Making a DVD from a presentation (ppt2dvd)

[sgull]

I had been wondering about the possibilities of creating an Impress presentation and then burning it onto a DVD. I came across this particular program called ppt2dvd, which is supposed to be good. But, of course, the program was developed with the intent that the user would be using Powerpoint, not necessarily Impress. Any thoughts on whether it would work just as well (or not at all) with Impress?

[sgull]

I contacted the company that puts out PPT2DVD, and their response was "Thanks for contacting us. We are sorry that PPT2DVD only works with Microsoft PowerPoint, it is not compatible with Open Office." Does anyone know of a third-party application that would enable me to burn Impress presentations onto a DVD, or how to do it otherwise?

[acknak]

Thanks for the follow-up. I edited your post to make the link inactive: it doesn't apply to OOo, so we don't need to advertise for them. Someone should be able to find them, if necessary, given what's left of the address.

[huw]

If no one else comes up with anything, you might have some luck with programs that capture your display to video. There are a lot around, although I don't know any by name.

[DrewJensen]

I guess what you are asking is 'If the person loading the DVD does not have OpenOffice.org?'

A couple of ideas
- export the Impress file as a swf
- Export the Impress file as a ppt, include both the impress and Powerpoint versions on the dvd
- Export the impress file as a ppt, use the above mentioned tool to burn the dvd - assuming it doesn't actually require that you have a licensed copy of MS ppt. Then again there is a free ppt viewer from MS isn't there.
- OR ( my favorite )
There are versions of OpenOffice.org available that will run from USB sticks - contact them maybe it will run from a DVD also, without having to actually install it - if so, just include this version of OpenOffice.org on the DVD with your Impress file(s)

[sgull]

I guess what you are asking is 'If the person loading the DVD does not have OpenOffice.org?'

No that's not really what I'm asking. What I am asking is whether there is a program available that makes it possible for presentations created with the Open Office Impress application to be burned onto DVD so that the presentations could be viewed on a TV with a DVD player hooked up instead of the typical way where you need a multimedia projector hooked up to a PC (usually a laptop) to view the presentations.

[DrewJensen]

oh - sorry then, and, I have no earthly idea..

[sgull]

oh - sorry then, and, I have no earthly idea..

No need to apologize! Sorry I did not make my inquiry clear at the outset (and probably still haven't). Thanks very much Drew for the input.

[Phil]

Just came across this thread when answering a comparable question.
As I pointed to this very thread, I want to add a comment:

What I am asking is whether there is a program available that makes it possible for presentations created with the Open Office Impress application to be burned onto DVD so that the presentations could be viewed on a TV with a DVD player hooked up

OK, but exactly this would be solved with Drew's third suggestion:

- Export the impress file as a ppt, use the above mentioned tool to burn the dvd - assuming it doesn't actually require that you have a licensed copy of MS ppt.

PPT2DVD will make a DVD that runs on a DVD player from .ppt files, and the .ppt files can be created with Impress.

However... It will not work, as a PowerPoint installation is a prerequisite for running PPT2DVD (according to the Wondershare website).
Also, the .ppt export filter is not 100% perfect, i.e. the result might not be exactly what you have in Impress.

KR, phil

[kukla]

I recommend to use VideoPPT to playing powerpoint on DVD.
It converts presentation to AVI, WMV, SWF or FLV video.

[Phil]

Hi and welcome to the forum, kukla!

Thanks for the hint, however I am unable to make head or tail of the information on the website videoppt.com.

On one hand, it is claimed

Does not require Microsoft PowerPoint installed in your system!

On the other hand, it says:

VideoPPT is a powerful PowerPoint Add In [...]
VideoPPT appears as a PowerPoint toolbar at the Add-Ins tab [...]

So I fear the tool is not needed to play the presentations, but it is needed to convert them to movie formats.

Am I correct in my understanding?
Kukla, do you have personal experience with the tool?

Thanks again,
phil

[TheGurkha]

VideoPPT doesn't work with OOo, it is an add-in for PowerPoint.

[tin2tin]

Sorry for digging up this old thread(seems to be the most ppt2dvd related thread), but I just like to mention that I've added this functionality(with a bit of Open Office macro scripting) to the open sourced and free DVD slideshow GUI (Windows).

When importing a ppt-file DVD slideshow GUI will extract the images from the file with Open Office(must be installed) and load them into the slideshow software. With this software you can then author a dvd with menus in a way you can use the dvd remote for your standalone dvd player to go back and forth between the slides. DVD slideshow GUI will not extract videos from the ppt presentation, but they can be added manually afterwards in DVD slideshow GUI.

Here's my more detailed post at this forum about ppt2dvd with DVD slideshow GUI and a video tutorial:
http://user.services.openoffice.org/en/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=26778#p121826

I hope someone will find this useful - I've spend a couple of day to get it working.