Synchronizing Light and Sound

As business presentations get more and more sophisticated, taking on many of the characteristics of entertainment events, the control procedures get notably more complicated. Although there are some software packages, as well as proprietary hardware/software devices, that have been created to manage large-scale presentations for trade shows, TV, concerts and megachurches, these are quite expensive.

Fortunately, at CRE we can point you to any number of other solutions if you need to control lights and sounds external to your PowerPoint, Keynote, Flash or digital-media presentation. With all current Macintosh models based on Intel processors and able to run Windows XP or Vista, many of the formerly “PC only” applications can be run on them. Be that as it may, there are a number of applications that are Mac-only or cross-platform, as well.

Not so Powerful PowerPoint?

In the near future, external control capabilities may be built into PowerPoint or Keynote, using either a proprietary protocol or a standard one such as MIDI. Right now, though, the “extensibility” of these software tools allows for both “interapplication communication” as well as the use of “plug-ins” to facilitate control of lights and other external devices.

Midi Presenter is one of several applications for Macintosh OS X that controls PowerPoint and KeyNote presentations. With it, you can synchronize PowerPoint slide changes with music via MIDI. This application can be used in conjunction with your software for various kinds of productions including corporate presentations, musical productions, church services and more.

In fact, with this kind of software, you can actually control your PowerPoint presentation using a MIDI sequencer, controller or any other device capable of both receiving and sending MIDI signals. You can use MIDI “patch change commands” to recall any slide, go backward or forward, stop or pause, etc.

For this kind of software to be most effective, however, it also needs to support MIDI Show Control (MSC), which Midi Presenter does. MSC supports the routing of MIDI commands to lighting consoles, show control systems and any other MIDI-receiving device.

Another Way to Run Things

For PowerPoint users on a Windows XP or Vista platform, there are a host of specialized applications for using a “programmable power strip.” This device makes possible the control of lighting and other appliances from within PowerPoint. With this technology it’s possible to manage light shows and control other devices on specific slide transitions or through interactive on-screen elements such as buttons.

It is PowerPoint’s implementation of “VBA (Visual Basic)” that provides the link between the presentation and “device drivers” for the programmable power strip. With VBA macros and add-ins, user actions can be detected and commands sent to a UDP client or parallel port driver. Both methods are identical from VBA’s point of view. In addition, VBA provides the added flexibility of timing, enabling a sequence of changes to occur on, for example, a slide transition.

If you are working at the high end of the presentation field, with large venues and hefty technological infrastructure, you are well advised to investigate some of the turnkey presentation systems. These can be quite costly, but when you need state-of-the-art control of leading-edge presentations, there are few options and it really boils down to (a) spending more money or (b) spending more time, which is also money.

In other words, if you do not have the time to customize your presentation software with plug-ins, set up VBA macros, find and learn how to operate a MIDI controller, cable everything together and devise fail-safe mechanisms and backup procedures, then you will need an expensive, comprehensively capable turnkey system. We can help you in this search and save you money and aggravation.

On the other hand, if you have the time and would rather do all the aforementioned tasks yourself, we can assist you there, as well. From pointing you in the right direction for software to describing MIDI hardware devices, we are here to be your full-time and fully informed presentation professionals. Call us at any time, about any situation, and we will be happy to help.