How to create and publish producer files

 

First things first

  • you must give the helpdesk (helpdesk@fpb.cwru.edu) your userID, and course number (ex: NUNP412)
  • you must have a microphone for your computer (available at helpdesk)
  • you must have producer installed (usually already on your computer, if not, ask us and we can get you going)
  • you must be sure that ALL of your PowerPoint documents (and other) that you will be using do NOT have spaces or ampersands in the name.
    • ex: if you have a PowerPoint named: Caring & Nurture in the Clinic.ppt, you need to change it to something like: caringnurtureclinic.ppt or caring_nurture_clinic.ppt
    • on the same token, when you name your producer file, you must use all one word as well.

 

Part I. Setup

 

Setting up directory structure

We ask that folks start to save and publish their producer files to THEIR COMPUTER first, before putting them on the server. This will help for when we start to rotate server files and set directory quotas for producer files per class, etc..

You may also burn a copy to a disk for a backup for your own archive.

  • so in turn you will be performing three steps after you create
    • first will be to save the raw producer file to a folder on your computer
    • second will be to publish the producer file to a folder on your computer
    • third will be to copy that folder to your server space so that you may link to it via the web.

 

NOTE…please do NOT create your local directories under MY DOCUMENTS. You’re My Documents folder is set to backup to Hotlips, and we cannot store these items on Hotlips. They are simply too large. If you would like a personal backup, please create a cd.

So, lets set up our local directories, shall we?

 

  1. Click on My Computer
  2. Click on C
  3. Create a new folder
    1. Click on File/New/Folder
  4. Name it Producer_working_files
  5. Repeat step 3 and name this folder Producer_publish_files

 

  1. You now have your two folders for storing your producer files.

 

Before each producer file that you want to create, you should go into each of the folders and create another folder, to store that specific file in…my suggestion is to have a folder for each class (ex: nunp412) and then a several folders inside for each lecture. (ex: a folder for caringclinic, a folder for lowbirthweight, etc…). This helps to keep you organized, and makes copying to the server MUCH easier.

 

Example:

 

 

Shortcut to Trapper

 

Each course set up on Trapper (the server where you are going to copy your published files to) has a directory (folder) for it. Within those folders are the faculty members folders. That is where you will copy your publish folder to.

We recommend creating a shortcut to that folder to help you quicken that process.

 

  1. Go to start/run
  2. Type in:  \\trapper
  3. Click into webhome
  4. Click into courses
  5. Click into your course
  6. RIGHT CLICK your folder
  7. Choose Send to/Desktop as Shortcut

 

Now you have a link directly on your desktop. You may do this to as many folders as you wish, if you are teaching more than one course.

 

 

You can rename that shortcut once it is on the desktop to something more descriptive. This will not change the name of the actual folder on the server or the path/address you will give in BlackBoard or to students.

 

Part II. Creating your Files

 

Creating your lecture/Producer file

 

  • REMEMBER: you must be sure that ALL of your PowerPoint documents (and other) that you will be using do NOT have spaces or ampersands in the name.
    • ex: if you have a PowerPoint named: Caring & Nurture in the Clinic.ppt, you need to change it to something like: caringnurtureclinic.ppt or caring_nurture_clinic.ppt
    • on the same token, when you name your producer file, you must use all one word as well.

 

  1. Open Producer. Choose Blank Presentation.
  2. In the left panel, choose Slides
    1. Choose Import Slides
    2. Navigate to your slides to add them
    3. They will appear slide by slide in the middle panel
    4. You must now drag them to the timeline/storyboard below

                                                              i.      To drag ALL of the slides down, choose Edit/Select All

                                                            ii.      All slides are now selected

                                                          iii.      Click a slide and drag it down to the timeline where it says SLIDES

                                                          iv.      All of your slides will now appear in the timeline

 

  1. You will now record your lecture
    1. In the timeline, click on the first slide, so that it will start at slide 1.
    2. Click the capture button at the top:
    3. On the window that pops up, be sure that Narrate Slides with Audio is checked, click next
    4. Target audience is modem connection at 48kps, media player codec 8, click next
    5. Click next on the mic screen
    6. And now you are ready to capture.

                                                              i.      You only can capture your entire lecture ONCE! So get ready…

                                                            ii.      Click on capture in the new window

                                                          iii.      Start recording your lecture

                                                          iv.      You will press Next Slide to advance your slides

                                                            v.      You will press Stop at the last slide as you complete.

    1. You will now be asked to save your audio file

                                                              i.      Save this file in the specific lecture folder under your Producer_working_files directory

                                                            ii.      Click Finish

 

    1. You will now notice that the audio will be on the timeline as well.

  1. You will now do anything additional that you need to do (IE: transitions, HTML, images, etc…THIS IS ONLY OPTIONAL. Most folks do not do these items)
  2. Now it is time to SAVE your entire working file
    1. Click File/Save Project
    2. Navigate to the Producer_working_files folder, then to the folder that you are storing this lecture in
    3. Give it a name (all one word) and click Save.

 

 

 

Part III. Publishing your Lecture

 

You have created your directories, created your lecture, and saved the working files. Now it is time to publish them for web viewing. This will involve two steps overall. One is to publish it to a folder on your hard drive (for a local copy). The second is to copy that folder to the server (Trapper).  Ready?

 

  1. With Producer open, and your working file ready to go, click File/Publish Presentation.
  2. Choose My Computer and click Next

 

  1. Give the presentation a file name (all one word!) and then click Browse to locate the folder you have already created for this lecture (if you have not created one, you can in this window as well…)
    1. Navigate to your Producer_publish_files directory
    2. Locate the folder for this presentation

                                                              i.      If you have not created this folder, you may highlight the folder you want the new folder to be inside of, and click make new folder and give it a name (one word)

              c. Click ok. Then click Next.

 

  1. Fill in the Presentation Info however you choose. And click Next.

 

 

  1. Choose Use Suggested Settings, click Next.
  2. Click Next again in the Publish Presentation window. This will take some time.
  3. Click Finish when it is done.

 

And now your lecture is published to your computer! 

 

Let’s Copy the Presentation to Trapper!!!!

 

  1. Close all Producer windows (or minimize)
  2. Go to My Computer/C/Producer_publish_files
  3. Navigate into the folder that holds your lecture folder.

 

NOTE! This folder contains your htm, ico, files, etc in it. You will be copying the ENTIRE folder, not the files individually.

 

  1. Right click that entire folder and choose COPY.
  2. Close the window.
  3. Now, open the Shortcut folder on your desktop.
  4. Choose Edit/Paste
    1. This will paste the entire folder for your lecture.
    2. Note, if you have other lectures in this shortcut, you will see those as well. Each lecture will have its own folder.

 

 

Now your lecture is pasted on to the server!

 

 

Part IV. Viewing your Lecture

 

You just need to direct folks to the correct web address…and that address will be in this fashion:

 

http://fpblrc.cwru.edu/courses/YOURCOURSE/YOUREMAIL/FOLDERNAME/FILENAME.htm

 

 

So, for example, to see the lecture that I made as a sample (note: the audio is REALLY low, because I did not have a mic)

you can go to:

 

http://fpblrc.cwru.edu/courses/nunpTEST/mxs134/instructions/instructionsforproducer.htm

 

 

You can then put that address in emails, post it on BlackBoard, etc…

 

NOTE:  when you open the link above, it will expand to this:

http://fpblrc.cwru.edu/courses/nunpTEST/mxs134/instructions/instructionsforproducer_files/Default.htm

 

For simplicity sake, you may just copy and paste that in BlackBoard, etc… Both will work. It is up to you.

 

 

And that is it! You now have your lecture out there in cyber space!