F.A.Q of authorPOINT
How
can I install authorPOINT to start authoring my e-learning Flash presentations?
There are two ways you can install authorPOINT-
- Either go to http://www.authorgen.com/authorpoint/trialversion.htm
and download the trial version of authorPOINT. There are two installer set ups available
for you to download- Complete Installer Setup and Smart Installer Setup. Try out
the trial version, and get it upgraded by purchasing the activation key from us.
-
OR you can directly purchase authorPOINT by mailing us at
sales@authorgen.com.
How
long can I continue with the trial version? What all features are available to me
during the trial period?
The trial version will last for 30 days. During the trial period, all the features
will be available to you, but with one limitation- Flash presentations will be built
only for the duration of 5 minutes while the Windows media output will build full
length presentation, with no watermarks in the output. If you fail to upgrade authorPOINT
after the 30 days of trial period, Flash build options will be disabled; even though
the Windows Media Output would be available and will produce full length presentations.
How
do I start recording presentations for elearning after I install authorPOINT?
authorPOINT is a plug-in toolbar in MS PowerPoint.
Open Microsoft PowerPoint®. authorPOINT toolbar and the authorPOINT menu will be
shown in the PowerPoint window. If these do not appear, right click in the toolbar
region and check for authorGEN. The authorPOINT toolbar and menu should now be visible.
View Getting started with authorPOINT for details.
What
does the security block message which appears on clicking authorPOINT menu mean?
The security block messages come up only in Windows XP or on computers that have
the Windows firewall installed. It is an alert mechanism against non-Microsoft add-ins
and executables. authorPOINT causes no harm to the Windows installation. Unblock
it when this message appears.
What
is the difference between presentation name and presentation title?
The Presentation Name is used as your project folder's name throughout authorPOINT
and is used in the file directory. The Presentation Title appears in the top panel
of the output players.
Where
are authorPOINT Projects saved?
The authorPOINT projects are saved by default at My Documents\authorGEN Projects\
for each user login. To store these elsewhere, simply specify the desired location
in the Path field in Launch authorPOINT window or click on the Browse button and
navigate to that location.
How
do I change the location of my authorPOINT projects to a selected location on my
computer?
Content Manager's 'Move To..' option allows you to change the location of the
authorPOINT projects. Go to Tools menu and select 'Move To.' option. The 'Move To.'
window displays a list of authorPOINT projects saved on your computer. Select the
project(s) to be moved and click on the button marked 'Move To'. Select the location
where the selected projects are to be moved and click on 'Ok'.
Before
I capture a presentation, how do I ascertain whether my microphone is working fine?
The Launch authorPOINT window displays a VU meter in its Media Details section.
It shows the level of your microphone's receptivity, if the application picks your
microphone. Check if your microphone is plugged in properly, if the VU meter does
not show any signal.
If you are a Windows XP user, you can test your microphone by clicking on 'Start
Test' button. The test will record the audio for 10 seconds and replay the recorded
audio for you to ascertain whether your microphone is working fine. If you are using
Windows 2000, you can view only the VU meter; the test that we mentioned above will
not be available to you. It is available to Windows XP users only.
How
do I make captions appear in the output?
Content Manager lets you make changes in your presentation details when you have
already captured it. To make captions appear in the output, go to Edit Presentation
details window that opens through Build menu in Content Manager. Check the "Show
speaker notes in output" option.
How
can I use a pre-recorded file in a presentation? And what all formats are allowed?
In Launch authorPOINT window Under Audio/Video Capture options select the Pre-recorded
File option as Audio\video. A new window will open. Browse to select the pre-recorded
file. Select the file by clicking on Open. authorPOINT supports the following file
types for pre-recorded media:
- .wmv windows media video
- .avi audio video interleave
- .wma windows
media audio
- .wav an audio file format
While
playing the slideshow for an MS Powerpoint 2003 presentation repetitively, why some
of the objects appear missing or the background color changes to black?
This is an inherent problem of MS PowerPoint 2003 that occurs if you continuously
loop a PowerPoint 2003 presentation in MS PowerPoint. You can click here for details.
How
can I draw the viewers' attention on a point?
While capturing the presentation, you can either annotate on the slides (as explained
in the previous question); OR use the Pointer Tool. To use the pointer tool, click
on Clicking the icon, positions the pointer tool on the screen. Press and hold down
the left mouse button, and drag the pointer to move it on the screen.
Why
does it not allow overwriting a presentation at times?
This condition can be caused by the following:
- Presentation Files/Folder is set to read only.
- Presentation Files/Folder
is in use.
- Presentation Files/Folder was created by some other application/user.
Why
does the Preview get stuck at the time of recording?
Preview Control may hang due to insufficient process memory being available. The
recording process does continue unaffected however.
Can
I re-record a slide while large presentations?
Yes for the current slide; no for previous slides. Presentation recording can
be paused by clicking on the (pause) button. To re-record from the beginning of
the current slide just click the (re-record) button.
- Click on pen tool to add annotation.
- The mouse pointer changes to '.' (a point). Then write with your mouse device.
- When the pointer is in '.' state, is displayed instead of pen tool image. . The
mouse tool is active in the pen state.
- To revert back to original pointer, click on to run the pen tool off.
- Till the pen tool is active in a slide, the slide show of your presentation will
not resume. You can, however, move to next or previous build (while annotating)
using the respective buttons.
Why
does the Preview get stuck at the time of recording?
Discard these or they will be embedded into the PowerPoint file. When Content
Manager's build processes the PowerPoint file, this annotation will be extracted
as an image, which appears in the output.
Why
does authorPOINT capture fail with some other software installed?
Other installed add-ins can consume certain events which authorPOINT requires.
While such software is installed, authorPOINT will not capture presentations. Contact
support@authorgen.com
for further details.
How
do I see the captured presentation?
The Content Manager enables viewing the selected presentation. When capturing
is completed, open the Content Manager and highlight the presentation. Under Build
Menu select build options and Select the media output desired and the project will
be built. Then select View Presentation from the Presentation menu or Double click
on the build Presentations.
What
all rich media formats can I build my presentations in? What are the scenarios in
which these rich media formats work better?
What
are the pre-requisites to view various formats?
Following are the pre-requisite conditions for viewing the presentation built
in different formats.
- The Presentation is built through the Build menu.
For Windows Media:
- Popup blockers, if any, should be disabled.
- The Internet Explorer must be of version 5.5 or above.
- Windows Media Player must be version 8.0 or above.
- Confirm that the Windows Media files need to be associated with IE; how to check
or change this:
- Right click on the file.
- Click on Properties.
- The Properties dialog
box opens up displaying the details of the file.
- The icon is displayed in the
dialog box.
- The "Opens With" field displays that the file can be opened through
Internet Explorer.
For Flash:
- Flash Player version 8.0 or above should be installed.
Which
browsers can play Windows Media and Flash outputs?
Windows Media Presentations can be played with Internet Explorer 5.5 or above.
Flash Presentations can be played with Internet Explorer, Netscape or Mozilla firefox
(provided they have Flash 8 plug in installed).
Why
do Windows Media presentations skip annotations?
Windows Media do not support annotations
What
do I do with old projects? Does authorPOINT 3.9 support them?
Yes, authorPOINT recognizes projects captured using previous versions of authorGEN
for PowerPoint . Using Content Manager's "Recover Projects" feature just choose
"Recover" from the menu and Content Manager brings these back in.
What
does recover projects option in Content Manager Do?
"Recover Projects" connects previously produced presentations with the new Content
Manager edition. This is also used when:
- Moving presentations created on one computer to another.
- To back up your
projects/presentations for re-formatting and rebuilding your computer.
- To recover
projects captured through earlier versions of authorGEN products (authorGEN 2.0
or earlier) and authorGEN Studio.
Why
are Build options disabled for a presentation listed in Content Manager?
Build options are disabled if Content Manager is not able to recognize the media
type for that presentation. This can happen in the case of a Recovered Project.
Make sure the the media file is in the project folder when recovering a project
and that it is a type supported by authorPOINT - *.wmv, *.avi, *.wma, or *.wav.
Why
am I not able to see a recovered project?
Make sure that your project(s) meets the following conditions and contains following
pre- requisite files for Content Manager to list it:
- Project agn file.
- PowerPoint® file
- Any of the four possible presentations.
A Project's presentation makes it visible in Content Manager
What
content does the search function in Content Manager Search for?
The Search tool in Content Manager searches the Presentation Name, the Presentation
Title, the PowerPoint file name, the Slides title, the Speakers notes, the Keywords
and the Description.
Why
I am not able to use authorPOINT's CD/DVD Writer on restricted user login?
The CD/DVD Writer option requires Administrative rights.
How
can I publish my presentations to web?
Content Manager provides three ways to upload presentation folders to the web
- FTP Server: Presentations can be uploaded through Content Manager to any preferred
FTP server.
- authorSTREAM: authorGEN provides a service where presentations can
uploaded to authorSTREAM - a free online presentation sharing platform.
- WiZiQ-a
perfect platform for sharing educational content with the students. Use WiZiQ's
virtual classroom equipped with live audio-video communication, chat, content sharing,
and session recording capabilities.
What
is authorSTREAM?
authorSTREAM is authorGEN's streaming server service that has capabilities to
stream Windows Media and Flash Presentations. For additional information, visit
authorSTREAM.
Can
I save my presentations to Flash drives?
Yes. Using Content Manager's Distribute function, presentations can be saved to
flash drives, removable hard drives, and network drives.
How
do I update authorPOINT?
authorPOINT can be updated only by the users who are logged in with administrative
privileges. After the installation, updated version is available for all the users
to use. Go to Updates menu and select 'Check for authorPOINT updates'. After scanning
your computer for critical authorPOINT updates, the Content Manager displays a suggested
list of updates so that you may install these. You can install them right away or
choose to install them later. When you install them, the application requires you
to close some applications including Content Manager. On the completion of installation,
the success message pops up conveying that updates were installed successfully.
What
is authorPOINT's Customer experience all about?
authorPOINT collects information about the presentations captured through authorPOINT
by a user on his computer and sends it back to our development team so that we can
use that information solely for the purpose to improve our product's usability and
enrich the user's experience with authorPOINT. It keeps your information anonymous.
You can agree or disagree to allow authorPOINT to collect this information. This
preference can also be set from 'Our customer experience program' menu option of
the Help menu.
F.A.Q of authorPOINT Lite
I can't hear my audio in the output?
Make sure you have added audio using PowerPoint's 'Add Narrations' feature; or
you have inserted Sounds on Animations. authorPOINTTM Lite does not support 'Sound
on Slide transition' or a 'Pre-recorded audio file' embedded/linked to the PowerPoint.
Can I convert PowerPoint Presentations with Embedded audio\video?
Yes, but not all. authorPOINTTM Lite picks audio embedded in the following ways:
- Narrations, added through 'Add Narrations' feature with all the audio settings (Low,
Medium, and High)
- Audio attached with animations
No other embedded/linked audio is picked by authorPOINTTM Lite in its current release.
Next releases will have updates on this. No video files are picked by authorPOINTTM
Lite in its current version, next versions will include this.
I get an alert for Flash in my browser when I start authorPOINT Lite, what do I need to do?
authorPOINTTM Lite requires Flash Player 8 ActiveX installed in your Internet
Explorer. This is used for slide preview within authorPOINTTM Lite's main interface.
This in no way effects flash outputs, and they can be viewed on any browser with
flash plug-in installed. Let authorPOINTTM Lite install it when it prompts you for
the same, you can view outputs in any browser once a PowerPoint is imported in authorPOINTTM
Lite.
Some of the slides appear blank in the output.
This was an issue with authorPOINT Lite 1.0 which has been fixed in authorPOINT
Lite 2.0. Click here to download the latest version of authorPOINT
Lite.
Which office versions are supported?
authorPOINTTM Lite is currently compatible with MS PowerPoint XP, 2003 and 2007.
How can I distribute my presentation's output from authorPOINT Lite?
authorPOINTTM Lite's Flash output can be used or distributed through any means
including Uploading to your own websites or burning on CD/DVDs. 'aP Lite Flash'
folder contains all the files required for the presentation index.htm being the
launch file for the presentation.
This can be found at output directory for an imported Presentation in authorPOINTTM
Lite. By default this location is \My Documents\authorGEN Projects. Copy the folder
aP Lite Flash folder and distribute it by any means which works for you. You can
write to us at support@authorgen.com
if you come across any issues in doing so.
If you do not have your own online sharing space OR you just need to embed the output
on your website then we recommend that you use authorPOINTTM Lite's "Upload and Share" feature to upload your presentations
on authorSTREAM. authorSTREAM is our free online Presentation sharing Platform which
generates an embed tag which can be embedded on any webpage.
Is authorPOINT Lite compatible with Microsoft Windows Vista?
Yes,authorPOINTTM Lite is compatible with different Microsoft Windows Operating
Systems of various language versions. It supports Windows 2000 or higher operating
Systems.
