Powerpoint to DVD

Karen

I had a goal, a dream: transfer my PowerPoint slideshow to DVD so my dad and aunt could have a copy that could be easily viewed. It all started after I returned from a trip to Germany that I had taken with my dad. We had gone together to see the town where he grew up. I had about 130 pictures on my digital camera, so I decided to put them in a PowerPoint presentation and burn it on a DVD for him to watch on TV. My aunt wanted a copy too, and I knew PowerPoint to DVD would be the simpliest way for her to see the pictures. Little did I know what I was getting myself into.

Things were going along nicely as I made my PowerPoint presentation, although the process of enhancing and cropping each image and putting it in the slide show was extremely time consuming. When I was about 7/8’s of the way through I thought to myself, “You know, self, I’ve never put PowerPoint on a DVD to view on the TV. I wonder how one does that.” Much to my horror, my Google search turned up nothing but discouraging news. “It can’t be done,” they said on all the best forumns. “Use product X.” Oops, not made for a Mac. “Turn each slide into an image and put it into iMovie.” Crappy resolution, and I don’t know how to use iMove. Besides, I had just done all my image work– I didn’t want to have to do it again. When I tried to learn about iMovie, I got conflicting and convoluted advice about some mysterious Ken Burns process and the “jaggies” which, surprisingly enough, has nothing to do with the PBS special about the Civil War. I tried to use iDVD. How the heck do I switch to a template that doesn’t play circus music ad naseaum? I went to bed at three a.m., no closer to my goal.

The only glimmer of clairty I had found was from this website from Mr. Daniel Slagle: Importing a Powerpoint Presentation. But when I tried to follow his suggestions, I created a movie that stayed on my first slide until the one minute and twenty-three second midi file was done playing. Clearly not what I had in mind. So using Mr. Slagle’s advice as my starting point, I waded through the muck and finally produced a PowerPoint movie that plays music and can be seen on my DVD player. The steps I went through to make this masterpiece go from PowerPoint to DVD are given below. In addition, if you save things regularly as you go along, you’ll end up with a PowerPoint Presentation, a QuickTime movie, and a DVD movie. Remember, since a TV has a screen with a lower resolution than a computer monitor, you won’t see the same crisp images on your TV that you have on your computer. However, I think you’ll be very happy the results. This process worked for me. Hopefully it will work for you as well.

Software Used:

  • PowerPoint 2004
  • Photoshop Elements
  • iMovie
  • QuickTime Pro
  • Toast Titanium

    • I worked on an iMac G5, so all the software is for OS X. I’m sure you can use other versions of some of these software products to produce similar results in order to get your PowerPoint presentation to a DVD.

    1. Set-up the PowerPoint Presentation [PowerPoint 2004]

    Suggestions:

  • Use a black background.
  • Don’t use custom animations.
  • Don’t choose an effect for slide transitions.
  • Set slide transitions to advance after four to five seconds. Apply to all.
  • Don’t add music or sounds to individual slides. We’ll add a soundtrack later.

    • 2. Prepare Photos [Photoshop Elements 4]

  • Crop and adjust jpegs from your digital camera or scans.
  • Change resolution to 150 dpi.
  • Resize pictures so that none are greater than 8″ in width or 7″ in height so they fit on the slides.
  • Select all, copy, and paste images into slides. Or you can save the images and use the Insert Pictures from File option.

    • 3. Add text to PowerPoint

    Suggestions:

  • Use a simple, sans-serif font.
  • Make text bold, size 30 – 32, and in white.
  • Adjust text and picture placement so that there is about 1/2″ of empty space all around the edge of the slide. If the text or photo gets too close to the edge, the curvature of the TV will cause images and text to be cut-off.
  • Time the slideshow to see how long it is when it runs by itself.
  • Save as a presentation.

    • 5. Create wav file of your music [QuickTime Pro]

    I tried to use the .mov soundtrack file in my presentation, but it didn’t work. I don’t know why. Also, a .wav file is smaller, but the quality of sound is still great, so my final product was smaller using a .wav file v.s. a .mov file for my soundtrack.

    6. Make a Movie in PowerPoint

    7. Create the file for your DVD

    8. Burn your PowerPoint to DVD [Toast Titanium]

    List of Links that Helped Me:

    Daniel Merriam Art for Sale

    Karen

    As many of you may know, I am in love with the artwork of Daniel Merriam. If you haven’t seen his amazing paintings yet, then please visit is web site (but be sure to come back!)

    A while ago I received an email from a woman who has a giclee by Mr. Merriam that she is desperate to sell because of a “precipitous financial situation.” She asked me to help her out, and so I’m going to try to do what I can to help her find a good home for “Serenade,” shown above.

    Of course, Gail has an interesting story to go along with her painting. It seems that she had been following Daniel Merriam’s work for several years in the ads in Art & Antiques magazine. Finally, they did a feature article on Daniel in the December 2003 edition. Gail took the article to Dan Fiorini, a gallery owner and friend and told him how much she wished she could get a print of “Serenade” – her favorite of all Merriam’s pictures. Dan vowed that, if there was a way to find one, he would do it.

    After some correspondence, Mr. Fiorini found a colleague at another gallery who was a personal friend of Merriam’s, and she volunteered to contact him and see if he might have kept back a print that he would be willing to sell. (The original limited edition had been sold out long ago.) Merriam responded that, while he had not retained a copy for himself, he had never issued a print numbered “13” (13/100). So, it was arranged that he would issue a #13, add a remarque, and ship it to Fiorini Gallery & Frame, in St. Petersburg, Florida. A couple of months later, in early 2004, Gail brought her “monnkee” home.

    The Certificate of Authenticity is from Monarch Editions, Daniel Merriam’s publisher. It is signed and numbered by the artist, as is the giclee itself. Gail says, “I suppose you could say that I bought it from the artist, since it really did not come from one of the galleries that sell his work.” She goes on to say, “It was my first adventure in buying ‘real art,’ and I had adored this particular work from the first time I saw it. I’ve always referred to it as me monnkee (think Jamaican accent) and it is breaking my heart to let him go – you should see his lips! The background is filled with faces – some easy to make out, some not. There are penciled-in lyrics to the ‘Garden Song’ that Merriam has him singing while he plays his ornate piano. Every time you gaze awhile, you see more in the scene. Wonderful!”
    Gail is asking $3200 or best offer for this artwork.

    You can contact Gail by sending an email to dibblegail at yahoo.com.

    For Life

    Karen

    I was at my father’s house yesterday, the day after Easter. On Easter Sunday the house had been full of family. My sister Kathy organized her annual Easter hunt, filled with riddles and clues that sent the six youngest children running with excitement through the house — even the two sixteen year old boys.

    During the day, little bunches of family clustered in different spots around the house, talking, laughing, eating. There on the porch was my niece with her newly magenta-colored hair and my oldest son, both twenty-one, sitting with their grandpa and my sister. In the living room the sixteen year old boys sat with the their thirteen year old cousin watching TV. I was in the kitchen helping my husband make our late lunch– skewers of chicken and lamb and vegetables to be grilled.

    I was washing the red, green, and yellow peppers, cutting them in half and pulling out the thick pale ribbings and the tiny seeds, and then rinsing them underneath the water. My dad came up along side me.

    “Just think,” he said, “it’s almost been a year since your mom died.”

    “I was just thinking about how much she liked this time of year, with all the iris and poppies starting to bloom,” I said quietly.

    “And the roses. She loved the garden so much.”

    I seem to notice that all this past year has been full of firsts: the first Thanksgiving without Mom. The first Christmas without Mom. This first Easter without Mom. I can’t even imagine what it felt like for my father last month on what would have been their fifty-first wedding anniversary — his first one without Mom. Soon I’ll have my first Mother’s Day without my mom.

    I’m writing in the darkness, except for the glow of the monitor light. It casts a pinkish-blue cast of color onto my hands and makes them look old and wrinkly. Then veins on the back of my hands seem more prominent than usual.

    As the Easter holiday ended, the family groups started going back to their homes, and gradually it was just my husband and our two boys and myself there with Dad. Yesterday the house was much quieter. We were sitting around the table, talking.

    Suddenly there was a loud thump. I looked through the glass out the back door to see a flutter of feathers floating through the air. A bird had flown into the window. I looked outside and saw a dove, wings spread, neck twisted awkwardly, lying on the the door mat.

    “Oh my gosh, Michael,” I said to my husband. “I bet that’s one of the doves that we saw under the peach tree this morning. Remember we saw the two of them together on the grass?” They had been walking side-by-side. “I wonder if the mate is around here somewhere. I think this one’s neck must be broken.”

    But it was still alive. The tiny lids of its eyes flickered, and I expected the bird to die as I watched it. But instead it folded its wings beneath its body, and straightened it’s head and neck until it was sitting unsteadily on the mat.

    My father wanted to move it out to the grass, but I talked him out of it, afraid that any further trauma would kill it for sure.

    “It’s just stunned,” Michael said. “It will be better.”

    We sat down to lunch. Every few minutes someone would go slowly by the door and peak out the window to see if the bird was okay.

    One day, when I was a little girl, my mom, dad, and sisters were driving along Highway 37 during the summer. It’s a narrow stretch of road with water on either side. At that time, there was barely a shoulder to pull off onto in case of an emergency. There were so many accidents on the road, that it was known as “Blood Alley.” We were riding in our sleek, aged red Oldmobile station wagon. I loved that car because it had a rear facing seat in the back and a back window that rolled down.

    Suddenly the traffic ahead of us slowed down to an agonizing crawl.

    “Must be an accident ahead,” said my dad.

    My mom was in the front passenger seat with her red pouffy hair and her white green tinted cats eye sunglasses.

    “I hope nobody got hurt,” she said.

    Finally we came to the cause of the traffic jam. A pheasant had been hit by a car on the road and been killed. Its bereft mate was standing over the body in the middle of our lane and wouldn’t move. Drivers were trying to edge their cars around the bird without hurting it, cautiously crossing the double yellow line and move into the oncoming lane because there was no shoulder to speak of on our side of the road.

    I watched the birds as we crept past. I watched them the whole length of the side windows, and as we passed, I moved to the back seat and watched them out the rear window. Watched the cars slowing down; watched them make their wide arcs across the the lanes. Hoping that no one would hit that second bird.

    As we sat there eating lunch, I told my dad that story and asked him if he remembered. It didn’t surprise me that he didn’t.

    A few minutes later, my dad got up to check on the dove. As he moved closer to the window, the dove rose up and flew away into a nearby tree.

    I wonder what it’s like for my dad when we all leave his house, and he’s left alone in the quiet again.

    A Trip Through San Francisco

    Karen


    Me on the Ferry

    Every winter break, my sister, Kris and I, take our kids on a day trip to San Francisco. We’ve been doing it for years. Sometimes the hubbies are able to go. This was the first year my other sister, Kathy, and her kids went along with us. Having just gotten a cute little digital camera for Christmas, I decided to take it along and make a photo journal of our day. So come along with us as we travel through one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

    We catch the Vallejo ferry at 10:00, coffee in hand.The boat is crowded, but the nine of us all manage to get seats together. The weather is cold, breezy, and crisp, and the sky is impossibly blue. On our hour long ride, we pass San Quentin Prison and the Golden Gate Bridge.


    Alcatraz


    The Golden Gate Bridge

    As we approach the city, I can see the Transamerica building, with its distinctive pyramid shape, rising into the sky. And to the west, is the lovely silhouette of Coit Tower with its collection of colorful houses resting below it.



    Transamerica Pyramid Building


    Coit Tower

    After arriving at the pier, we go into the Ferry Building which is filled with wonderful shops. There’s a bakery, olive oil stores, candy stores, cheese market, flower shops, all open onto a main walk way. There are restaurants and coffee shops and other little stores. At this point, the kids usually complain about being hungry, so we grab a couple of freshly baked baquettes to nibble on as we walk.



    Candy Shop


    A Decorative Tile Outside the Olive Oil Shop


    Dishes of Exquisite Chocolates


    Flower and Plant Shop


    Sightseeing Tours

    Eventually we leave the Ferry Building and walk across the street to the Hyatt Regency Hotel. If we do our little trip before Christmas, we always enjoy the elaborate, minature Santa’s Village that they set up in the hotel lobby. But since we this trip is after the holiday, the village display has been taken down in preparation for the New Year’s Eve party. It’s always fun to ride up seventeen floors inside the hotel’s glass elevator. Sometimes we go to the very top where they have a rotating restaurant called the Equinox.



    Sculpture in the Lobby of the Hyatt Regency Hotel

    Right outside of hotel, at the corner of Market and California streets, we catch the cable car for our ride to Chinatown. The office buildings along California Street still have most of their Christmas decorations up.



    Our Cable Car Ride


    Decorations on California Street

    After the slow climb to the top of the hill, we jump off the cable car at Grant Street and start our descent through Chinatown. My sister and I always enjoy going into a little religious gift shop next to St. Mary’s Church. The church has been there since before the 1906 earthquake.



    Carved Wooden Angel

    Chinatown in so much fun; it’s a feast for the senses. The street is narrow and the sidewalks crowded. Shop’s wares spill out into the sidewalk. The kids usually buy sparklers and smoke bombs for New Years, and I love looking at the silks and pottery and ivory carvings. Kris and I always buy boxes of chewy rice candy. Exotic smells come out of the herb shops and there seems to be a different Chinese restaurant at every other door.



    A View Down Grant Street


    Gold Ornaments and Tiles Decorate a Bank


    Oriental Store


    Dragon Mural

    At the end of Grant Street, I see this street sign. I’ve never noticed it before. It leads into a tiny alley that’s closed off for construction.



    Jack Keroac Street

    We head down Columbus Street, backtracking a bit, as we make our way to our favorite Chinese restaurant. Everyone goes ahead while I take some more pictures. I pass City Lights Bookstore, where the Beat Poets (like Jack) used to hang out. There’s a colorful collage mural on the side of wall of a local bar. The letters were spelled out using wine bottle labels. The Transamerica building looms overhead, and so does the green building which is shaped like a giant ornate wedge of cheese.



    Famous City Lights Bookstore


    Vesuvio


    Transamerica Building


    The Green Building

    I finally reach the restaurant, and everyone is waiting at our favorite table — a huge round one with a lazy susan in the middle. We devore garlicky string beans, sizzling rice soup, honey walnut prawns, potsickers, and cashew chicken. At the end of the meal, they bring us a little dish with quarters of ice cold oranges and fortune cookies. We read our fortune cookies aloud, and then I make everyone give me the little strips of paper. I don’t know the name of this restaurant; it’s a little hole in the wall. But we’ve been going here for years and the meal is always fabulous.

    Usually this is the time when the kids start complaining that their feet are tired, be we still have a lot of walking to do before we reach our final destination. A hot fudge sundae at Ghiradelli Square is always a good motivator, so soon we’re back on Columbus and walking up the hill through North Beach to Fisherman’s Wharf. It’s a nice long trek, and there’s always lots to see.



    Bridal Boutique


    Mural on the Side of a Building


    St. Peters and St. Pauls Cathedral at Washington Square


    Wig Shop Window


    Bimbo’s Comedy Club

    Since I’m taking so long with all this photography stuff, everyone else goes on ahead. Eventually I reach The Cannery, a collection of shops and restaurants in an old brick building across from Fisherman’s Wharf. Inside is the Basic Brown Bear Factory, where you can pick out and dress your own stuffed bear or other animal. And across the street is a cute little Italian restaurant. We also pass Hyde Street Pier which has a very cool submarine and two old ships that you can tour.



    The Cannery


    The Basic Brown Bear Factory


    Ciopinno and Pasta


    Hyde Street Pier


    Another Old Ship

    I’m almost to my destination, and I know I’ll find everyone there at Ghiradelli’s Square. From the bottom of the hill below the cable car turn-around, I look over the San Francisco Bay to the Golden Gate Bridge and the Marin Headlands. Over me is the huge Ghiradelli sign



    Golden Gate Bridge and Marin Headlands


    Ghiradelli Square


    Ghiradelli Chocolate Shop

    I find everyone waiting in line to get ice cream. This place is always packed, but people move in and out pretty fast, so we usually don’t have trouble getting a seat. They bring a huge, gooey, made-to-order banana split to our table and Kris and I dive in (we always share.) Afterwards, I go into the candy store and stock up on Peppermint Bark.

    By now, we are really worn out, so we catch the J line bus back to the Ferry Building. If we rushed, we could catch the next boat, but we decide to take our time. We go back inside and get bread, cheese, olives, and a bottle of wine for the ride back home. I know it sounds like all we do is eat, and you are absolutely right! We get back on the ferry boat. The sun is just beginning to slink down, and the lights on the Bay Bridge are just starting to twinkle. I sit on the deck of the boat, and take some last photographs of our City by the Bay.



    Ferry Boat


    The Bay Bridge


    The Port of San Francisco


    Night Skyline