Hello again! Many of you have written with suggestions for tips or expressions of gratitude for past editions of Impatica Tips. Thank you for your enthusiasm and please continue to provide us with your feedback. In this issue, Impatica OnCue users are given the opportunity to download and use a free audio-only template. For those of you who are not currently OnCue users, feel free to try our evaluation version. For more information please visit our website. |
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Internet Explorer Windows XP SP2 Security Setting
If you are using Internet Explorer on Windows XP with Service Pack 2 installed then you may find that you are unable to view Impatica content that is saved to your hard drive (i.e. when using the Preview mode in Impatica applications or double-clicking an Impatica generated HTML icon on your screen) without first receiving a warning.The reason for this is that Microsoft added a new security setting with Service Pack 2 that limits viewing of Java applets from your hard drive. The new service pack does not affect the playback of Impatica content when the files are accessed online. To rectify this situation open Internet Explorer and find the Tools menu. From within the Tools menu select Internet Options... and then the Advanced tab. Scroll down to the Security section and ensure the following item is checked... [x] Allow active content to run in files on My Computer .gif)
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Graphics Formats: Which Should I Use?
When creating graphics for PowerPoint presentations, there are several formats that you can choose for saving your images. The most common formats are BMP, GIF, JPG and PNG. Each of the formats is described below; how they are used and which format is best for which purpose.BMP (Microsoft Windows Bitmap) Bitmap (BMP) is the standard Microsoft Windows raster file format that has no compression rate. Normally, it is not a very efficient format because it is not compressed, which makes it unsuitable for online use and will increase the size of your source PowerPoint files considerably. However, during the impaticization process, Impatica for PowerPoint compresses the bitmap images included in your PowerPoint presentation making them suitable for online viewing. GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) If the image has fewer than 256 colors, GIF can render the image exactly. When the image contains many colors, the software that creates the GIF approximates the colors with the limited palette of 256 colors available. GIF is a very popular format due to its ability to animate using multiple layers and its support for transparency. Currently, Impatica products support animated gifs and 1-bit GIF transparency. JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) JPG or JPEG works best for images with lots of subtle color variations, such as a photograph, but is not so suitable for graphics with areas of continuous color. It does not work so well on non-realistic images, such as cartoons or line drawings. It can contain millions of colors, but it does not support transparency. If you have any kind of image that has smooth, shaded transitions, in most cases JPEG is a better choice than GIF. PNG (Portable Network Graphics) PNG uses a lossless compression method (i.e. no degradation of image quality) like GIF. It has two formats, PNG-8, which supports up to 256 colors, and PNG-24 which supports millions of colors. PNG is of principal value if you have an image with large areas of exactly uniform color, but that contains more than 256 colors. |
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Audio-Only OnCue Presentations Discussed
Audio-only Impatica OnCue presentations are useful when time or resources do not permit the use of a video asset but the benefits of a full OnCue presentation are desired. Plus, synchronization of audio with PowerPoint slides is often much faster and easier to do with Impatica OnCue than with PowerPoint alone.In this issue of Impatica Tips we are offering a complimentary audio-only OnCue template. This template does not have a logo or video area but offers a larger PowerPoint slide area as well as the other standard OnCue template elements. OnCue presentations made with this template can be branded by placing them in a web page that contains your own branding. A copy of this template is available for download (zip format) from our website. Complimentary Template Zip File Contents: When the zip file is extracted, a folder, "Complimentary-OnCue-Template", will be created at the save location. Within that folder there will be two pictures of the template and the template itself (NoVid-CustomPPT-050421.imp). One picture shows the template with an OnCue presentation running (NoVid-customPPT-pres.gif) and the other indicates dimensions for the template elements (NoVid-customPPT.gif). Enjoy the new template and feel free to share your creations with us! |
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Breakdown of OnCue Assets
There are several key components of an Impatica OnCue project. Some of these components, called "assets," are viewed or heard directly by the audience and some work behind the scenes to make sure every element of the show is in sync. Here is a breakdown of the different OnCue assets:
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