It starts with a phone call. We have a deadline and a few details. Can we do it? Check the production schedule, assemble the designers and developers, buy some pizza. Yes, we can do it! Tight deadlines often require compressing our typical work flow. Our team prides itself in listening to client story, extrapolating the message and focusing on the set objective. We have an established process that keeps us on track.
Polishing scripts while preparing artwork will be tricky, we know there may be some adjustments down the line but that is part of the process. Having a lead designer (LD) prepare artwork for developers ensures uniform style and a smooth streamline into production. Flash development starts slowly but builds momentum as we begin to share assets and motion techniques. Assigning a project manager (PM) with a nose for details keeps everything flowing in the right direction. Compressing a time line does not mean we skim over details. When each section of the project is finished our review team, account manager, PM, LD and creative director, critique the product. We know from experience there will be at least one round of tweaks before we present to the client. It is critical part of our process to ensure that we have met the high standards we have in place for each of our assignments.
Once the edit cycle is complete we post our files to a central location for deployment. How long does it take to convert these files to the final video format? “Do the math”, a favorite phrase around here, alerts our video producer to gear up for some weekend work. On Monday morning we push 14 videos to the client. Everyone take a deep breath, edits will be in tomorrow.
Engaging presentations are crucial for successfully captivating an audience. You have a lot to say, and all of it is good. But while it’s easy to fill your slides with text, it can be challenging to visualize that text into a presentation that promotes your message. So we would like to share with you some inspiration and some fundamental presentation guidelines, both from our own portfolio and from Slideshare, a San-Francisco based company that provides a platform for businesses and professionals to share their presentations online.
SlideShare recently announced winners for the ‘World’s Best Presentation of 2009′ and I have to say, the winning presentations certainly grab your attention. Among them are Dan Roam and Dr Tony Jones’ collaboration called “American Health Care: a 4-Napkin Explanation.” Voted as the winner of Slideshare’s Best Presentation of 2009. It’s clever, simple to understand and far shorter than reading the written health bills.
Let us know how we can help you improve your presentations. Check out our portfolio of completed projects.
Having a web presence is relatively easy and certainly valuable to businesses, organizations and even individuals. But before pulling together your website you’ll want to weigh some options.
An important tool, you should consider is a content management system (CMS), which will allow you to control individual content pages, navigational menus, meta data and more with a simple process. Unlike updating individual files, uploading via FTP and crossing your fingers that it works properly AND looks good. This is an important development consideration prior to starting.
Second, relying on a webmaster has it’s benefits but there are some serious drawbacks, expecially when in a pinch. If you’re about to launch a marketing campaign, you have very last minute changes to a webpage but your webmaster is out…who do you call? Ghostbusters can’t help you out this time. Teaching a few people how to make website updates makes more sense – they log into a web-based platform, make the changes/updates and publish the changes. This can save you from the potential problems of relying on one sole individual.
Third on the list is accessibility. I mentioned this a bit in the previous paragraph that a CMS is a web-based application which means you can (typically) log-in from any computer that has internet access. Even if it’s 3am on a Sunday you can make changes to your website without waiting for your webmaster to manually upload HTML files.
Not everyone will have the same needs, and in some cases, a CMS simply isn’t needed or a proper suit. Be sure to look at the options and understand the benefits of using a CMS. Contact us; we can help you determine the best route possible. And, we have CMS options to fulfill your needs…if that’s the route to take.
Despite Microsoft Word being around for a very long time, there are still issues we face when using it in conjunction with other applications. One common issue is the hidden/embedded code within a document file.
Our clients typically use Microsoft Word to provide content which would be added to their website. But, it’s not a simple copy and paste job as you’d like to think. Unfortunately MS Word can give you many more problems than you’d care to deal with simply because of the hidden code it adds when trying to copy and paste that content.
The image above is a snapshot of the code that is added to the WYSIWYG editor and unfortunately, you can only see this by viewing the HTML portion of the editor. This means that if you copy the text from Word and paste it into your CMS, there is a good chance you won’t notice this code and continue to be frustrated as you attempt to format the text.
So now you’re asking, “Why is this a problem?”. Simply put, you’ll struggle to have your content displayed the way you initially intended.
The way you can get around this issue is by using Notepad or a similar program. Copying the content from Word and pasting it into Notepad will strip all the unwanted code from the text. From there you can copy the text from Notepad and paste it into your editor/CMS. This will provide you a clean copy of the text that can be formatted properly from within the CMS. Keep in mind, when you do this you will lose all of the formatting – bold, italics, colors, etc., so keep the Word doc handy for reference.
Building complex custom animations in PPT is a frequent requirement here at CGI. Using the Selection Pane is a powerful tool that helps speed production. Remember using the Tab button to drill down to an object buried under multiple layers? Have you ever been frustrated by an animation sequence because you chose Picture 3 instead of Picture 2? Then you’ll love this feature.
In PowerPoint 2007 from the Home ribbon look for the Editing toolbar which includes Find, Replace and Select.
Open the drop down menu for select and choose Selection Pane.The Selection and Visibility task pane offers some powerful options.
Here you can assign a logical name to objects by double clicking on the name in the task bar. If I use two grouped shapes to create a mask effect I can name the Group to be “Mask”. It is good practice to assign names to objects as you build a presentation because updating an object name on slide 3 will not automatically update it throughout the presentation.
Do you need to edit a piece of text that is hidden behind other layers? In the Selection Pane choose Hide All at the bottom of the task bar and then click on the visibility box next to the object you want to edit. Make your change and select Show All at the bottom of the task bar.
Tired of using Send to Back, Bring Forward to get your layering right? When you choose Arrange you will find the Selection Pane option at the bottom of the menu. Open the Selection Pane and use the Re-order arrows to move the object into the correct position. Arranging your layers so that text peeks out from under “Mask” rather than on top will be simple to correct by reading your list of labeled objects.
Keep both the Selection pane and Custom Animation task pane open and you will fly through your animation sequences. “Grab” an object from the Selection pane and “Add an Effect” in the Custom Animation pane.
One more thing, just because you can animate objects faster now doesn’t mean you should. Be selective about adding drama to your presentation; you don’t want your audience reaching for the Dramamine!
