Compiled Answers to: Making CD Presentations

I recently asked the question on several lists:
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I want to make a CD presentation of my site work to hand out to potential 
clients. What program(s) do people recommend to produce this in?

I could make a Flash or QT presentation. Are those formats used to do this
so everyone could view it?

I also would like to lock or watermark the final piece so it could not be
copied (not concerned with printing out, just copying parts). Has anyone
done this successfully?
----------------------
I received good answers from everyone. Thank you all.

Below are all the answers. The first one, from Daniel, is the one I decided 
would work best for me. I hope by passing on this info it could help someone 
else, too.
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Flash would be a good choice for your presentation.  It is a compact 
format, made as small as possible for downloading over the web.  It is 
very powerful in what it can do, as far as integrating and animating 
vector and raster graphics.  You could create what is called a 
projector, which will run your presentation and doesn't even need Flash 
to be installed on the computer, since it is its own little program. 

You can also  make Quicktime movies of your presentation or publish 
Flash's native format, a SWF, which will need Flash installed on the 
computer.

Any way you publish the presentation, there really is no way to get into 
it and pull components out; you need the original, editable Flash movie. 
 When a SWF is embedded onto an HTML page on the web, it can't even be 
downloaded like an image can, so Flash provides lots of protection in 
that respect.

Daniel
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I asked Daniel how does one create a projector, in Flash? In saving or export 
options? Daniel responded:

This is a function of Flash and has been for a long time.  Technically, 
Flash publishes final web files and saves the editable Flash movie that 
you actually work on.  These are separate functions.  After you have 
finished putting your presentation together and saving it, you choose 
Publish from the File menu.  Here you will see the various files that 
you can publish: HTML pages, SWFs, projectors, web images, and even 
Quicktime movies.  You just check which files you want published.  Since 
projectors are stand-alone programs, they are platform-dependent, which 
means that you need to publish either a Windows or a Mac version. 
=====================
=====================
I recently made a CD for a group of friends. I made the presentation in 
Flash but embedded that in a web page. I thought that would be 
foolproof. I thought anyone could open a file in their browser. Wrong. 
My friend did not know how to do that. She wasn't even able to find the 
CD on her computer. And especially from the file browser. Little folder 
with dots? What could it mean? Levels? Drives? She is a highly 
intelligent and accomplished person. I was shocked at how computer 
stupid many people are.

So I exported the Flash as a projector. I haven't heard if that's 
easier or not. The projector works for me because the Flash file has 
links that open in the browser automatically.

I know there are ways to have the CD autoplay when it is inserted into 
the drive. That might be a solution.

So think about your audience.
=====================
=====================
You can create it Flash ,import to QT.......
====================
Big chance to learn Keynote, Janet!! Lead the way!!
George
=====================
=====================
If you need to combine graphics/video/sound files, I vote for Adobe
Premiere. (Some might vote for Macromedia Director.) Your final project
could be AVI, Quicktime, or I think MPEG.

However you get your final product, you still have to send it to CD. When
you do that, you also put an autorun.exe and a customized autorun.inf file
on the CD root directory. Then it will automatically play on any PC that has
a player for the format you chose. If there's a better way, I can't wait to
hear it, especially if it allows cross-platform play. 
Norman
===================
===================
The place where I work just did a powerpoint presentation which 
included pictures of our work with text that faded in and out. We 
also use flash for presentations of our work. Both seem to do the job 
but I would think more people would have a flash plugin then they 
would have powerpoint. I am not sure about the locking part. I wonder 
if you locked all the files before burning a CD if that would do 
anything?

Arlene
------------------
I asked what she meant by locking the file. Arlene's response:

What I meant by locking the the file was to do a "get info" and lock 
the file itself. It doesn't stop anyone from copying it but they 
cannot change the file. I don't think thats the answer but just a 
thought.

Also I may have misspoke earlier. What we have done are Flash 
presentations which we send to clients via email (or via link-see 
below). The flash presentation is looped on a powerbook for 
conventions/shows. We usually ask what format the client uses. You 
could include a link to the flash plugin website (we do that alot for 
the Aladdin Stuffit website) on your CD.

I have an old flash file which we were working on awhile ago so it's 
not the finished piece but you can see what can be done. The person 
who made this uses a pc and we were having problems with the 
jerkyness of it when played back on our Macs. 
http://www.wallachglass.com/flash/

The powerpoint I believe was burned on a CD and also sent via email.

Another idea would be to do an Adobe Acrobat presentation. The person 
only needs Acrobat Reader to view. We had a client come out and he 
took pictures of the studio and the process of how the glass is 
blasted/etched. Then when he went back home he made a very cool 
documentory/story with pictures of the whole process. Then he sent it 
to us to view. Small in size, nothing fancy but was easy to use and 
very clear. 
=================
=================
I think all of the options presented on the NCMUG list will work 
in part for what you are trying to accomplish.  I have two other 
suggestions that may satisfy all of your requirements.

The first is Macromedia Director.  Most all demo disk produced are done 
in Director.  It was has been a few years but I did one training disk 
on Director 4.  Really old version, so this may have changed, but all 
media can be included in one compiled player file.  No problem securing 
the content because each element is contained in the player.  They can 
copy the player but not an individual photo or artwork.  The player 
could be generated for both the Mac and Windows platforms from one 
program.  Not sure if that is currently true.  I would check Macromedia 
and see if you need a copy for each platform or if you can generate a 
Windows player file from the Mac or visa/versa.

The player file is self running and does not need a separate player 
unless you go to the web.  In that case you would be making a swf file 
and the user would need the Flash-Director plug in.  One caveat:  
Director is very expense!

The other is making a DVD presentation.  It satisfies your requirement 
also, but requires a DVD player or DVD playback software on a computer. 

Did you pick up one of the Apple DVD Portfolio Showcase howto DVD's at 
the MCE?. It shows how to create a DVD from QT,iMovie, iDVD, etc for 
showcasing your portfolio.  
Looks like it might fit  the bill also.

Stephen
-- 
Janet Zagoria
Web Site Designer/Developer
www.zagdesign.com

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