10 Free Programs That Should Be on Every Presentation System
10 Free Programs That Should Be on Every Presentation System
Over the past few years the quality of open source software has exploded. Some of the most useful programs that I use daily didn't cost me anything. I could live without Microsoft Office, but you'd have a fight on your hands if you took Wordpress or any of my Google apps. Anyway, here is a list of the top 10 free and open source programs that should be a part of every presentation system. Oh, by the way, I know that this list is all Windows software.
Here we go, in no particular order...
1. Google Picassa
This program is as handy as a pocket on a shirt. Besides reading just about every type of file known to man, (Even RAW images from my Cannon Digital SLR!) it organizes everything quickly and easily. Can't find that announcement graphic or background that you know was there last week? Open Picassa and all of the graphics on your system will fly by at the scroll of a mouse.
In addition to it's ability to read, organize and find video and graphic files on your system. It will convert, resize, crop, rotate and color balance quickly and easily. I can't count how many times I've been given a picture for a wedding or a graphic that needs the contrast or brightness tweaked for the projector. Two clicks in Picassa and you're gold.
2. VLC Media Player
If there is a better video player out there, I don't know what it is. This thing plays everything. If VLC Media Player doesn't play it, it probably can't be played. Most presentation programs have a limited amount of videos that they can play. That awesome divx or mpg4 video you really want to use will probably not be accessible to your presentation system anytime soon. Enter VLC. Not only will this play just about every video you throw at it, but it will, more than likely, play it better than your presentation program. It will even play files without installing codecs. It even has a mac version.
Open the video in VLC, drag it to the presentation screen, click "view>full screen", open an external console, pause the video where you want it to start, voila. Media Shout will take control of the presentation screen and then when you need the video, minimize Media Shout so that it will give up control of the second monitor, play your video, then maximize Media Shout for your return trip.
Is this a bit of a kluge? Yes. Does it work? Absolutely. Is it much better than spending an entire day trying to convert the mp4 into something that might or might not play in your presentation program? Indubitably. To compare, download VLC Player and see all its features.
3. Audacity
Audacity is still one of my favorite quick and easy audio editing and recording programs. Does the wedding coordinator want the first part of this song, then the chorus of this song and then the ending of still another song? Does the music director for the children's production want to end the song before the chorus repeat? Do you have a 30 second rain loop that you need to loop for 10 minutes? Enter Audacity. It is quick, easy and does a great job. You'll need to download the LAME mp3 converter for it to fully function but, since LAME is open source as well, we'll just put them in the same category.
I wouldn't use it to master an album, but for a podcast, mp3 edit or basic file conversion. It's "audtastic" (I'm sorry, that was LAME)
4. Winamp
Ok, this may make me old school but I still haven't found a better program for playing music and making nice, matched cross fades between the songs. (Winamp with a cross fade plug in) will do a great job with your pre show music. There is nothing worse than dead air between songs during pre show background music. (Ok, something might be worse, but it is pretty annoying). Now, I'm sure I'm going to start a flame war about what is better. I'm open to suggestions but, for now, winamp still rocks.
5. Virtualdub Mod
VirtualDubMod is based on the famous video editing software VirtualDub by Avery Lee. Born as a unification of several existing modifications, a lot of new features have been added, including support for the matroska container format. What audacity is to audio files, Virtualdub is to video files. While I wouldn't use it to edit a movie, it's perfect for quick fixes and touch ups. Plus, it's free.
6. GSpot
Great, we just lost our "clean" status. I'm going to try and resist making some Jr. High level joke about searching...(I already blew it). I didn't name the program, but it has saved my bacon more than once. GSpot is a small program (about 1MB) that doesn't even need to be installed. When you run it, it will load it's list of codecs (currently over 250) and when you open a video or audio file with it, it will tell you everything there is to know about the file. Resolution, audio codec, bitrate, video codec, virtually everything you need to know about the video or audio file is there. Want to know the native resolution of that video? Want to know if that file is Cinipak or Sorrenson compression? GSpot to the rescue. Since it's so small it will easily fit on a thumb drive.
I think I got through that nicely.
7. Logmein
Ok, this isn't really a program, it's an online service but it is free. Logmein is an awesome internet computer access program that might just become your favorite utility. If you need to have access to your presentation computer from across the internet, Logmein is your friend. There is a free version and a professional version. The free version basically gives you the ability to remotely take over the target computer and operate as if you are sitting at the system. The Professional version adds many IT Manger utilities.
If you manage or support presentation systems in multiple locations, use Logmein to either save you the trip or save you from the "help desk by braille" blues. You know help desk by braille..."Ok what do you see now? Right, click on File...it's in the upper left corner...yes it is...sorry, next to Edit...there now..." We've all had to do it. Now, just tell them to load logmein and you take control of the system and troubleshoot, configure and edit all from your own computer.
The only thing that the free version of remote control lacks is file transfer. Which brings me to the next program.
8. Orb
Ok, Orb rocks. I'm an evangelist for Orb. It does so many cool things that I don't have time to get into all of them (think slingbox, only better, only free). I love Orb so much, it's my browser homepage. If that's not a loving commitment, I don't know what is. While Orb is supercoolawesome, it doesn't seem to offer your presentation system anything. Sure it will stream divx movies to your XBOX 360 (I know right?) and change the channel on your DirecTV and stream the feed to your phone (seriously!) but what is it doing on this list?
Orb will also allow you to browse your remote system drives and transfer files between computers. This fills in the gap that the free version of Logmin leaves open. Forget that graphic in your office? Need to push a video to multiple computers in multiple locations and it's too big for email? Orb is my solution.
Now, there might be 10 different ways to transfer the files easily, but none of them come with orb.
9. Zambar
Ok, it's a website and not a program. But I was short one. So sue me. (No, really don't sue me I have enough troubles) Zamzar takes the place of a video conversion program that normally would be in the ninth spot on the list. There, I justified it. There's a whole discussion on zamzar in another post so I won't get too far into the discussion but, zamzar is an online service that will convert anything to anything. Even online video feeds from youtube, revver or daily motion will convert to avi or mpg. There are two immediate advantages to it being online, you don't need a big fast computer to do the conversion and it is platform independent. I've used the browser on my phone (which I'm sure isn't fast enough to perform the conversion in our lifetime) to upload and convert files. Check it out.
10. Windows Defender
While I wouldn't recommend any free anti virus programs, I do think that windows defender does a great job. I haven't run any tests or system comparisons but, WD seems to catch what it is supposed to catch while at the same time (and this is the important thing) not taking up too much of my system resources. The newest version has won me over and is back installed on all of my windows systems. There might be better antispyware software, but not better FREE anitspyware.
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