Re: Presentation Software?

["Arlen P. Walker" <Arlen -dot- P -dot- Walker -at- JCI -dot- COM>]

      I need to find out what software and hardware tools should be evaluated
      for putting together a system to prepare slide shows.  We want to use
      photographs and combine with text to prepare fine looking slides. Any
      ideas?  And what will I need to digitize the photos and then manipulate?
      Your help is appreciated.
      Jon Leer

We've had good luck here with Aldus Persuasion and and old Lasergraphics LFR
film recorder. You'll need a scanner for the photos (possibly a slide scanner,
if you have some slides you've taken as well). Best SW I've *ever* seen for
manipulating scanned images is Adobe Photoshop. The good news is that it's
bundled with most scanners.

Polaroid, GCC (if they're still around), Mirrus, and AGFA all have film
recorders you might want to check out. I think HP may have one as well. What has
seemed to me to be the output quality key for a good film recorder was the size
of the monitor. Film recorders work by pointing a fixed focal length camera at a
monitor and exposing the film. The LFR uses a larger monitor. With the smaller
monitors you can get distortion and loss of focus near the edges of the slide. I
haven't seen it on the LFR.

Best advice: prepare a set of slides you want to shoot. Go to vendors offering
the film recorders and do a test shoot of the slides. Insist on being present
during the shoot so you can see everything that needs to be done (it's amazing
how many steps are included in some vendor's "few minutes of preparation"). Then
develop the film, and display them on a screen for evaluation.


Have fun,
Arlen


Arlen -dot- P -dot- Walker -at- JCI -dot- Com
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