MS PowerPoint 2007 - Lyrics Over Continuous Animation (Repost)

Did you ever know about EasyWorship? It is a presentation software used in many churches to replace powerpoint because of its flexibility in the worship services - one feature is animated background over lyrics. EasyWorship costs $399.00.
MS PowerPoint is a very powerful and professional presentation software used by many business professionals and individuals BUT PowerPoint is not really intended for use in the worship session. I will get you right in the track where my article should be - PowerPoint cannot overlay text over an inserted video in a slide. BUT there's a way where you can use PowerPoint like EasyWorship's lyrics over animations and no need to buy an extensive software to do that 'coz all are free. Just follow the steps that I will give.
Why use animated background?
Animated backgrounds in worship simulate the senses of the worshipers. The more energetic the animation is, the more energetic the music is being interpreted by the worshipers. It is also a great background effects for the music and it is just simple as ABC's.

Things you'll need:

1. PowerPoint 2007 (recommended, can be 2003)
2. OfficeOne TransparentShow (download here)
3. Winamp (download here)
4. Dual monitor CPU (learn how here)
5. Some music file/s
The theory:
To play the visualizations of Winamp behind a transparent slide with an opaque lyrics without interfering continuous play of the background (visualization). I chose the music visualization because it's very dynamic and is a great background for the lyrics as well as great effects for the music.
Here's how:
1. PowerPoint setup
First, download TransparentShow (the link is provided above) and install it. Open PowerPoint 2007 (I really recommend PowerPoint 2007 because of its versatility and you can add outlines in an ordinary text in a textbox unlike in 2003 it cannot. Outlines will help the lyrics stand out of the animation as the animation may blur the lyrics) then click on the office button (located at the upper-left corner of the window) the click on PowerPoint options at the bottom part of the menu. On the PowerPoint options dialog box, click on Add-ins. There's a drop-down list that will appear on the bottom page with "manage" at the left of it, click on the drop-down menu and click PowerPoint add-ins and click go. A dialog box will appear. Click on add new and then open the TransparentShow add-in and then load it. Open the PowerPoint Options again and then make sure that the "Show developer tab in the ribbon" option is checked. Click on ok. Click on the developer tab on the ribbon and then click on Macro security. A dialog box will appear. Make sure to check the "enable all macros" option. Your transparent slides are now ready to be used.
Screenshot of TransparentShow
After loading TransparentShow add-in in PowerPoint, select Slide Show and select the secondary monitor in the drop down menu "Show presentation on". After all, select Slide Show >Start Transparent Show... menu item. This dialog box enables you to select the Transparent color and start the slide show through the Start Show button.

Click the Save Settings button to save the transparent color setting with the presentation itself. This allows you to start a slide show directly from Windows and make it transparent without going through the Transparent Show dialog box. Please save the presentation after dismissing the TransparentShow dialog box after click the Save Settings button.

 
This will be the effect of TransparentShow. As you can see the desktop is behind the slide text. The color I used for the transparency is set to GREEN: 255, RED: 0, BLUE: 0. The display is currently on a single monitor computer because my computer at home is not a dual monitor setup. You'll get my point as we go on.
If you followed all the instructions above, you will get the same results on your second monitor (which is your LCD projector).

2. Setting-up WINAMP

Winamp's MilkDrop visualizations are the best visualizations we can use for the dual monitor setup and it can be played as desktop mode (not full-screen mode). The desktop mode feature of the MilkDrop visualizations is different from the full-screen mode because desktop mode displays its visualizations as a desktop wallpaper and you can see your taskbar and icons over it if you played it on the primary monitor. This is the tool we will use to create our non-looping continuous animated background.

1.) Change the Winamp skin to Winamp Modern to save more space and the interface is easier to use than the Bento skin.


2.) Start the MilkDrop plug-in by selecting Options>Visualization>Select Plug-in... (or ctrl+k) then select the MilkDrop plug-in. Click START.



3.) Configure the MilkDrop plug-in to set it up for dual monitor presentation mode (that's what I call it). To do this simply go to Options>Visualizations>Configure plug-in... On the common settings tab set the monitor output of the desktop mode settings to your secondary monitor (which is the LCD projector). You will see a drop-down menu there to change monitors. Then uncheck "integrate with winamp skin" on the window settings. Make sure that the "VJ Mode" and "Save CPU" options are checked.


Then on the ARTIST TOOLS tab uncheck the "Automatically show song title..." checkbox. You can also try your own settings depending on the way you like it.

4.) Playing the visualization. Now play a music file in Winamp because you cannot play the visualization if there's no file being played and make sure to mute the Winamp volume. After playing the file press ctrl+shift+k to bring out the visualization interface. Now you will see two windows for the visualization: the visualization window and the MilkDrop console (VJ mode). Don't worry if the MilkDrop console displays nothing but black, just press "L" and the preset (visualizations for MilkDrop) list will show up. in the preset list you can select your favorite visualizations. Don't forget to turn the SCROLL LOCK key on so that the preset will be locked and will not change after time (a text will appear after the preset name if it is already locked). Don't worry if the preset is locked because you can still manually change the preset by selecting another preset, it will just turn off automatic preset changing. You already played the visualization in a small window, now it's time to set all up.

5.) THE SHOW. Now after doing all that all you need to do is to use both programs for the animated worship presentation. Now go to the Winamp visualization and press alt+D and watch the visualization play on the other monitor (LCD projector). The MilkDrop console will be your control panel at the other monitor so you can change the animations/presets without interfering with the ongoing presentation. Make sure that the animation is not too distracting for the eyes because it may be the center of attraction in the worship session, remember that we are doing this to improve the worship experience of of the congregation and not to suppress the flow of the Holy Spirit, choose only the good presets. After playing the animation you can now use the PowerPoint presentation with the transparent background to overlay the animation. Just start the show on the second monitor (LCD projector) and watch the text go over with the animation. Even if you switch the slides your background will not restart its animation. (I have no screen shot for this because I am writing this article on a single monitor set up).

Feel free to ask your questions. I will reply.

God bless!!!

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1 comments (leave a comment):

Unknown said...

I'd reposted this so every subscriber can get a hand on to it...

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