Presentation Software and Multimedia
Tested: creating slides, layouts and the slide master, the difference between transitions and animations, slide-show controls, and multimedia file formats.
Structure
A presentation is a set of slides. A layout (title slide, title and content, two content, blank) controls the placeholders; a theme controls colours and fonts; the Slide Master controls what every slide inherits, so a logo or heading changed there updates all slides at once.
Transitions versus animations
A transition is the effect between one slide and the next and applies to slides. An animation is an effect on a single object - a bullet, picture or chart - and applies to objects. Start options are On Click, With Previous and After Previous; Rehearse Timings records your own pace.
Slide show keys
F5 start from the first slide; Shift+F5 start from the current slide; Esc end; B or full stop for a black screen; W or comma for white; number + Enter jumps to that slide.
Multimedia formats
Raster images (JPG, PNG, GIF) are pixel-based and pixelate when enlarged; vector graphics (SVG, WMF) scale cleanly. GIF supports simple animation and transparency; PNG supports transparency; audio is usually MP3 or WAV; video is usually MP4. Insert > Audio/Video offers Play in Background and trimming. Embedding video inflates file size quickly - compress media or link it.
Worked example
A title slide must be followed by five bullets appearing one at a time, and the deck must run unattended for about eight minutes. Reasoning: apply Fade as a transition to all slides (slide level); select the bullet text box and add Fly In with Start After Previous so it runs without clicking; use Rehearse Timings until the total is near eight minutes; save as .ppsx if the file should open straight into show mode.
Traps
- Applying an animation to a slide (that is a transition) or a transition to a text box (impossible).
- Editing one title when the instruction says "on all slides" - use the master.
- Confusing .pptx with .ppsx.
- Linked audio or video that breaks when the file is opened on another computer.