Why and how to use PowerPoint presentations when creating videos with a Rapidmooc studio
Sommaire
Part 1
Why use a Powerpoint when recording
with a Rapidmooc studio
There’s a whole host of reasons an organisation would want to record videos: be it for marketing, training or operations purposes.  But regardless of the application, every video needs to include rich and engaging content if it is to be effective and successful.
Film vs. Video presentation
Videos must be well paced if they want any hope of grabbing their audience’s attention. They are usually based on a script and have the added bonus of bringing typically static elements to life. Compared to films, which involve actors and have fully-fledged storylines, professional business videos tend to evoke different emotional triggers and reactions.
Such videos feature speech rather than dialogue and the ‘decor’ plays a much more important role, directly reinforcing what is being said. It’s all about presenting, and not simply showing.
That’s why Rapidmooc studios let you record your video:
With the speaker in front of a background (green screen overlay)
With the speaker behind animated/3D elements (augmented reality)
Using a file containing all the necessary elements (images, visuals, videos, texts, etc.)
Which tool already exists that allows you to create such a multimedia presentation without any specialised knowledge and with vast creative freedom? PowerPoint!
PowerPoint
Everyone knows that PowerPoint is the go-to program for making presentations and is the easiest way to assemble of a series of elements into an animated and interactive ensemble. In 2019, Microsoft estimated that approximately 35 million PowerPoint presentations were made each day and that it had a total of 500 million users across the world. This is no real surprise when you consider all the various applications it can be used for within any organisation:
Convey messages
Every presentation’s main purpose is to deliver information and convey a message, illustrated however you see fit. Whether the information is about a place, a date, a number or a concept, there is an infinite number of ways it can be represented. You just have to find the right balance between text, media and animations, optimised to fill the space in an airy and digestible manner.
Pass on knowledge
The effectiveness of teaching hinges as much on the lesson’s content as its teacher. But being a good teacher, doesn’t necessarily make you a good communicator. On top of the public speaking tips that all orators use, the knowledge culture also depends on each learner’s inquisitiveness and attention. PPT presentations are precious resources that come alive, with each slide revealing itself little by little, captivating audiences and quenching their thirst for knowledge.
Share specialised expertise
Sometimes, the knowledge that needs to be shared is much more complicated than just basic concepts. Depending on the job and industry, you may need to explain the foundations of specialised techniques or demonstrate physical procedures. When it comes to such ‘specialised expertise’, static images are not capable of fully showing and illustrating concrete actions in their entirety. That’s why Rapidmooc studios are used by a wide range of industries, luxury manufacturers, sports organisations and the Army, as they allow them to share manufacturing processes and practices in a detailed, precise and methodical manner.
Versatility that caters to every profession
The longevity of any profession – regardless of the industry – is dependent upon the following cycle:
Learning/passing on knowledge
Innovating and constantly progressing
Communicating/improving skills
Sharing success, developing its appeal
As we have seen, the PowerPoint-Rapidmooc combo is able to make even the most abstract of notions so much more tangible! That’s why it can be used at every stage of this cycle, offering unlimited versatility and a central concept that continues to prove its worth.
Now let’s look at the more ‘technical’ aspect of this amazing duo!
Part 2
Focus on the 2 main recording modes
for Rapidmooc studios
The resounding success of Rapidmooc studios is in part thanks to the variety of easy-to-use recording modes that can be utilised to create captivating video effects. Here, we will focus on the two most popular: green screen and augmented reality.
Green screen
Used in Hollywood since the 1940s, green screens make it possible to add any type of background behind whoever is being filmed. The aim is to create immersive and realistic videos by instantly adding a décor, location or any other element behind you.
There are many reasons why you would use a PPT presentation with this mode. Whether you want to present parts of your speech with the aid of images — like a weather presenter — or recreate a specific atmosphere, everything is possible!
All you need to do is:
1
Create your slides and leave space to fit yourself in
2
Select the right recording mode
3
Connect your computer with the right PPT presentation
4
Stand up, with the green screen behind you and the camera in front of you
5
Start recording and move between slides using a pointer or keyboard
Thanks to the power of Rapidmooc’s app, you will instantly see your PPT content appear in front of you. You will also be able to ‘edit the scene’ to adjust how big you want to appear. For example, you can embed yourself onto a TV set in just a few clicks.
A few examples of what can be done with this recording mode
For the best quality presentation, make sure to follow the best practices for recording videos with a green screen! You can find them on the special Rapidmooc Cheat Sheet, available here
Augmented reality
Augmented reality (commonly known as AR) lets you superimpose 2D or 3D information between the camera and the subject; an extra layer that can improve the perceived reality [Image illustration des calques]. Rapidmooc’s solution lets you recreate this augmented reality by placing PPT elements in front of you, superimposed onto your reality.
And it couldn’t be simpler: all you need to do is create slides with a green screen background and add your images, texts or any other elements. The green screen will enable you to source the video from the Rapidmooc studio camera and project it behind the PPT elements, whether they be static or dynamic.
Here are a few examples of what is possible:
Information banner
Just like what news channels use to remind viewers of a journalist’s names, you can display a banner containing text or information in front of the speaker. You’re also completely free to personalise it with your own visual identity; just be sure that it actually benefits the video and doesn’t make it too cluttered.
Note : Keep the number of animations to a minimum so as to not overcrowd the slide, and position the banner based on where the speaker will be.
Interactive product presentation
This feature lets you record yourself interacting with a product. Thanks to the 360° display of 3D objects in your surroundings (image), you can have items float around your body or present the minutest of things in XXL! The possibilities are endless, and a professional result is guaranteed!
Note : Incorporating 3D elements can significantly increase the size of your PPT file. Use them sparingly to ensure your slides don’t take too long to load.Â
Embedding into an environment
Another fun possibility: make yourself appear within an object or entire environment. Whether it be a computer screen, television or even a billboard, embedding the full video feed (you and your immediate reality) is a simple and great way to create surprise and incorporate yourself into even more realistic surroundings.
After looking at a few of the many recording features, it’s time to consider the raw material that serves as the starting point of your creative process. The aforementioned modes will be even more powerful if they are used in conjunction with a set of well-thought-out visual and textual elements. Let’s explore this in more detail.
Part 3
Video-first design
In the same vein, the slides of a PowerPoint presentation can be animated to act just like a video. You just have to decide how many images per second you want to include! Then let the Rapidmooc studio work its magic: transform your PPT slides into an mp4 video with amazing effects.
Below are the various levers you can leverage to create a captivating presentation, and an extraordinary Rapidmooc video:
The composition of a PowerPoint presentation is rather simple.
A page – commonly known as a slide – is a free and open space that can house several layers of elements: graphs, images, sound and even video. A presentation’s fluidity and pace depend on the contents of these slides and how they are linked.
In reality, regardless of the content, the style is what brings a presentation to life…and it needs to be irresistible! Let’s take a quick trip down memory lane: do you remember how cartoons first started? As sketches on little pieces of paper that would come alive when you quickly flicked through them.
Raw materials
Checklist
The eyes and ears are your one-way ticket to grabbing your audience’s attention. It is therefore essential that you carefully choose:
Appropriate visual explanations:
Which messages to deliver (1 to 2 main ideas per slide)
Which sounds to trigger at key moments
Music for when you’re not speaking (not always necessary).
The right balance between text and illustrations (the general rule of thumb is 1/3 text to 2/3 image)
Une méthode explicative imagée :
Static: using photos, graphs, 3D objects and infographs
Dynamic: using videos and GIFs
Where to find them:
You can very well create a design from scratch or use a pre-made template. But whether your final presentation respects your visual identity or is totally immersive with a full-page design void of white space, it’s important that you gather all the media you want to include beforehand.
This means organisation is key! Create folders with all the potential elements sorted by category (e.g. fonts, images, graphs) and then into sub-folders (e.g. theme1, theme2).
The point is to make the whole process more efficient by making it easier to find the elements whenever you need them. What’s even better is that PowerPoint is constantly being upgraded with new and handy features that can help you in this endeavour. Let’s look at 3 little-known but very useful features:
1.
Icons (for more choice, check out nounproject)
2.
3D models: your own or pre-existing objects ordered by category and sometimes animated
3.
Add-ins, often free, that let you add turnkey solutions (e.g. RRSlide Library or PresenterMedia, which offer free templates)
Animations and transitions
After completing all your slides, you’ll need to finish off your presentation’s design with some dynamic animation. Whether it be animations on individual elements or transitions between slides, the possibilities with PowerPoint are (almost) endless.
Animating individual or grouped elements:
Just like at the theatre or cinema, the element of surprise will catch your audience’s attention and help them focus. Well-chosen effects can transform your presentation from a simple book into a fully-fledged film with multiple scenes. You can choose the:
1.
Animation type
2.
Order and duration
Transitions between slides:
Your presentation must have panache… but how can you give it that wow factor? With the wide range of transitions already available on PowerPoint. Whether you opt for a graceful or more explosive effect, transitions can add structure and create breaks in your presentation, ultimately giving your video more depth.
Depending on the scenario you chose beforehand, you can use Rapidmooc’s recording modes to take these effects to a whole new level.  A really simple way to amaze your audience without any expert knowledge!
Text in notes, directly used by the Rapidmooc teleprompter
And last but not least, we have one final tip on how to optimise your PPT presentation for filming with Rapidmooc:
Use the notes section to add your speech, and when it comes to recording, the text will scroll right in front of your eyes.
In other words, Rapidmooc’s studios come with a built-in digital teleprompter whose text you can personalise, along with the scroll speed and width (amongst other things). This feature lets you focus your attention on your delivery and non-verbal language, and also enables you to programme a wide variety of actions to interact with your recording.
Thanks to our software’s pre-defined tags, you can add triggers directly into the body of your speech:
[Fade] = show/hide
[Pause] = pause recording
[Stop] = end recording
[CameraX] = choose the pre-saved position to automatically ‘move’ based on your surroundings
[VideoSourceX] = choose which video feed depending on whether you have 1, 2 or 3 cameras connected (for example, to alternate the view between different objects or speakers)
This way, after perfecting your slides’ look and appearance, you will be able to record yourself speaking in a comfortable and expressive manner.
Part 4
Go one step further, toolbox
To help you design your ‘Rapidmooc’ PowerPoint presentation, here is a non-exhaustive list of image libraries and free tools that you can use for basic resources and turnkey effects:
Basic resources
Green screen overlay
PowerPoint add-in that offers pre-designed templates you can personalise (add animations)
PowerPoint add-in that offers pre-designed templates you can personalise (including pre-programmed animations)
PowerPoint add-in that offers pre-designed templates you can personalise (including icones and images)
Augmented reality
Powerpoint add-in for creating and adding 3D models created on the online platform (requires knowledge of JavaScript, R, Python or a knack for interactive solutions)
PowerPoint add-in for scientific/medical 3D models (e.g. anatomy)
database of green screen footage and animations :
With all these tips and best practices, your PPT presentations will be fully optimised for recording with Rapidmooc’s studios. Feel free to contact our teams if you need help with this limitless and exciting creative process!
