Rebuilding PPT in Flex/AS3 – A Quick Look
At The Iona Group we were recently approached by the International Mission Board to assist them in creating a Presentation Viewer application to help distribute their message in a flexible fashion. We worked with them produce a Flex developed RIA delivered online in webpage, through a downloadable EXE (compiled with Zinc), and via AIR. The results are simply amazing. The app itself is pretty light. The assets they have are just great and the client was a delight to work with. Not often do you have a project go that smoothly. The main developer here on the project, Mark, really executed the client’s vision expertly. Furthermore, the client’s other vendor, SiteVision, was great to work with as well as they created the server side architecture to deliver the app.
The tool is capable of doing Ken Burn effects, dissolves, fades and lots of wipes, etc…¬† It palys video, timed audio slide shows, cue point triggered transitions. It can display Jpgs, SWFs (including Flash Paper), FLVs and h.264 content. It is able to do fullscreen presentations and the dimensions of the app are also configurable via parameters in the management tool (which we did not create).
I encourage you to go check out the site… a cool tool and a great message.
Posted on January 2, 2008
chris Jan 2
looking for more info on the project… i would like to do something similar but have no flex experience…
Martin Jan 2
You should really have a look at http://www.sliderocket.com, it’s an AWESOME example of a Flex application that offers a lot more than powerpoint.
Chad Jan 2
@Chris: What kind of Information are you looking for? It could probably be created in Flash without Flex, as it really is abunch of components, most of which do have Flash equivalevents (loaders, buttons, video players, etc.)
@Martin: Yeah, SlideRocket is very cool… we didn’t quite have the resources available to us that SlideRocket does. We created the entire system in less than 2 months and for a very meager budget.
Jason Jan 9
Its also really neat because the viewer is connected to a digital asset management application that allows you to utilize media that is being generated by folks living all over the world, as well as allowing you to upload fresh media. We hope to have a Phase II this year adding many new features some of which may be present in Slide Rocket, I liked what I saw, It seemed to have a great easy to use interface!
Mark jenkins Feb 2
Hi Chad,
We have a couple of experiential learning programs in development and have created a flex based platform to deliver them on. Our main program TeamEverest immerses participants in a true to life story and participants need to work through the decisions together. Its facilitator led and the flex platform we’ve built has all sorts of facilitator tools built in. Dual screen mode so the facilitator can navigate through or change anything in the program while the participants only see the presentation window. To a on time feature that tells you how many minutes ahead or behind you are based on your timeline. A virtual flip chart etc, etc. The list is quite long as we developed the platform (which is currently called ifreeflow) from ten years of facilitating experience. Its weak point is that it cannot import PowerPoint as you know. What our presentation plaform is lacking is a robust, mini slide/presentation tool – which seems similar to what you have developed. If it could be integrated into our larger tool.
Is there some way for us to collaborate – so we both benefit?
Please contact me if you’re interested.
Mark Jenkins
416 466 1966