deliver presentations over the Internet using Flash Player, so customers, partners, and
employees can access Breeze presentations anytime, anywhere.
• Track presentation statistics and content effectiveness by seeing which presentations are viewed
most often using reports. You can view reports on quiz and question responses to assess users’
knowledge retention or to gauge overall quiz and survey data.
Macromedia Breeze is available as an enterprise solution or as a hosted application service. For
more information, see the Breeze website at www.macromedia.com/go/breeze.
About Breeze Presenter instructional media
Breeze Presenter includes comprehensive online instructions to help you learn the application
quickly and become proficient in creating your own presentations:
To open Breeze Presenter Help
1.
Open PowerPoint.
2.
From the Breeze menu, select Help. (You can also click the Help button in any dialog box.)
• The Quick Start movies provide an animated look at important tasks in Breeze Presenter. You
can access the Quick Start movies from the Start page of Breeze Presenter Help.
• The Macromedia Breeze Presenter User Guide introduces you to the Breeze Presenter program
and contains much of the same information as Breeze Presenter Help. The Breeze Presenter User
Guide is available on the Macromedia Breeze website www.macromedia.com/go/breeze.
Additional resources
For the latest information on Breeze Presenter, plus advice from expert users, advanced topics,
examples, tips, and other updates, see the Macromedia Breeze Resource Center at
www.macromedia.com/go/breeze_resources, which is updated regularly. Check the website for
product tutorials and best practices.
For TechNotes, documentation updates, and links to additional resources in the Breeze Presenter
community, see the Macromedia Breeze Support Center at www.macromedia.com/go/support.
System requirements
For a detailed description of system requirements for presentation creators and users who view
presentations, see the Breeze website at www.macromedia.com/go/breeze.
System requirements 11
Installing Breeze Presenter
After you install Breeze Presenter, you can access all of its features in PowerPoint from the newly
added Breeze menu.
To install Macromedia Breeze Presenter on a Windows computer:
1.
After you have downloaded the application, double-click the Breeze Presenter EXE file to install
the software.
2.
Follow the onscreen instructions.
3.
A Getting Started presentation (a PowerPoint file) guides you through the steps required to
publish your first presentation.
12 Introduction: Welcome to Macromedia Breeze Presenter
CHAPTER 1
Creating Presentations with Breeze Presenter
After you install Macromedia Breeze Presenter, you can access the application from within
Microsoft PowerPoint. You can access all Breeze Presenter authoring functions in PowerPoint by
using the Breeze menu.
About the Breeze Presenter workspace
Macromedia designed Breeze Presenter for efficiency and ease of use. Breeze Presenter has the
following two components that work together to help authors create and deliver high-quality
content for users:
Breeze Presenter enables authors to create content.
Breeze Presenter viewer allows users to view and interact with converted Breeze Presenter
presentations.
11
For content authors, all Breeze Presenter features are accessible from the Breeze menu in
PowerPoint.
All of the options for designing a presentation are located in the Breeze menu in PowerPoint.
Planning Breeze Presenter presentations
Creating presentations with Breeze Presenter is fast and easy if you follow these basic steps.
1.
Plan your presentation using storyboards, scripts, or whatever organizational materials are
appropriate.
2.
Open an existing PowerPoint presentation or create a new presentation.
3.
In PowerPoint, from the Breeze menu, you can add audio narration, quizzes, presenter
information, and other options to your presentation. You can include attachments such as web
pages or documents and you can customize themes (the look and feel of the presentation viewer)
for each presentation.
4.
On your local computer, follow the steps for “Previewing a presentation” on page 14.
5.
Publish the presentation to a Breeze server. You can also burn the presentation to a CD or
upload the presentation to the web using a third-party FTP software program.
Determining presentation goals
No matter what kind of presentation you want to create, it is helpful to do some planning before
you start. Consider first what you want the user to learn, achieve, and so on as a result of viewing
your presentation. Defining this goal from the beginning lets you create a comprehensive plan for
success. After you have defined the goal of the presentation, you can use an existing PowerPoint
presentation and enhance it with the most effective Breeze Presenter options.
12 Chapter 1: Creating Presentations with Breeze Presenter
When planning, you should consider adding the following elements to your presentation:
Title slides Title slides are usually the first or second slide in a presentation and state the subject
of the content.
Presenter information Include the name, title, photo, contact information, and a short
biography of the presenter or presenters.
Custom logos Add a company or organization logo to brand and personalize a presentation.
Copyright information Depending on the length of the information, include copyright text on
the first or last slide in a presentation, or add a separate slide containing only copyright
information.
Opening and closing slides Create a distinctive start and finish to clearly show users the
beginning, middle, and end of the presentation. You can use the same opening and closing slide
across a series of presentations for a unifying professional look.
Section divider slides Use slides that delineate sections within a presentation. This is especially
useful in long presentations.
Sounds Voice-over narration, music, or sound effects can add a new dimension to
presentations.
Quizzing Let users interact with the presentation, while you track their learning progress or
obtain information (surveys).
Attachments Add existing information as supporting content for presentations. You can
include documents, spreadsheets, links to web pages, and images as attachments.
Breeze Presenter best practices
Macromedia recommends using these best practices to create a great online presentation:
• Design your online presentation based on the bandwidth capabilities of your audience. If your
audience has fast, broadband connections, you can create a graphic-intensive presentation that
includes many animations. However, if your audience has slower connection speeds, you
should use graphic images that ensure your audience has a good viewing experience.
• It helps to create a written script before recording audio for your presentation. Speaking into a
microphone can be more difficult than giving a presentation to a live audience. To ensure a
smooth delivery that covers all of your important points, consider creating a script for the
entire presentation before recording audio for it. (If you have slide notes written in PowerPoint,
you can easily import them into Breeze Presenter to use as a script or as the basis of a script.)
• Add animations enhances the overall presentation. Breeze Presenter supports PowerPoint
animations so that you can create powerful, animated, multimedia presentations. Animations
add impact to your message and improve the user’s overall viewing experience.
• Preview the presentation by publishing it locally before publishing to Breeze. This lets you view
the converted presentation to be sure that it meets your requirements.
• Create slide titles to give users easy access to any slide. Check that titles appear in the
PowerPoint outline for all slides, including graphic-only slides, before publishing your
presentation.
Breeze Presenter best practices 13
Creating Breeze Presenter presentations
Breeze Presenter presentations are always based on PowerPoint presentations. To create a new
presentation, you open an existing PowerPoint presentation (or create a new one) and then add all
of the features available in Breeze Presenter. For more information about how to add these
features, see the appropriate chapter.
The following procedure describes the general steps for creating a simple Breeze Presenter
presentation.
To create a Breeze Presenter presentation:
1.
In PowerPoint, open a presentation (PPT) file or create a new one by selecting File menu >
New.
2.
From the Breeze menu, select the Breeze Presenter features you want to add to your
presentation.
You are not required to make any changes before publishing, but adding Breeze Presenter
features such as audio narration, SWF files, quizzes, attachments, and a theme will enhance
your presentation and give you the opportunity to experiment with the functionality available
in Breeze Presenter.
3.
Preview the presentation by publishing it locally (to your computer). (For instructions on how
to do this, see the next section).
4.
If necessary after previewing, return to step 2 and make any changes required.
5.
When you are finished, publish the presentation to a Breeze server. For more information, see
“Publishing to a Macromedia Breeze server” on page 86.
Previewing a presentation
If you want to check your work, you can preview presentations at any time by publishing to your
local computer. This is a fast way to see how the presentation will look to users.
When you preview a presentation, it appears in your default web browser. All of the functionality
in the presentation, such as audio and quizzes, works exactly the way it will in the Breeze
Presenter viewer. The presentation appears with all of the theme settings and colors you have
chosen.
To preview a presentation by publishing to your local computer:
1.
In PowerPoint, open a presentation (PPT file).
2.
From the Breeze menu, select Publish.
3.
Select My Computer on the left side.
14 Chapter 1: Creating Presentations with Breeze Presenter
4.
Click Publish. When you publish, the following actions take place:
■ By default, a new folder with the same name as the presentation is created and placed in
your My Documents\My Breeze Presentations folder. The new folder contains all of the
presentation files, and any audio, video, image, and attachment files that are part of the
presentation.
■ Theme and presenter information are stored in your Local Settings folder (frequently
located at C:\Documents and Settings\user name).
5.
When the conversion is finished, click View Output.
If you click View Output when the conversion is finished, the presentation appears in your default
web browser.
Previewing a presentation 15
16 Chapter 1: Creating Presentations with Breeze Presenter
CHAPTER 2
Editing Breeze Presenter Presentations
After you have created a presentation, you can use Breeze Presenter to edit your work quite easily.
Normally, you will probably create a presentation, preview the presentation locally, edit the
presentation to make it just right, and publish the presentation to Breeze.
This chapter contains the following topics:
• “Changing the presentation title” on page 17
• “Adding a presentation summary” on page 17
• “Changing slide properties” on page 18
• “Adding and editing presenters” on page 21
• “Adding attachments to presentations” on page 23
• “Using animation, image, and Flash (SWF) files” on page 26
Changing the presentation title
You can change the presentation title at any time. The title appears in the Breeze Presenter viewer.
To change the presentation title:
1.
In PowerPoint, open a presentation (PPT file).
2.
From the Breeze menu, select Presentation Settings.
3.
Select the Settings tab.
4.
In the Title text box, enter a new name for the presentation.
5.
Click OK.
Adding a presentation summary
A presentation summary is usually a short description of the presentation contents. Adding a
summary is optional and is a useful organizing tool for presentation authors. The summary
appears only in the presentation settings of the presentation; it does not appear in the published
presentation and is not visible to users.
Note: The presentation summary does appear in Breeze Server after a presentation has been
published to Breeze. Presentation authors can search summaries and see the summary when
viewing content information.
17
To add a presentation summary:
1.
In PowerPoint, open a presentation (PPT file).
2.
From the Breeze menu, select Presentation Settings.
3.
Select the Settings tab.
4.
In the Summary text box, enter a description of the presentation contents.
5.
Click OK.
Changing slide properties
You can easily view and change the properties of any slide in a presentation at any time. This can
help you make changes to a slide or group of slides quickly and easily. For example, if you have
assigned a presenter to all of the slides, but there are a few slides where another presenter is
providing slides or audio narration, you can use slide properties to assign the new presenter to the
correct slides.
The following sections describe the slide properties you can change:
• Setting a navigation name
• Setting slide advance behavior
• Setting the presenter for a slide
• Setting a Go to Slide option
• Adding video to a slide
Note: You can select multiple slides to easily update the Presenter and Advance by User settings.
Simply select a slide, hold down Shift or Control, and select additional slides. (The Navigation name,
Go to Slide, or Video properties cannot be changed this way.)
Using slide properties, you can change options for individual slides or a group of slides.
18 Chapter 2: Editing Breeze Presenter Presentations
Viewing slide properties for all slides in a presentation
You can view a short description of all slides in a presentation in one central location. For
example, you can see what presenters are associated with each slide, if navigation names have been
assigned, and if any slides must be advanced by the user.
To view slide properties for all slides:
1.
In PowerPoint, open a presentation (PPT file).
2.
From the Breeze menu, select Slide Properties.
The Slide Properties dialog box appears.
3.
Use the scroll bar on the right side to view all of the slides in the presentation.
Setting a navigation name
You can set a navigation name for a slide that is different than the slide title. A clear and
descriptive navigation name can make it easier for users to navigate through the published
presentation. The navigation name appears in the sidebar (Outline and Thumb panes) in the
published presentation.
For more information about the sidebar and panes, see Chapter 5, “Designing the Presentation
Experience,” on page 69.
A navigation name can be useful if your slide titles are long or if you want to display a more
descriptive name than the slide title in the final presentation for users. For example, the first slide
in the presentation might have the generic slide title “Introduction,” but you can assign a
navigation name such as “About Product X.”
To set a navigation name:
1.
In PowerPoint, open a presentation (PPT file).
2.
From the Breeze menu, select Slide Properties.
3.
Select a slide and click Edit.
4.
In the Navigation Name text box, enter the text you want to use.
5.
Click OK twice.
Setting a Go to Slide option
Presentations usually play linearly (slide 1, slide 2, and all the way through until the end).
However, you can change the order by using the Go to Slide option. This enables you to skip
slides in the presentation, without having to remove them. For example, if you set Go to Slide 8
after slide 5, your presentation will play until slide 5 and then jump to slide 8.
The Go to Slide option can be useful if you are creating one presentation that several audiences
must use. For example, you can create a presentation about benefits options for full-time and
part-time employees. When part-time employees view the presentation, they can skip slides
containing information for full-time employees. The Go to Slide option works the same whether
the presentation is used within Macromedia Breeze or viewed locally in a web browser.
Changing slide properties 19
To set Go to Slide options:
1.
In PowerPoint, open a presentation (PPT file).
2.
From the Breeze menu, select Slide Properties.
3.
Select the slide that will be the starting point and click Edit.
4.
In the Go to Slide pop-up menu, select the slide to which you want the presentation to jump.
5.
Click OK twice to close all dialog boxes.
Adding video to a slide
You can include video files in a presentation, which appear in the viewer sidebar. This can be
especially useful if you have a video of a speaker, sometimes called a “talking head” video. Breeze
Presenter supports the Flash (SWF) and Flash Video (FLV) file formats. When video is added to a
presentation, it appears in the location used for presenter photographs.
Note: Video is added individually to each slide. If you have one “talking head” video file that you need
to use for multiple slides, split the video into separate files.
Video files added to presentations appear in the viewer where the presenter photograph is located.
To add video to a slide:
1.
In PowerPoint, open a presentation (PPT file).
2.
From the Breeze menu, select Slide Properties.
3.
Select a slide and click Edit.
4.
Next to the Video text box, click Browse.
20 Chapter 2: Editing Breeze Presenter Presentations
5.
Navigate to a SWF or FLV file, select the file, and click Open.
Note: If you select an FLV file and you publish the presentation to Breeze, the FLV file will also be
hosted by Breeze. When a user views the presentation, the FLV file automatically streams. If you
select a SWF file and publish the presentation to Breeze, the SWF file is delivered as part of the
presentation.
6.
Click OK twice to close all dialog boxes.
7.
To test the file, preview the presentation. (For more information, see “Previewing a
presentation” on page 14).
Setting slide advance behavior
By default, slides in a presentation advance automatically. You can, however, set individual slides
to advance only when users click the Next button. This is useful if, for example, for a slide
containing an interactive Captivate simulation that has no set duration time for the slide to play.
To set a slide so that users advance it:
1.
In PowerPoint, open a presentation (PPT file).
2.
From the Breeze menu, select Slide Properties.
3.
Select a slide and click Edit.
4.
Select Advance by User.
5.
Click OK twice.
Adding and editing presenters
A presenter is the person who is providing the information in a presentation. For example, if the
subject is software training, the likely presenter is an instructor, trainer, or product manager. A
single presenter can be assigned to all slides in a presentation or different presenters can be
assigned to individual slides.
You can provide users with valuable information about the presenter including the name, job
title, a short biography, a logo, and contact information such as an e-mail address or phone
number. This can make a presentation more credible, personal, and interesting. It also gives users
the ability to ask follow-up or clarification questions.
Adding a new presenter profile
In Breeze Presenter, you add presenter profiles to one central location. These profiles are stored
and can be used in any presentations you create.
To add a new presenter profile:
1.
In PowerPoint, open a presentation (PPT file).
2.
From the Breeze menu, select Preferences.
3.
Select the Presenters tab.
4.
Click Add.
Adding and editing presenters 21
5.
Enter the name of the new presenter.
Note: The Name text box is the only text box that you must fill in to create a new presenter.
6.
(Optional) Enter a job title, such as Vice President.
7.
(Optional) Next to the Photo text box, click Browse and navigate to an image file in JPEG or
PNG format. After selecting an image file, the image appears in the Presenter Photo area on the
right. (This is the exact size the image will appear in the presentation when it’s seen in the Breeze
Presenter viewer.)
Note: The recommended size for a presenter photo is 88 x 118 pixels.
8.
(Optional) Next to the Logo text box, click Browse and navigate to a logo file in JPEG or PNG
format. After selecting an image file, the image appears in the Logo preview on the right. (This
is the exact size the logo will appear in the presentation when it’s displayed in the Breeze
Presenter viewer.)
Note: The recommended size for a logo is 148 x 52 pixels.
9.
(Optional) Enter an e-mail address, such as jdoe@companyzyxwv.com.
10.
(Optional) In the Biography text box, enter a short biography of the presenter, such as
professional and educational credentials, length of time with company, a phone number, or job
duties.
11.
If you want to make this presenter the default presenter for all presentations, select the Default
option.
12.
Click OK.
13.
Click Close.
Setting the presenter for a slide
You can set one presenter for an entire presentation or set different presenters for individual slides
within a presentation.
To set the presenter for an entire presentation:
1.
In PowerPoint, open a presentation (PPT file).
2.
From the Breeze menu, select Slide Properties.
3.
Click the first slide in the list.
4.
Hold down Shift and click the last slide in the list. (Use the scroll bar on the right, if necessary,
to navigate to the last slide in the list.)
5.
Click Edit.
6.
In the Presenter pop-up menu, select a name from the list.
7.
Click OK.
The presenter is now associated with all slides in the presentation.
8.
Click OK to apply your changes and close the Slide Properties dialog box.
22 Chapter 2: Editing Breeze Presenter Presentations
To set the presenter for an individual slide:
1.
In PowerPoint, open a presentation (PPT file).
2.
From the Breeze menu, select Slide Properties.
3.
Select a slide and click Edit.
4.
In the Presenter pop-up menu, select a name from the list.
5.
Click OK.
The presenter is now associated with the slide.
6.
Click OK to apply your changes and close the Slide Properties dialog box.
Editing an existing presenter
After you have added a presenter, you can change presenter information, such as the job title, email address, or biography, at any time.
To edit an existing presenter:
1.
In PowerPoint, open a presentation (PPT file).
2.
From the Breeze menu, select Preferences.
3.
Select the Presenters tab.
4.
Select a presenter from the list and click Edit.
5.
Change properties such as the job title, e-mail address, or biography.
6.
Click OK to close the Presenter dialog box.
7.
Click Close to close the Breeze Presenter Preferences dialog box.
Deleting a presenter
You can delete a presenter and all corresponding information, such as the biography and e-mail
address, at any time.
To delete a presenter:
1.
In PowerPoint, open a presentation (PPT file).
2.
From the Breeze menu, select Preferences.
3.
Select the Presenters tab.
4.
Select a presenter from the list and click Delete.
5.
Click Close to close the Breeze Presenter Preferences dialog box.
Adding attachments to presentations
Attachments are files or URL links that you add to your presentation to provide users with
supplemental information. Using attachments is a great way to take existing content, such as web
pages, documents, PDF files, FlashPaper documents, Flash (SWF) files, or spreadsheets, and
incorporate it into your presentation. You can also add links to websites or documents hosted by
the Breeze Server or another third-party system.
Adding attachments to presentations 23
Attachments are accessible to users when they view your presentation. An Attachments button
appears on the bottom of the Breeze Presenter viewer. When the user clicks the Attachments
button, a list of all of the attachments associated with the presentation is displayed. Users can
click the individual attachment to open the file.
This example shows the Attachments window with several different types of attachments listed.
The following table lists common attachment types and what happens when a user clicks the file.
Attachment type Opens in
FlashPaper Default web browser, such as Internet Explorer or Mozilla
Firefox
Microsoft Word document Microsoft Word, if installed
Microsoft Excel spreadsheet Microsoft Excel, if installed
Microsoft PowerPoint presentation Microsoft PowerPoint
Text (TXT) file Default text editor such as Notepad or Wordpad
PDF file Adobe Acrobat Reader, if installed
Flash (SWF) file Default web browser, such as Internet Explorer or Mozilla
Firefox
Image or graphic file Default web browser, such as Internet Explorer or Mozilla
Firefox
URL link Default web browser, such as Internet Explorer or Mozilla
Firefox
24 Chapter 2: Editing Breeze Presenter Presentations
To add an attachment to a presentation:
1.
In PowerPoint, open a presentation (PPT file).
2.
From the Breeze menu, select Presentation Settings.
3.
Select the Attachments tab.
4.
Click Add.
5.
Enter a unique name for the attachment that will distinguish it from any other attachments
you add.
6.
In the Type pop-up menu, select File or Link.
7.
If you selected Link in the Type pop-up menu, enter the full path of the link in the URL text
box. If you selected File in the Type pop-up menu, click the Browse button to navigate to
the file.
8.
Click OK.
9.
Continue adding attachments as needed and when you are finished, click OK.
Editing attachment information
After adding an attachment to a presentation, you can edit information about the attachment,
such as the name and location, at any time.
Note: If you need to edit the attachment contents, open the file in the application in which it was
created. For example, if the attachment is a spreadsheet created in Excel and you must change
numbers in the spreadsheet, open the file in Excel and edit the numbers. After editing, add the
attachment again in Breeze Presenter to incorporate the changes.
To edit a presentation attachment:
1.
In PowerPoint, open a presentation (PPT file).
2.
From the Breeze menu, select Presentation Settings.
3.
Select the Attachments tab.
4.
Select an attachment and click Edit.
5.
Make any necessary changes to the name or location and click OK.
6.
Click Close.
Deleting attachments
You can delete presentation attachments at any time.
To delete a presentation attachment:
1.
In PowerPoint, open a presentation (PPT file).
2.
From the Breeze menu, select Presentation Settings.
3.
Select the Attachments tab.
4.
Select an attachment and click Delete.
5.
Click OK.
Adding attachments to presentations 25
Using animation, image, and Flash (SWF) files
You can incorporate animations and Flash (SWF) files into your Breeze Presenter presentations.
If you already have PowerPoint animations, such as flying or dissolving text, Breeze Presenter will
convert those animations seamlessly and they will appear in your final presentation exactly as they
appear in PowerPoint.
If you have SWF files containing animation, you can add those files to presentations. Simulations
and demonstrations created with Macromedia Captivate are also in SWF file format and you can
incorporate them into presentations easily.
Note: For additional information about adding video, see “Adding video to a slide” on page 20.
Synchronizing audio and animation timing
After previewing your presentation, you might want to edit the timing of PowerPoint animations
to better synchronize with added audio files. For example, if you have a slide with bulleted text
items that appear one by one, you can adjust the timing so that the audio track matches the action
of the text.
To edit animation timings:
1.
In PowerPoint, open a presentation (PPT file).
2.
From the Breeze menu, select Synchronize Audio.
3.
In the Synchronize Audio dialog box, click Previous or Next, if necessary, to navigate to the slide
containing the audio and animation timing you want to edit.
4.
Select Change Timings (the stopwatch icon) to play the audio.
5.
As the audio plays, click Next Animation to set the timing for the first animation in
coordination with the audio. Select Next Animation again to set the timing for the next
animation. Repeat this step for all animations on the slide.
6.
When you are finished, click Stop Editing.
7.
Click OK.
Note: The Synchronize Audio dialog box only synchronizes PowerPoint “On mouse click”
animations. In contrast, timed animations use the timing set in the Custom Animation dialog box in
PowerPoint.
Adding pauses after animations play
If your presentation includes PowerPoint animations, you can have the presentation automatically
pause after the animations play. This is useful if you want to clearly define where the animation
ends and the presentation begins again.
To have the presentation pause after an animation plays:
1.
In PowerPoint, open a presentation (PPT file).
2.
From the Breeze menu, select Presentation Settings.
3.
Click the Settings tab.
26 Chapter 2: Editing Breeze Presenter Presentations
4.
Select Pause After Each Animation.
5.
Click OK.
When this option is selected, users must click the Play button in the toolbar to start the
presentation again after a pause.
Inserting Flash (SWF) files
A Flash (SWF) file is a compiled, viewable-only Flash file that delivers graphics and animation
over the Internet. You can insert SWF files directly into your presentations. You can use a SWF
file for emphasis, such as an animated pointer, or to add more content to a presentation.
The following are tips for adding SWF files to presentations:
• Only SWF files published at 30 frames per second play properly.
• The SWF file you want to embed must not attempt to make any changes outside its own file.
Therefore, the code cannot refer to the following variables:
To insert a SWF file into a presentation:
1.
In PowerPoint, open a presentation (PPT file).
2.
Navigate to the slide to which you want to add the SWF file.
3.
From the Breeze menu, select Insert Flash.
_level#, _global, or stage.
4.
Navigate to the location of your SWF file. Select the SWF file and click Open.
Breeze Presenter adds the SWF file to the slide.
5.
(Optional) If necessary, select the file and drag it to a new location on the slide.
Tip: You can preview what the SWF file will look like by viewing the presentation in PowerPoint Slide
Show mode.In PowerPoint, from the View menu, select Slide Show.
Inserting Captivate files
Macromedia Captivate is a software application that lets you create animated simulations and
demonstrations. If you have Captivate projects, you can add them to your Breeze Presenter
presentations.
Certain types of Captivate projects, such as training demonstrations or software simulations, can
be particularly useful in presentations.
To insert a Captivate demonstration or simulation into a presentation:
1.
In PowerPoint, open a presentation (PPT file).
2.
Navigate to the slide to which you want to add the Captivate demonstration or simulation.
3.
From the Breeze menu, select Insert Flash.
4.
Navigate to the location of your Captivate simulation or demonstration SWF file. Select the
SWF file and click Open.
Breeze Presenter adds the Captivate demonstration or simulation SWF file to the slide.
5.
(Optional) If necessary, select the file and drag it to a new location on the slide.
Using animation, image, and Flash (SWF) files 27
Controlling inserted SWF files
When you add a SWF file to a Breeze Presenter presentation, you can choose whether the added
SWF file is controlled by the Breeze Presenter playbar or by a playbar in the original SWF file. For
example, if you add a Macromedia Captivate demonstration SWF file to the presentation, the
demonstration can be controlled by the Breeze Presenter playbar in the viewer or by the playbar
that is in the Captivate demonstration.
To set how an inserted SWF file is controlled:
1.
In PowerPoint, open a presentation (PPT file) containing an added SWF file.
2.
From the Breeze menu, select Presentation Settings.
3.
Click the Flash Files tab.
4.
Select one of the Flash files in the list.
5.
Do one of the following:
■ Select the Controlled by Presentation Playbar option. The selected Flash file will be
controlled by the Breeze Presenter playbar when the published presentation is seen by users
in the viewer.
■ Deselect the Controlled by Presentation Playbar option. The selected Flash file will play
within the viewer, but cannot be controlled by the viewer playbar.
6.
Click OK.
Setting image quality for a presentation
Setting image quality is a challenge of balancing quality and file size. If you set images to a higher
quality, the presentation file size can become large. Setting images to a lower quality results in a
smaller file size. You should test different settings to find the best compromise.
To set image quality:
1.
In PowerPoint, open a presentation (PPT file).
2.
From the Breeze menu, select Preferences.
3.
Select the Quality tab.
4.
Select an image-quality option:
High results in the largest file size and highest quality image.
Medium is the best balance between file size and image quality.
Low results in the smallest file size and lowest quality image.
5.
(Optional) Select the Require Slides to Download Completely Before Playback option to
require that all slides download before the presentation begins playing. This option is
recommended if you think users might view your presentation on computers with slow
connections speeds. If this option is enabled, it will take longer for the presentation to start, but
the slides will play smoothly after the presentation begins.
6.
Click Close.
Note: The Medium and Low options are useful in situations with extreme bandwidth limitations.
28 Chapter 2: Editing Breeze Presenter Presentations
Loading...