Jake Ludington's Digital Lifestyle

Lisa writes, "I have a PowerPoint presentation with audio that I would like to stream from my Website. How do I convert the PowerPoint presentation to wmv format?"

There are two main approaches for converting PowerPoint slideshows to video. One option is to purchase software that acts as a plug-in for PowerPoint to automatically export the slideshow as a movie. A second option is to play the slideshow on your computer and use screen recording software to capture the slideshow as it plays, saving the finished file in the movie format of your choice.

In my own experiences converting PowerPoint presentations to video formats, using the software converters is never a perfect alternative. The ones designed as PowerPoint plug-ins rarely grab embedded video and frequently miss text and slide transitions.

A better option may be to convert the PowerPoint slideshow by playing it onscreen and using screen capture software. If you don't have any embedded video clips in the slideshow, something like SnagIt or VoDMaker should deliver excellent results without the overhead of needing 30fps video. Both are capable of capturing audio and video, so any sounds in the presentation are also captured. In this case, video is saved as an AVI file, so flipping to WMV using Windows Media Encoder or Windows Movie Maker is necessary in this scenario as well.

One tip for doing a PowerPoint screen capture: Add a blank slide at the beginning and end of the presentation so that you have time to start the recording before the slideshow engages.