Dani Davis

Software Review 1

June 12^th, 2004

Summary of findings

Software capabilities

Today, I had my first experience using Visual Communicator, an advanced multimedia presentation software program. Unlike the popular Microsoft PowerPoint presentation software, The Visual Communicator software program is ultimately designed to assist presenters in delivering a smooth videotaped presentation to their audience. This software allows you to incorporate video clips, slide transitions and sound bites into any videotaped presentation, giving it a very professional appearance.

First, the user simply enters the words that they want to say into the teleprompter. This allows for reading from the screen during the video recording process, while at the same time giving the impression of speaking without prompts and looking directly into the camera. To do this, the presenter simply reads the words as they pass through the red stripe at the top of the teleprompter.

Next, the user can place the desired special effects into their show. The click and drag ease of this program could not make importing graphics, music files or video clips any easier. The user simply needs to click on the wanted file and drag it to the desired action tray, which is located to the right of the teleprompter. The graphic tray is divided into halves. The right side of the tray contains the special effect, while the left contains the desired transition for that effect. Once the file is placed in the tray, it has been successfully imported into your presentation.

.

As stated above, after choosing the file one wishes to include in their show, the user is also able to control the special effects on the slide transitions. This is accomplished by choosing the desired transition special effect, and placing it on the left side of the transition tray, right alongside the chosen graphic. After this the desired tray is able to be placed next to any word in the presentation, by click on the tray and dragging it to any point in the show. As it passes through the red stripe of the teleprompter, it is activated within the presentation.

Limitations

In order to utilize the full capabilities of this program, users must have a number of hardware additions to the basic personal computer. A web camera is needed in order to produce video clips to be imported into your presentation. Audio files must be recorder using some type of external recording device, such as a microphone. Users who want to include personal photos in their show, must own either a scanner or a digital camera to save photos in their computer.

Due to the nature of this program, it is important to practice giving your presentation beforehand. Otherwise, it is easy for the presenter to sound as if they are indeed reading their speech off of a teleprompter. Even though this is true, it should not be apparent to others. Hearing a presentation that is obviously being read will bore the target audience. Their minds will wonder away from the presentation and the point of the presentation will not be successfully conveyed.

Also, I designed a presentation using Visual Communicator, but I was not able to paste it into the word file or upload it to the web. This may be due to the fact that I was only working in the demo mode of the software, which was very limited in the options available to the user. I could only choose from three pre-made audio clips and not many more graphics within the demo. However, I could import anything from my computer or the internet that I desired.

System Requirements

• Windows 98SE, ME, 2000 or XP
• Pentium III or equivalent   (Including Pentium 4, Celeron 2, AMD Athlon and Duron)
• 933 MHz or faster processor speed
• 128 MB RAM
• 50 MB available hard drive space
• Standard PC audio card (microphone optional)
• 16MB AGP graphics card with 3D acceleration
  (Note: Laptop owners should verify that they have 3D accelerated graphics hardware such as a GeForce, Radeon or Intel 830 chip)

Personal Review

This program has great possibilities. It enables users to combine many different forms of media, to finish with a stunning professional looking video presentation. Given all of the right equipment, this software is a valuable asset in any educator’s classroom. However, many educators do not have frequent access to web camera’s microphones, and/or video recording equipment. Obtaining the necessary tools can be a very time consuming and expensive endeavor for the already swamped teacher.

Also, one of the major drawbacks I saw with this program was the fact that the person in the demonstration sounded as if he were reading a script, which in fact he was. Given that by design, users will be reading the screen, many presentations would sound over rehearsed and in some cases, even monotone in delivery. Therefore, any user should practice reading with expression and inflection. It is the overall goal that your speech appears to be coming directly from the heart, not from a prepared screen.

PowerPoint serves my purposes well. I do not see myself using this program. Although Visual Communication has merits, I never script what I am going to say beforehand. As I give a presentation, I interact with my students, explaining points and answering questions, which involves the students as active rather than passive learners. When this program is used, the learners are forced to sit there and passively receive information that is being imparted to them, rather than questioning, discussing and discovering for themselves.

Reference

Serious Magic: http://www.seriousmagic.com/vcdemo.cfm