Monday, January 18, 2016

Imported into Keynote … Yikes! Where’s the Sounds?


The Animated Step-by-Steps™ are Microsoft PowerPoint files.






They are cross-platform, meaning they will work with both Windows-based and Mac-based PowerPoint applications. There are some subtle differences in how things look within each program …. but functionally … they are equivalent.

In addition,  I’ve created the Animated Step-by-Steps™on a Mac using PowerPoint version 14.5.9, but have saved the files as PowerPoint Show files 1997-2004. This ensures that the file will be readable by earlier versions of PowerPoint. Again there may be some subtle differences if you are using a much earlier version of PowerPoint, but the Animated Step-by-Steps™ should continue to be ‘functional files’.




When I create the Animated Step-by-Steps™,  I typically use .wav sound files rather than .aif files (the latter is native to the Mac platform). Although .wav is a format not typically associated with the Mac platform, the Mac version of PowerPoint is designed to accommodate .wav files to promote cross platform exchange. 

Initially, I had hoped that the Animated Step-by-Step™ PowerPoint files would be an ‘easy import’ into Keynote, the Mac-based equivalent of PowerPoint.






I was genuinely disappointed when this was not the case. Not all the animations import (drats!!!) … and …  .wav files do not play in Keynote (double drats!!!).   I did experiment with using .mp3 files (which are reportedly cross platform) but it is my understanding that MP3 will not ‘embed’ within the PowerPoint program making file transfer more problematic; they must be linked to an outside folder. 

Soooo Mac Users …. you have three options for viewing your Animated Step-by-Steps™:

1.     purchase a current version of Microsoft PowerPoint
2.     download an earlier Mac version of PowerPoint for free from the web.
3.     download the free Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=13 which allows you to view but not edit the Animated Step-by-Steps™. This third option might just be the simplest option.

Don’t forget … the Animated Step-by-Steps™ also display beautifully on iPads using the free Microsoft PowerPoint app

Although I have not tried it myself, there is a free Microsoft PowerPoint app for use with Android tablets!  If you try this option, please let me know how it works with your Animated Step-by-Steps™.



…’til the next post …  (new posts every Monday)

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©2016 Carol Goossens’, Ph.D.
Augmentative Communication Consultant
Speech-Language Pathologist
Special Educator