Welcome to the Microsoft PowerPoint Multimedia CD

This CD is packed with professionally created multimedia that you can use to add sizzle to your presentations. It also contains the PowerPoint Quick Preview, a fast and enjoyable way to become acquainted with PowerPoint.

For more details on the following components, click:

Using sound effects and music

ClipArt and Design Templates

Using photos and textures

The PowerPoint Quick Preview

The Samples Folder

Custom multimedia services from Genigraphics

Using video and animation


Using the Multimedia Goodies on This CD

The Microsoft PowerPoint Multimedia CD contains an assortment of professionally created multimedia that you can use in your presentations to grab and hold the attention of your audience. There is nothing to install. You can preview the various media by going to the Windows Explorer and double-clicking the item that interests you. You can drag and drop selected media into PowerPoint, or you can use PowerPoint’s commands to insert the media directly into your presentation.

Note: When you insert a movie or animation clip, it is automatically linked in PowerPoint. To ensure that the clip is always available for your presentation, copy the clip from the CD into the folder in which your presentation is stored before inserting it into your presentation.

What would you like to know more about?

PowerPoint multimedia organization

System requirements for using the media on the CD

Using multiple media files on the same slide

Controlling color palette shifts


Using sound effects and music

Music and sound clips in the Audio folder have been provided by Network Music, Inc. and by Cambium Development Inc.

Contact information for Network Music, Inc

Contact information for Cambium Development Inc.

Music and sound can set the stage for your presentation when used on your introductory slide. Use sound clips throughout your presentation to provide feedback for user actions or to emphasize a point. Use music when making transitions between slides. Play music continuously during a presentation by making a sound-clip loop. Or, for a really memorable closing, use music at the end of your presentation. Also, if you have disk space available, you can use sound to provide voice-over narration for a self-running presentation. Extensive use of music and/or voice-over narration is especially effective in a kiosk presentation where no presenter is involved.

After you have included music or sound clips on your slides, use PowerPoint’s rehearsal feature, found in the Slide Show dialog box under View menu, to ensure that the sound does not distract from your presentation and that it is the right length. Check the volume level. Make sure that the tone set by the music you chose is appropriate to your subject.

What would you like to know more about?

Using the Multimedia Goodies on this CD

System requirements for sound

Controlling sound file size

File types of sound files

Neat tricks with audio

Editing music and sounds using Media Player and other tools

Using video and animation

Video and animations in the Video folder have been provided by Four Palms and by TC Visual.

Contact information for Four Palms, Inc.

Contact information for TC Visual

Use video clips to take your audience to places you could not otherwise present or to listen to people who could not otherwise be part of your presentation. Keep the video clips brief in order not to distract from the central presentation. Because digital video without special hardware is limited to, at most, a 320 x 240 window, the impact of the digital video should be assessed using the rehearsal feature.  A scene with many small figures may not be visible enough for your purposes.  Digital video usually has an audio track as well. Adjust the volume carefully and apply the same rules as you would with music and sound clips.

What would you like to know more about?

Using the Multimedia Goodies on this CD

System requirements for video

File types of video and animation files

Controlling video clip file size

Editing video and animation using Media Player and other tools

Improving video performance

Controlling color palette shifts


Using photos and textures

Photos in the PPPhoto folder have been provided by PhotoDisc Inc. and Sense Interactive Corporation.

Contact information for PhotoDisc, Inc.

Contact information for Sense Interactive Corporation

Use a photographic image to illustrate a specific point or a theme. A business presentation may be enhanced by an image of an office or a manufacturing facility. A presentation on education may be enriched by an image of children in a classroom. In general, photographic images that present human interaction are more interesting than views of objects. A restaurant image would not be the same without people in it sitting, eating, and talking.

Textures in the Textures folder have been provided by Art Beats and Three D Graphics.

Contact information for Artbeats Software, Inc.

Contact information for Three D Graphics

A texture is a repetitive pattern meant to suggest a physical material, like wood, paper, or marble. A texture is often an element of a background — a setting against which text and other media objects may be overlaid.

PowerPoint facilitates the use of background textures and photos through the Format Custom Background command. Any slide can have its own background.

What would you like to know more about?

Using the Multimedia Goodies on this CD

Inserting photos and textures on slides

System requirements for displaying photos and textures

Relationships between colors, resolution, and file size

File types of photographic images and textures

Controlling image file size

Controlling color palette shifts

Modifying photographic images


ClipArt and Design Templates

Hundreds of additional clip art images are available in the Clipart folder for you to install in the ClipArt Gallery. Click on the Add clip art from the CD to the ClipArt Gallery below for step-by-step instructions. A clip art presentation has been provided by A Bit Better Corporation.

Contact information for A Bit Better Corp.

The Design Templates folder, PPTmpl, contains many additional templates to help you design great-looking presentations.

What would you like to know more about?

Using the Multimedia Goodies on this CD

Add clip art from the CD to the ClipArt Gallery.


Custom multimedia services from Genigraphics

The PPsrvcs folder contains sample presentations demonstrating some of the custom services available from Genigraphics to assist you with your next presentation.

Contact information for Genigraphics

Using the Multimedia Goodies on this CD


PowerPoint multimedia organization

On the Office Valupack disc 1, the PowerPoint Multimedia files are in the folder labeled VALUADD. On the PowerPoint CD, the folder is called PowerPoint Multimedia CD.

For this media	Look in this folder	Use this command in PowerPoint
Sound effects and music clips	Audio	Insert Sound
Additional clip-art images	Clipart	Insert Clip Art
More Design Templates	PPTmpl	Format Apply Design Template
Photographic images in various resolutions	PPPhoto	Insert Picture or Format Custom Background
Genigraphics custom services	PPSrvcs	File Send to Genigraphics
Textures	Textures	Format Colors and Lines or Format Custom Background
Animation clips and movies	Video	Insert Movie


System requirements for using the media on the CD

The system requirements for using multimedia on your slides vary with the media that you want to use. Many kinds of multimedia, especially movies, are very memory and processor intensive. In general, you will achieve the best results on a system that is equipped at a minimum with the following:

Computer:

CPU:  486 processor running at 66Mhz. (A 586 processor will yield better results for video.)

RAM:  16MB or more

Magnetic Storage:  30MB of hard disk space

Audio:  “Soundblaster-compatible” sound card and external speakers

Video:  VGA 256-color graphics adapter. (Use a 16-bit or 24-bit graphics adapter for better results with photos and video.)

The Windows Control Panel enables you check your Display and Multimedia settings and to configure them if necessary.

Which would you like to do?

Check the display capabilities of my system

Check the multimedia capabilities of my system


System requirements for displaying photos and textures

The Windows Control Panel enables you to configure and check your Display settings. Many video cards support only 8-bit color, while others support 16- and 24-bit color. An 8-bit video card is capable of displaying up to 256 colors while a 24-bit video card is capable of displaying millions of colors.

If the image contains more colors than the video card is capable of displaying, the colors will be dithered and less clear than the true colors. Depending on how similar the colors used are to the colors supported by your monitor, the results may be more or less pleasing. Photo-realistic backgrounds and multicolor, shaded backgrounds and fills will look best at higher resolutions.

A common compromise is to work with only 8-bit images (256 colors) in order to be reasonably certain in advance of how the images will appear.

If you are using supplementary equipment for your presentation, such as an LCD panel, check with the equipment’s manufacturer to determine how many colors can be displayed. A 24-bit image has a range of 16.7 million colors possible, but an LCD panel capable of displaying 144,000 colors may still yield acceptable results.

Check your system configuration in the Multimedia Control Panel.

How?


Controlling image file size

The file size of an image is the product of three factors: resolution, bit depth, and compression.

To reduce the file size of an image:

•	Reduce the image by scaling in PowerPoint using the Scale command on the Draw menu.

•	Reduce the image by cropping in PowerPoint using the Crop Picture command on the Tools menu.

•	Decrease the bit depth using an application such as Imager.

•	Use compressed file formats.


Inserting photos and textures on slides

You can use a photo as an illustration on a slide. Or, you can use a photo or texture as the background for a slide. When you use a photo or texture for a slide background, it is automatically sized to fit the slide. You can also use a texture to fill an object.

What would you like to do?

Use a photo as an illustration on a slide

Use a photo as the background for a slide

Use a texture to fill an object

Use a texture for the background


Controlling sound file size

Many multimedia applications use 8-bit, monaural sound sampled at 11 khz. This provides a sound quality that is approximately equivalent to AM radio. For better sound fidelity, the sounds on this Multimedia CD have been sampled at 22 khz.

File size is determined by three factors: the bit depth of the sample, whether it is monaural or stereo sound, and the rate in kilohertz.

To reduce the file size of sounds:

•	Use Microsoft Wave Edit to change a stereo clip to monaural to reduce file size by half.

•	Use Microsoft Wave Edit to reduce the sampling rate.

•	Use Microsoft Wave Edit to reduce the bit depth of the sample from 16- to 8-bit.

•	Use Media Player to reduce the duration of the clip itself.

After reducing the file size, check the results to ensure you have the quality you want.


Using multiple media files on the same slide

Placing too many media assets on a single slide degrades performance by causing the media files to be swapped into and out of memory. The presentation itself can be confused by the presence of too many items on a single slide. To avoid these problems:

•	Reduce the sound file size of the media assets

•	Reduce the image file size

•	Reduce the video file size

•	Limit the number of media files used on any particular slide

Controlling sound file size

Controlling image file size

Controlling video clip file size


Controlling video clip file size

To control file size of a video clip:

•	Reduce its duration

•	Change its bit depth

•	Remove its audio track

•	Recompress the video using one of the codecs that comes with Microsoft Video for Windows.


Add clip art from the CD to the ClipArt Gallery

You may copy the .pcs and .cag files for the clip art you want onto your hard disk, or you may leave them on the CD if you wish.

1	In PowerPoint, click the Insert menu.

2	Click Clip Art.

If this is the first time you’ve run the ClipArt Gallery, you may get a mesage telling you that there are new packages to add to the ClipArt Gallery. If you get this message, click the Add All button.

3	Click Organize.

4	Click Add Pictures.

5	Browse to the location of the .pcs and .cag files (either your hard drive or the CD) for the images you want to add and click Open.

6	Select the .cag file or hold the CTRL key and select the multiple .cag files that you want.

7	Click Open.


Controlling color palette shifts

You may notice colors flashing on the screen or bands of color appearing across pictures. These undesirable effects are often caused by using too many colors on a slide. There are 256 color slots in the standard Windows color palette. You can add images and video to a slide without creating any color palette conflicts up to a total of 256 different colors.

Color flashing and color palette shifts are rare on computers capable of displaying 16-bit or 24-bit color.

To control color palette shifts:

•	Almost all the samples of the photos on the CD have been provided in 8-bit and 24-bit color formats. If you notice dithering or color problems on your slide, use a photo that has a lower bit depth.You will find lower color samples in the folder named Lo_color in the Sense folder.

•	Open the texture or photo in an application such as Microsoft Imager and convert the image to the standard Windows color palette. In Imager, click Convert on the Image menu and click Palette on the Convert To drop-down menu.

•	If you are using a video clip, reduce the number of colors on your PowerPoint slide. Be sure to eliminate shading in the background and in fills for the best display. If color flashing persists, experiment with different background colors to find one that is compatible with the video you are using.


Use a photo as an illustration on a slide

1	On the Insert menu, click Picture.

2	Click the Look In drop-down list.

3	Click the drive letter representing your CD-ROM drive.

4	Double-click the PowerPoint Multimedia CD folder, or on Microsoft Office CD #1, double-click the Valupack folder.

5	Double-click the PPPhotos folder.

6	Navigate to the desired file and click it.

Note Make sure your computer is set to display a preview so you can browse through the selections. If you do not see the preview in the Insert Picture dialog, click the Preview button at the top of the dialog.


Use a photo or texture for a slide background
Use a photo for a slide background

1	On the Format menu, click Custom Background.

2	On the Background Fill Color drop-down, click Picture.

3	Open the Look in drop-down menu.

4	Click the drive letter representing your CD-ROM drive.

5	Double-click the PowerPoint Multimedia CD folder, or on Microsoft Office CD #1, double-click the Valupack folder.

6	Open the PPPhoto folder.

7	Navigate to the desired file and click it.

8	Click Apply to All to change the background of all slides in your presentation, or click Apply to change the background of the current slide only.


Use a texture for a slide background

1	On the Format menu, click Custom Background.

2	On the Background Fill Color drop-down, click Texture.

3	Open the Look in drop-down menu.

4	Click the drive letter representing your CD-ROM drive.

5	Double-click the PowerPoint Multimedia CD folder, or on Microsoft Office CD #1, double-click the Valupack folder.

6	Open the Textures folder.

7	Navigate to the desired file and click it.

8	Click Apply To All to change the background of all slides in your presentation, or click Apply To change the background of the current slide only.


Check the multimedia capabilities of my system

1	Click Start.

2	Point to Settings and click Control Panel.

3	Double click Multimedia.

4	On the Advanced tab of the Multimedia Properties dialog you’ll see a list of Multimedia devices. To see the drivers, click the plus sign.


Check the display capabilities of my system

1	Click Start.

2	Point to Settings and click Control Panel.

3	Double click Display.

4	On the Settings tab of the Display Properties dialog, choose the number of colors to display under Color Palette; choose resolution under Desktop Area; or, click Change the Display Type to change to a different video driver.


Use a texture to fill an object

1	Select the object you want to fill.

2	On the Format menu, click Colors and Lines.

3	On the Fill Color drop-down, click Textured.

4	On the Textured Fill dialog, click Other.

5	Open the Look in drop-down menu.

6	Click the drive letter representing your CD-ROM drive.

7	Double-click the PowerPoint Multimedia CD folder, or on Microsoft Office CD #1, double-click the Valupack folder.

8	Open the Textures folder.

9	Navigate to the desired file and click it.


Getting files from the CD into a presentation

In PowerPoint, click the Insert menu and then click the menu item that corresponds to the media type you need.  This brings up the Media Player application, which permits browsing of media assets before choosing one.  Once a media asset has been chosen, it is automatically pasted into the current slide of your presentation.


Improving video performance

Video and animation files are processor-intensive. If the processor cannot keep up with the data flow from the digital video or animation file, frames may be missed, leading to jerky or unresponsive playback. Video clips generally require a 486/66 processor with at least 16MB of internal memory. If your system doesn’t meet this minimum requirement, you may not be satisfied with the quality of the video playback.

To increase performance:

•	Limit the size of your digital video window to 320 x 240 or less, unless you have special hardware installed.

•	Make sure that the slide does not depend on other media files competing for processor time. A looping sound in the background may cause a digital video window to skip frames.

•	If the audio track is unnecessary, remove it for better video performance.

•	Avoid using shaded backgrounds for slides that will contain video to avoid possible palette distortions when displaying video in slide show.


Relationships between colors, resolution, and file size

The higher the resolution and greater the number of colors in a picture, the better the image and the larger the file size. A photographic image shown at 24-bit depth (16.7 million colors possible) will have photo-realistic color. However, the image will be substantially larger than the same image at 8-bit depth (256 colors possible). You will find both 24-bit and 8-bit images on this disk. 8-bit images usually produce acceptable results in terms of image quality for slide shows. Use the 24-bit images if you will be imaging 35mm slides. If you need higher or lower resolution or bit-depth images, contact the image vendor directly. Our vendors provide a broad combination of bit depths and resolutions.

Note:  The photographic images on the PowerPoint Multimedia CD have not been compressed. However, you’ll find that some images in the Office ValuPack have been compressed. Keep in mind that the more a file is compressed, the longer it takes for the image to decompress before appearing on a screen. While these waits are not long, you may want to experiment if using a compressed image.

The following table demonstrates the relationship between colors, resolution, and file size:

Resolution = image width * image height

•	A 1024 x 768 image has 823,296 pixels to display

•	A 800 x 600 image has 480,000 pixels to display

•	A 640 x 480 image has 307,200 pixels to display

•	A 320 x 240 image has 76,800 pixels to display

The file size of a 640 x 480 image will be 4 times that of a 320 x 240 image.

Colors

•	24-bit color displays 16.7 million colors

•	16-bit color displays 65,536 colors

•	8-bit color displays 256 colors

•	4-bit color displays 16 colors or shades of gray

•	1-bit color displays 2 colors


Modifying photographic images

The size of photographic images may be changed within PowerPoint and you can add a border to them using PowerPoint tools. For more detailed editing or to reduce the number of colors used in the image, you will need to use another application such as Microsoft Imager.


Editing music and sounds using Media Player and other tools

You can use the Media Player to edit music and sounds. Refer to Media Player online help for more information.

Use Media Player to:

•	Edit sound and music clips for duration.

•	Change a clip’s sound volume.

Use other sound editing tools such as Microsoft Wave Edit to:

•	Combine sound and music clips into a single clip.

•	Edit narrated voice-over.

•	Create special effects with sound and music clips, such as echo and amplification.


System requirements for sound

Hardware

In order to use the audio files on this CD, your computer must be equipped with speakers and a “Soundblaster-compatible” sound card capable of 16-bit sound recording and playback. At least 16MB of RAM and 30MB or more of hard disk space is recommended.

Software

All of the sound files in the Audio folder are .wav files. In order to play .wav files, the basic Microsoft MCI driver must be installed on your computer. In most cases it was installed with Windows. If you cannot hear the music, check to make sure this driver is installed.

All of the audio .wav files from Cambium Development Inc. are compressed to save disk space and require Microsoft Audio Compression Manager (ACM) or a sound card that supports ADPCM. In most cases the necessary ACM driver was installed with Windows. If you try to play a Cambium Development Inc. file without an updated version of the ACM driver, you will be asked if you want the driver installed. ACM version 2.01 is provided with the Cambium Development Inc. files in the Audio folder.

Check your system configuration in the Multimedia Control Panel.

How?


Neat tricks with audio

There is one way to play back audio files without impacting either memory or performance. Use the CD Player accessory to play back a track of an audio CD while you give your presentation. Click Options and then click Looping. The track will loop continuously during your presentation.


Editing video and animation using Media Player and other tools

Media Player and other digital video editing tools permit clips to be edited. Using the Media Player, you can make the following edits to video clips on this CD:

•	Change the duration of the movie

•	Change the speed of playback

•	Add a controller

•	Edit the video to remove a portion of the clip

•	Edit the video to add another clip

•	Remove the audio track

•	Add new audio


System requirements for video

To play back digital video files, a 486DX CPU running at 66 MHz with 16MB RAM is recommended. Additionally, a sound card capable of 16-bit sound with an 8-note synthesizer and MIDI playback is also suggested.

Windows 95 automatically installs the Video for Windows drivers necessary to play back files with the .avi extension. To play back .jpg or .mov files, QuickTime for Windows must also be installed.

Use the Multimedia control panel to check your computer’s multimedia capabilities.

How?


File types of photographic images and textures

Photographs are bitmapped images, which means that they contain color values for every dot of their image. Bitmapped images may be contained within a number of different file formats. The textures and photos contained on this Multimedia CD are in .bmp format. Contact the individual vendors directly if you require different file formats. You’ll find that they provide a broad selection of file types and resolutions.

The following table lists the most common file formats for photos and textures:

PowerPoint supports all these formats and more.

File extension	Format
.bmp	Windows Bitmap
.wmf	Windows Metafile
.eps	Encapsulated Postscript
.tif	Tagged Image Format


File types of sound files

File extension	Format	Use
.aif	AIFF Audio Interchange File Format	Used by sound editing programs and as a common file format to transfer audio files between programs or platforms
.wav	WAVE	The file format most often supported by Windows 95 applications. All audio files on the PowerPoint Multimedia CD are .wav files.


File types of video and animation files

File extension	Format
.avi	AVI
.jpg	JPEG-compressed video file
.mov	QuickTime
.flc	Animation format


Contact information for Four Palms, Inc.

Four Palms, Inc.

11260 Roger Bacon Drive

Reston, VA 22090

Phone:  800-74PALMS

International: 703-834-0200

Fax:  703-834-0219

Cserve:  74252, 3632

Internet: fourpalmcd@aol.com


Contact information for Artbeats Software, Inc.

Artbeats Software, Inc.

PO Box 709

Myrtle Creek, OR  97457

Toll Free: 1-800-444-9392

Phone:  503-863-4429

Fax:  503-863-4547


Contact Information for Three D Graphics

Three D Graphics

860 Via de la Paz

Pacific Palisades, CA  90272

Toll free:  1-800-913-0008

Fax:  310-459-5822

Internet: 3dgraph@netcom.com


Contact information for PhotoDisc, Inc.

PhotoDisc Inc.

2013 4th Avenue

Seattle, WA  98121

Microsoft Network:  PhotoDisc Digital Image Forum

World Wide Web:  http\\www.photodisc.com

Internet:  sales@photodisc.com or techsupport@photodisc.com

America On-Line:  Photodisc1

Toll Free (US):  1-800-528-3472

Fax:  206-441-9379

Phone outside the US:  206-441-9355

Fax outside the US:  206-441-9379

Phone from Europe:  +44(0)181 948 5322

Fax from Europe:  +44(0)181 332 9034


Contact information for Sense Interactive Corporation

Sense Interactive Corporation

1412 West Alabama

Houston, TX  77006

Toll Free:  1-800-757-3676

Phone:  713-523-5757

Fax:  713-523-3057


Contact information for Network Music, Inc.

Network Music, Inc.

15150 Avenue of Science

San Diego, CA  92128

Toll Free:  1-800-435-8448

Phone:  619-451-0883

Fax:  619-451-6409


Contact information for Cambium Sound Choice
Contact Information for Cambium Development Inc.

Cambium Development Inc.

PO Box 296-H

Scarsdale, NY  10583

Toll Free:  1-800-231-1779

Fax:  914-472-6729

Internet:  support@cambium.com

Compuserve:  Type “Go Cambium”


Contact information for Genigraphics

Genigraphics

4155 Willow Lake Boulevard

Memphis, TN  38118

Toll Free:  1-800-790-4001

Phone:  901-795-6431

Fax:  901-795-9498

E-Mail:  Genigraphics@infs.com


Contact Information for A Bit Better Corp.

A Bit Better Corp.

127 Second Street

Los Altos, CA  94022

Phone:  415-948-4766

Fax:  415-917-0151


Contact information for TC Visual

TC Visual

6 Clay Hill Road

Burghfield Common

Reading, Berkshire

England, UK

RG7 3HE


Contact information for Publishing Power

Publishing Power, Inc.

127 Second Street

Los Altos, CA 94022

Phone:  415-917-0117

Fax:  415-917-0151


The PowerPoint Quick Preview

The PowerPoint Quick Preview in the PPQPrv folder is a multimedia introduction to PowerPoint. It was designed and produced for Microsoft by Publishing Power using Microsoft PowerPoint for Windows 95.

Contact information for Publishing Power


The Samples Folder

The Samples folder contains some helpful PowerPoint presentations. In addtion, the media providers have included sample PowerPoint presentations in the folders containing their media. You can open these presentations directly in slide show. Just click the presentation you want to view with the right mouse button and then click Show.