Quality Video in Powerpoint

  • Thread starter Thread starter craig_film
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C

craig_film

I'm going to do a complete search of this group to see if I can find
some answers, but I thought I'd also just "put it out there" to see if
someone can direct me to a single information resource.

I'm creating a presentation for client. I'm trying to incorporate
video into a powerpoint presentation. We are primarily video
producers and have the capability of outputting video to virtually any
codec and settings. The video will be at least 50% of the
presentation and I need TV-like quality. We have $4000 budgeted for
the laptop to run this, so computer power won't be an issue. We'll be
projecting it at 640 X 480.

Does anyone know the perfect recipe of codec/settings/methods to get
extremely high quality from within Powerpoint. Is powerpoint the best
solution?

Craig
dfjproductions.com
 
Definitely check the link Sonia provided. It is a real eye opener about how
multi-media is handled.

Also, take about half the budget for the laptop and move it over to a new
projector. A 1024 x 768 projector isn't that expensive and will enable you
to double you possible resolution (better than TV). Most presentations are
done in (1024 x 768) or at least (800 x 600), so the resolution you
mentioned is fairly poor. If you get high quality movies and project them
from that projector, you will have poor quality results.


If on the other hand, you are outputting to a TV quality resolution, because
you are using say ... TV's, then no matter how much resolution you pour
into it, your will not get any more out. Therefore upgrading on the
production end will not improve the viewer end.


B
--
Please spend a few minutes checking out www.pptfaq.com This link will
answer most of our questions, before you think to ask them.

Change org to com to defuse anti-spam, ant-virus, anti-nuisance
misdirection.
 
The options I would like you to consider are:

Use power point with mpeg video at its best and have less
than a poor quality VHS video tape could provide.

Or, as video producers why not use your resources and make
a DVD disc and play it from a DVD player? You will have
better than DVC quality video tape, DVD sound with text
graphics and full interactive control.
No computer to worry about either.

Downside is not quite as sharp text as powerpoint but not
enough to outway using DVD.


Look at the approximate Costs involved:
DVD player $100-00
DVD authoring software for computer $100-00
DVD discs each $1-00
and buy a decent video projector for $2000-00

costing a new computer box with DVD burner is around
$1,000-00

when XVGA at 1200x760 is the norm, projecting these days
at VGA at 640x480 is not good quality by any definition.

So for $2,200 you will get the extremely high quality you
asked for.


So what would you spend the rest of your budget on?

Boogie
 
B said:
Also, take about half the budget for the laptop and move it over to a new
projector. A 1024 x 768 projector isn't that expensive and will enable you
to double you possible resolution (better than TV). Most presentations are
done in (1024 x 768) or at least (800 x 600), so the resolution you
mentioned is fairly poor. If you get high quality movies and project them
from that projector, you will have poor quality results.
Click to expand...

I agree 100% about graphic resolution, but unless we're talking about HDTV
then the movie resolution is likely to be 720x480 or there abouts. The
difference between seeing this on a 640x480 projector and stretching it to
fill 800x600 or 1024x768 is negligible.
 
I agree that DVD would be my approach (of course you know more details about
this specific project and there may be a compelling reason for using
PowerPoint!)

The long and short of it is this. A data display will not display video as
well as a TV, and conversely a computer monitor can display sharper and more
detailed text and graphics. Although at 640x480 text and graphics are going
to suffer too.

MPEG2 is the best quality I've seen on a PC, but I wouldn't say it was TV
quality. Also there are distribution issue if you plan to show the
presentation on a number of machines. And you'd need to deinterlace the
clips to avoid sawtooth patterns.

If you're hoping to play this presentation on x machines of different
capabilities then you're safest shot would be MPEG1 at VCD
resolution...which is far from TV quality.
 
Well, I've read and considered all your info, and I can definately say
I still have no idea what I should do. Here's why:

I need to give the client a PPT presentation so that they can take
templates and add to it and modify it themselves. I need the
presentation to to a turnkey, single action, simple to use "system"
for several sales managers to manipulate. That rules out DVD.

They need high quality video projected "full screen" within the
turnkey presentation. As high quality is a major issue, it seems PPT
is ruled out.

I just can't believe that I can't get even VHS quality video from
within PPT. Money for fast hardware isn't an issue... just need to
know how to encode it (codec settings)

Frustrated.
 
PowerPoint's not the problem. You mention TV-like video quality and that
will only come from a PC if you project as video rather than data. If video
is the most important part of your presentation and the graphics are simple
and bold then I'd scan convert the VGA output to the best video signal your
projector can handle.

MPEG1 at full screen is pretty much equal to VHS quality (I disagree with
Boogie - I've seen some poorly encoded MPEG clips but when they're done well
they're VHS quality). The low quality comes from the fact that the standard
resolution is 352x288 (PAL) or 352x240 (NTSC). So you're stretching quarter
screen resolution to fill the screen.
MPEG2 at full screen is close to DVD quality from a PC (I know DVD is MPEG2,
but you've seen DVDs on a PC and it's not TV quality - back to the
differences between data and video output). The resolution can be larger
than MPEG1 at 720x576 (PAL) or 720x480 (NTSC).
Also worth considering are MPEG4 or Indeo 5 encoded AVIs.

Here's what I'd suggest experimenting with:
Use a good MPEG encoder, such as TMPGEnc from www.tmpgenc.net , and encode
your clip as an MPEG1 at 640x480 (to match your chosen display resolution).
This will give you better quality than the standard resolution mentioned
above without ignoring the limitations of the MPEG spec. Be sure to set the
bit rate higher than the VCD standard of 1150kbps, I'd suggest about
4000kbps to allow good quality at that size. You'll need to go into the
custom settings rather than accepting the templates that the program offers.
Alternatively use the same encoder to encode an MPEG2 clip at DVD quality
(this time you can use the DVD template). Use the Elecard MPEG decoder at
www.elecard.com if your machine is not capable of playing MPEG2 clips from
PowerPoint.
Also try using the Microsoft MPEG2 codec (v2) at 640x480 or Indeo 5 at the
same res.

Be aware that the above is fine if you have control of the playback machine,
so you can install the relevant decoder or codec, otherwise I stick to my
earlier comment that MPEG1 at standard res is safest for distribution (not
strictly a PowerPoint issue).

Hope that helps rather than hinders...
 
Craig, I have inserted HDTV quality video in PowerPoint. They were Windows
Media format. Check out the Windows Media web site and look at their high
definition samples. Some of these are 1280 x 740ish around 6 or 7 MB rate
and play very well. You need some pretty decent hardware to play them
without any problems. I am using a P4 2.53 Ghz machine for playback. Just
install Windows Media Player 9 and away you go.
 
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