How to Script a How to Script a Presentation Presentation

and and Include Your Own Include Your Own

Original MediaOriginal Media

Bryn JonesBryn Jones

UNDA 2001UNDA 2001

Scripting and Effects in

PowerPoint

Bryn JonesUniversity of Notre Dame

Australia2001

What is Scripting?• When you create a slide in Powerpoint, it will normally show as

follows (just like this one):– All the Graphics will appear on the screen at the start and stay

there– All the text will appear at the start unless you add a build option in

the Slide Sorter

• If you want something different, you need to use scripting.• Scripting allows you to add text and graphics in any order you

want.• You start scripting by choosing

Slide Show - Custom Animation

This is the same slide with builds but no Scripting?(A “Fly from Left” Build has been added after each mouse click)

• When you create a slide in Powerpoint, it will normally show as follows:– All the Graphics will appear on the screen at the start and stay

there– All the text will appear at the start unless you add a build option in

the Slide Sorter

• If you want something different, you need to use scripting.• Scripting allows you to add text and graphics in any order you

want.• You start scripting by choosing

Slide Show - Custom Animation

This Page uses ScriptingNote that the words and pictures are added in a different order

• When you create a slide in Powerpoint, it will normally show as follows (NOT like this one):– All the Graphics will appear on the screen at the start and stay

there– All the text will appear at the start unless you add a build option in

the Slide Sorter

• If you want something different (like this), you need to use scripting.

• Scripting allows you to add text and graphics in any order you want.

• You start scripting by choosing Slide Show - Custom Animation Choose that whilst looking at this screen and you can exploreand vary the settings for this page.

How to Script a Screen• Place the items on the page as normal. (Insert…)• To use your own media choose Insert … from File rather than ..from Clip Art or from

Gallery• Media can be Text, Video, Clip Art, Photos or Sound• Use the command

Slide Show - Custom Animation

• You should see something like this(but all the items will be in the Timing panel)

• cont...

• Click the Timing tab • In the list on the left, (under Timing) select the item you want to appear first on your

slide.• Choose the options under Start Animation.• Click the Effects tab and make your selections• Choose Preview for an idea of how you are going but…• To really see what happens go back and run your presentation• Select the item you want to

appear second and so on….• You will need to practise

before you really understand it.

• Try it on some of the slidesin the presentations in thisunit.

• If you can understand allof them, you are doingpretty well.

Powerpoint has become very confusing in its commands and similar commands appear in several places, often with different features.

See also• Animation effects button

(yellow star)• Items in the Slide Show menu• Commands in the Slide Sorter view

The special effects can get very irritating, can’t they?!

You can use a photograph as the background

Save the Silos

To use a photo as a background

• Use Insert Picture from the File menu• Size the picture using its handles• Use Draw/Order (look in the bottom left of the screen) to

move objects to the front and back so that you can add text etc.

• Choose text colours to work with the background.This is not always possible.

• Try it with this slide and photo.• You can do better than this!• The photo becomes part of the file, you don’t

need to include the file with your presentation as you would with html.

Adding videos is similar except that videos tend to be very large files

So your presentation will need more storage space.

You also may need a more powerful computer to run it which may be a problem in some cases. Getting videos to work reliably cross-platform is quite difficult.

The video file may need to be included in the same folder as the presentation

Test your presentation on another computer.

If you want to try to understand the scripting of this screen, press ESCAPE and then choose Slide Show - Custom Animation

You can insert a movie here then click on the movie to view itThis will not work over the Internet because you need

the movie file to be on your computer! But you can insert your own movie from your own

hard drive at this point.Use Insert - Movies and Sounds - From Gallery

Or Insert - Movies and Sounds - From File.

• Special effects in Powerpoint are a bit messy and sometimes not intuitive.

• The only way to become an expert is to experiment and keep trying.

• Not all things are possible in Powerpoint but it does a lot of things very quickly and easily.

• You may need a more sophisticated authoring package for some jobs.

Have a go!

AND REMEMBER - avoid gratuitous graphics and extraneous effects.