Presentation Software - The Development Process

In theory the development process is the same for Presentation Software as it is for any other software. However, our package is different because it relies heavily on 3D graphics and animation. That means there is more time and effort spend on the "artistic" side than on the coding. I guess the same is true for games development.

We start with the specification and use it to identify the target audience. What are their common characteristics? We have to grab their attention so we need to know what will appeal to them. We use several personality profiles to help define those key elements.

Next, we develop a "scenario". This is like a group of related scenes in a movie. We sketch each one up so we have a clear idea of what is going to happen. Then we fine-tune the entire scenario on paper before we start coding anything.

Traditional animators (those who developed the early cartoons ) used an "X-Sheet" or a "dope-sheet" to identify the timing for each character in a scene. We use something similar to make sure that each element is where is should be.

Then we start the development of the individual animations. Unfortunately, there is no single piece of software that will do the entire job. We use up to six different packages to develop each scene. That's because each package has it's own strengths and weaknesses.

At this stage we develop individual models, then we modify them so they will carry out specific actions. We add textures or shaders and position them in 3D space. Then we add props, backgrounds and lights and animate them. When everything is working as it should - and it can take a long time to fine-tune everything - we position the cameras and render the scene.

If that sounds long-winded you’re right - it is. To give you an idea of timescale - if a traditional animator worked for a week he would be very happy to produce 5 seconds of footage. In other words, one week's work equated to 5 seconds on the screen! We do better these day but if there are a lot of individual elements in a scene then we are not that far away (think Lord of the Rings on a smaller scale).

If you get a chance have a look at our website – I’d welcome any feedback. This is the direct link to the presentation software page – to read about the package. You can also read about presentations in general on our home page.

How to develop Presentation Software - Part #1 Specification

I have been working hard to get a new presentation package onto the market. We've now completed the first phase so I decided to take a little time out to write this on the off-chance that it might be useful to someone else out there.

All our previous presentation packages were developed for specific customers - and there was - and is - a very good reason for this. We work closely with each client to identify the relevant characteristics of their target audience. That allows us to use psychological profiling techniques to identify the images that will be most likely to convince them. Only then will we develop the 3D graphics and animation that will be used in the final production.

So someone got a great idea. How about a presentation product we can sell on the net? OK, I admit I went along. After all, it looked interesting.

We ran into our first problem (or "issue") when we started to develop the specifications. This time we’d know nothing in advance. We didn't know who the target audience would be and that meant we couldn't develop a psychological profile. To make matter worse we didn't know what the compelling points of our customer's argument were going to be so we couldn't develop visual metaphors to support the selling process.

We started to work with a limited number of specific profiles and, eventually, we decide to use a profile that included the greatest number of people. We also decide to incorporate our standard framework into the product. That would help them when they started to input their information.

Of course we looked at PowerPoint. If you do a search on Google you'll find many sites that slate it but, in fact, it's a solid product. The trouble is that few people have the time or patience to get the best out of it. That's why most PowerPoint presentations look exactly like ... well, most PowerPoint presentations.

That led to the three key elements of our specifications:

1. Anyone can produce a presentation in less than 10 minutes.
2. There will be absolutely no need for formatting
3. The results will look unique and astonishing

That was a start and since then twelve hours days have been common and - of course - Saturday and Sunday are just two more working days.

In the next post I'll take you through our development process. The product itself is now complete but the work is only beginning. If you want to see what I mean have a look at our website. This link will take you straight to the presentation software page.

I'd welcome any feedback you might have.