Running Head: MULTIMEDIA TOOL
REVIEW: MICROSOFT PRODUCER
Multimedia Tool Review: Microsoft Producer
by
Anthony P. Niemann
ELFH 676-50
Tool Review: Microsoft Producer
In the last ten years various applications have allowed developers to create online content by incorporating advantages of audio and video with presentations created from the Microsoft Power Point application. Microsoft Corporation offers a tool for teachers that could significantly impact what goes on in the classroom and on e-Learning sites around the world. Early attempts to create audio with Power Point Presentations were not made by some training developers because content that was created could be downloaded and used by competitors. Also, it was very difficult to produce a professional product suitable for online learning situations that held the viewer’s attention (Dent, 2002). Applications like Impactica allowed developers to use Power Point content without streaming data by using Java codex, but tended to be expensive. Producer allows the user to combine content that includes audio, video, slides, and images into one presentation for business or educational purposes. In this paper we examine requirements necessary to use Producer, and a few highlights and benefits of using this product. We also look at disadvantages and limitations with Producer. Finally, we examine what professionals in the field of training and content delivery have to say about this product.
Hardware requirements for creating a presentation using Producer are quite modest, and were obtained from the Microsoft product information website for Producer (Microsoft Corporation, 2007). You need a computer with 128 megabytes of RAM, an internal processor speed of 400 megahertz, and a monitor with 600 by 800 dpi (dots per inch) screen resolution. The available space on your hard drive will depend on how intricate you plan to make your presentation. Two gigabytes should be sufficient for most projects. Operating systems that support the Producer application include Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional with Service Pack 1 (SP1) or later, Windows XP Home Edition, Windows XP Professional, or Windows XP Tablet PC Edition. You are also required to own Power Point 2002 or later. The user needs some type of microphone to provide audio input, a camera device for including video content, and an Internet connection that allows access for publishing your presentation to a web site, intranet site, e-learning site, or a shared network connection. The application can be downloaded for free from Microsoft’s website.
In order to view the presentation that is produced, the viewer can use about any Microsoft operating system including Windows 98 or later. They also need Windows Media Player 6.4 or later. Browsers should be Internet Explorer 5.0 or later, or Netscape navigator 7.0 or later. Microsoft does recommend using Windows Media Player 9.0 to optimize presentation playback (Microsoft Corporation, 2007). Also, if Windows Audio9 or Video 9 was used in the presentation production, Windows Media Player 7 is required for viewing it. Presentations are also viewable from Macintosh computers and have similar requirements to the above if you use the Producer add-in designed for Power Point 2003. The Producer add-in designed for Power Point 2002 could be problematic when viewed on a Macintosh computer (Davies, 2003). As Producer files tend to be larger than files created with software such as Flash, viewers who use dial-up modems may have problems.
Primary Producer features include the ability to capture, import, and organize a wide variety of media elements. The caveat with this claim from Microsoft is that some features require more than the minimum requirements listed above for “live captures” of audio or video. Also, there are reports that live captures can be problematic, and users are advised to insure that 600 by 800 dpi screen resolution is used (Davies, 2003). Resolution of captured images could cause problems if they are not compatible with the viewer’s hardware. You can narrate your slides without being required to first drop your Power Point presentation on the timeline. Media elements can be easily synchronized, and published just about anywhere, and new tools that help you to accomplish this have been added to Producer. You also have the ability to preview your presentation before publishing it. An autorun file is automatically created when creating media using a compact disk (CD) to hold your Producer file content. For serious users of Producer, Microsoft has a 2003 Software Development Kit that allows developers to write script that controls output and integrates the program into content management and hosting solutions (Microsoft Corporation, 2007).
There have been significant improvements in Producer in the last five years. The use the Windows Media Server and others which provides the capability to use data-streaming technology, has improved the ability to use Producer to create a truly professional product. Data streaming techniques will allow developers to safeguard content, which should enhance the use of Producer. The reason that Producer will impact the marketplace is because of its best feature: It is free (Bradley, 2004). However, it is only truly free if you do not purchase the technology necessary to incorporate data streaming techniques.
Although advantages in using Producer include the ease of creating content, many users have complained about the time it takes to download the producer file to a viewer’s computer. This has been one of the main complaints about Microsoft Producer files in the past. There are ways to speed up the viewing process. One way to do this is by publishing the Producer file to a data-streaming server (Ross, 2005). It is accomplished by using the new web publishing wizard that Microsoft has enhanced in the newest version of Producer by publishing the file to a streaming video web server. There are advantages and disadvantages to streaming video. The advantages are that your viewers will be able to view your content without downloading the file to their computers. This can save valuable employee time. The negative side of using streaming data is that your network bandwidth can be tied up. Ask any network administrator about the headaches that are caused by network slowdowns due to employees listening to their favorite music on company computers via streaming data.
Let’s examine the GUI (Graphical User Interface) in Figure 1 that allows you to publish your Producer files.
Figure 1: Graphical Users Interface for the Publish Wizard in Microsoft Producer1
______________________________________________________________
1From: “Create a media sensation by streaming your Producer presentations” by W. Ross, 2005, Inside Microsoft Power Point 12(12), p 14.
Imagine you are the manager of a new training department set up by your company. You want to create online content for employees by using a Power Point presentation that includes audio and video. You want to create a large Producer file that includes content that can be viewed without suffering lengthy download times. Don’t be intimidated with details about how to publish your content to a streaming web server. Microsoft makes a specialized server called “Windows Media Server” and it is designed to stream data such as Producer files. Even if your company uses some other type of streaming server, you can publish Producer content to it. Contact the Network Administrator and tell him / her that you need to publish streaming data to a streaming server. If your company does not already have a streaming server, you may need to ensure that sufficient network bandwidth will be available to accommodate your project requirements. Contact the network administrator and give him the details about your content that you intend to publish, and who will be viewing it.
In summary we can conclude that there are products in the marketplace that have advantages over Microsoft Producer. However, one critical advantage that Microsoft Producer offers to those on a tight training budget is cost: Producer is free if you have Power Point 2002 or later. If you need streaming video, there are costs involved with obtaining the servers and network bandwidth necessary to provided this feature. Overall costs that include bandwidth and servers necessary to create and present a professional product by using streaming Power Point Presentations via Producer should be compared with costs to produce presentations using products such as Macromedia’s Flash. It is easier to produce a product with a more “professional” feel with Flash than with Producer. For many individuals who do not work for a training department where multimedia editing software is available, Microsoft’s Producer may be the only product available. Microsoft has a history of capturing market share by offering products for free. This product is not going to vanish in the near future because it is free. If Microsoft’s strategy is successful, then e-Learning content developed by many training departments using Microsoft’s Publisher will grow.
References
Bradley, H. (2004). Lights, camera, action. PC Magazine 23(12), 86-86.
Davies, S. (2003). Technology for e-Learning: A review of Microsoft Producer 1.1. Retrieved
January 15, 2007, from http://ferl.becta.org.uk/display.cfm?resID=5169&printable=1
Dent, D. (2002). Bluetooth wireless technology by online learning. Retrieved January 17, 2007,
from http://fie.engrng.pitt.edu/fie2002/papers/1057.pdf
Microsoft Corporation. (2007). Producer 2003 product information. Retrieved January 15, 2007,
from http://www.microsoft.com/office/powerpoint/producer/prodinfo/default.mspx
Ross, W. (2005). Create a media
sensation by streaming your Producer presentations. Inside
Microsoft Power Point 12(12), 12-14.