Re: Re: Re: Using Mathematica notebooks in presentations?
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg97786] Re: [mg97739] Re: Re: Using Mathematica notebooks in presentations?
- From: peter <plindsay.0 at gmail.com>
- Date: Sat, 21 Mar 2009 05:20:14 -0500 (EST)
- References: <200903200739.CAA17222@smc.vnet.net>
Most presentations I see are done using the beamer class in LaTeX which then produces a PDF that is sent to a data-projector. Graphics are created in whatever mathematics software is favoured, maybe Mathematica, and then included within the tex document. Even movies are quite easily inserted in the PDF using a particular stylesheet in LaTeX. Powerpoint is not especially popular. Images can be "polished" a bit using the superb GraphicConverter package. The final product, the PDF, can of course later be downloaded and viewed by people who don't like Microsoft-specific software. Peter 2009/3/20 Alexei Boulbitch <Alexei.Boulbitch at iee.lu> > Hi, everyone, > > This discussion has already been held, and positions of two major group are > clear: those preferring specifically > Mathematica presentations and those preferring generic PowerPoint-type > programs. I am following this discussion with > a practical interest of a one doing such presentations and having to be > alert. > > However, at present this new discussion is unfortunately kept on the level > of personal tests. These tests (as much as > I can see from the present discussion) are very much based on personal > Mathematica-programming skills. It is not quite > unexpected. Those with greater experience in such a programming see no > problems to write a peace of code to make a > demonstration for the presentation. But in this case this demonstration > will be much better suited for the presentation aim. > In contrast, those with a considerably smaller experience realize this > also, but will have to spend too much time, and > presentation will look much less professional. This dominates the decision > and I find that the both groups are right. > > I think that there are also some problematic things that at present in the > both styles of presentations. I am going to > note now those I met. I hope with these in focus the discussion may help > the Wolfram crew in future. > The drawbacks of PowerPoint-oriented presentations are well described by > math-presentations followers. I agree 100%, > and for this reason I will not comment on this any more. Let me instead > formulate few narrow places I met doing Mathematica > presentations. > > First let me recall (if somebody have left this out) the Mathematica is > intended for everybody, not only for programmers > and not even only for those making presentations concerning Mathematica > itself. There are also other communities: physicists, > biologists etc. A problem with people from those communities is that they > sometimes want in their presentations to include > items created outside of Mathematica. Sometimes it works, say with simple > images, but sometimes it fails. I personally > needed to include avi movies created by simulations made outside of > Mathematica. I failed, and the Wolfram > HelpDesk explained me that not any avi file may be imported into > Mathematica. This is a serious limitation. One can of > coarse, go around. For example, from Mathematica one may call an external > program to run a movie say, by a hyperlink. But > this spends too much time before your application starts. It decreases a > temp of the presentation. If you need to run about > 5 such external movies per presentation, which is not too rear... One may > alternatively, have open all windows with external > programs that he intends to run, but then he may have too much windows open > and lost among them. And this is simply inelegant. > I mean that for people who really need such movies run, it is a real > problem with Mathematica, while PowerPoint does all > this easily. > > Second important thing is template. Templates of the PowerPoint are > primitive, standard, often ugly, but they are there. We > have no Mathematica templates for very basic things regularly needed during > presentations. For example, one often needs to > show formulas and to highlight those their parts that are discussed in a > moment. PowerPoint has an instrument to insert > formulas, Mathematica has its own also. PowerPoint has no template to > accentuate their parts, but using the PP templates > this is done in few seconds. In contrast, it took us a long discussion and > many attempts and a good peace of programming at > this forum about a year ago, to develop good functions to accentuate > desired parts of expressions. It is now good though > not much better than I achieved in PowerPoint in the past. Ok, once your > have such functions, you do it easily in future. > However, to make a push to Mathematica-based presentations, (I believe) it > would be desirable to have such and some other > basic templates already at hand to simplify the work for those who are not > that readily programming. > > Third, if your presentation is not about Mathematica, but you have a lot of > code in its interactive parts, you typically > do not want to show this code to the auditory. And besides, you have no > time to execute the code right before the given > interactive demonstration is shown. There is of coarse, a way around. You > may keep the whole code in one notebook, and the > presentation in another one. This second will then contain the names of > your functions just to call them. First of all you > need then to execute all functions both from the first and from the second > notebooks. You need to write a special function > that will do this. Ok, once you have such a function... The next problem is > that you often do not need that the auditory > sees your functions (or function names) in the SlideShow notebook. Even > more, you need to exclude any extra visual > information, since it misleads. You need then to make tricks. Say, you may > close the cells around interactive presentation, > rather than around the function. But like this you lose a control. And it > is a considerable peace of work for you right > before the presentation. And in this very moment you have typically other > things to do. You may make the function names to be > simultaneously titles of the demonstrations. This is better, but then there > are problems with formatting. However, may I > dream that future SlideShow templates would have a button that shows/hides > such code-containing cells, and those that > execute all functions of the SlideShow? And those switch on/switch off the > In-Out tags? No, I understand quite well that some > of you may in a second or so write me a nice function that makes the job. I > may do it also. I did actually. Nevertheless, I > firmly believe that having such things built-in will be a benefit. > > In general I am much more Mathematica-oriented than PP-oriented talk-giver, > and I hope that this discussion may be helpful. > > Regards, Alexei > > > > > > > > Murray, > > I do agree, and I do not want to get started on awful and/or > sleep-inducing Powerpoint presentations - believe me, I've had far too > many of those already (and I'm not that old...). > > Nevertheless, used wisely it can make handy tool for delivering > presentations, and perhaps lowering the threshold for the average user > to access live Mathematica content from Powerpoint could make > Mathematica more popular (which I would consider a good thing). > > Regards, > Yves > > > Murray Eisenberg schrieb: > > I'm curious as to what is considered "too basic" in the Mathematica > > slide show tools. > > > > If what is meant is the absence of fades, dissolves, fancy borders and > > backgrounds, etc. -- GOOD, I'm glad they're not available. In almost > > every case I've ever seen, such features are just distracting junk. > > > > > > magma wrote: > > > > > The current slideshow tools in Mathematica are still too basic to > > compete > > > with the commercial presentation packages > > > -- > Alexei Boulbitch, Dr., habil. > Senior Scientist > > IEE S.A. > ZAE Weiergewan > 11, rue Edmond Reuter > L-5326 Contern > Luxembourg > > Phone: +352 2454 2566 > Fax: +352 2454 3566 > > Website: www.iee.lu > > This e-mail may contain trade secrets or privileged, undisclosed or > otherwise confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient > and have received this e-mail in error, you are hereby notified that any > review, copying or distribution of it is strictly prohibited. Please inform > us immediately and destroy the original transmittal from your system. Thank > you for your co-operation. > > > > -- Peter Lindsay
- References:
- Re: Re: Using Mathematica notebooks in presentations?
- From: Alexei Boulbitch <Alexei.Boulbitch@iee.lu>
- Re: Re: Using Mathematica notebooks in presentations?