DemoMate Enhancements - October 2009

The DemoMate Team is pleased to announce that the latest version has been released (Build 873), introducing the ability to export and import your demo scripts.

You can export your demo script to the Microsoft Word .docx format, including screenshots for each step, click instructions and presenter script text. This provides a convenient way to review the entire demo script in one location, distribute it by e-mail, or include it as a project deliverable.

You can also re-import any edits you make to a demo script. Just make sure the script matches the demo (e.g., they both have the same number of Sections and Steps). All of the Click Instruction and Presenter Script text will be imported from the script back into your demo.

Here's a brief tutorial showing the process of exporting a script, making a few changes, and then importing those changes back into DemoMate:

From the Options menu, we've also added a new setting that lets you adjust the export script quality:

This setting determines the quality of the screenshots when you export a script to the .docx format. Higher quality will allow the images to be resized if desired and improve the overall quality by reducing the amount of image compression. Higher quality images will result in significantly larger file sizes, which could make it difficult to distribute the scripts via e-mail.

On behalf of the team that worked hard to bring you this new feature, we hope it’s a time-saver for you, and that it opens up new ways to share and collaborate with your team, partners, and customers.

Inserting a Step

In our recent DemoMate release (Build 852), we added the ability to insert steps into a demo. This provides an easy way for you to add screenshots, PowerPoint slides, diagrams, or other content to your demos.

When inserting an image, it must be the same pixel size as the rest of the steps in that demo. For example, if your demo was captured at 1024x768, then the image you insert must also be 1024x768. Currently, the images must also be inserted in the .PNG image format.

Here's a brief tutorial showing you the process of inserting a step in a demo:

DemoMate Enhancements - September 2009

The DemoMate Team is pleased to announce that the latest version has been released (Build 852), introducing several exciting new features:

Insert Steps – Now you can quickly insert custom screenshots, graphics, or other .PNGs directly into your demo.

Publishing Tutorials with Audio – Our new Silverlight auto-run player has been implemented on DemoMate.com. Now you can invite viewers to watch your tutorials online, in full fidelity, as previews or leave-behinds.

Embeddable Silverlight Player Enhancements – Our industry-leading embeddable Silverlight player continues to improve, now with even faster load times and new bandwidth efficiencies.

Thanks to the Community
We’ve been working hard to deliver these features and we want to take a moment to say “Thank You” to everyone in the DemoMate community who has contributed their time and ideas to these powerful new capabilities. We love the success stories you tell us and we’re looking forward to seeing how you take advantage of these new capabilities.

Go forth and Demo!

Tips for Working with Audio in DemoMate

Here is a collection of useful tips for incorporating sound bites in DemoMate:

• Invest in a good microphone! We tested a variety of different recording devices, and microphone quality had the biggest impact on audio quality. Check the DemoMate Team Blog for suggestions.
• Keep your sound bites short and sweet. You don’t need continuous dialog.
• Experiment with adding sound to a Step or a Section. Select whichever approach works best for you.
• Use the Presenter Script box to write notes about what you are going to say ahead of time.
• Try using a free, professional audio recording program. We’re big fans of certain packages. Check the DemoMate Team Blog for suggestions.
• If using a professional audio recording program, normalize the volume levels of the recordings. Also, trim out any dead space at the beginning and end of your audio clips, to tighten them up. If you don’t do this, you might notice a bit of “lag” at the beginning or end of a Step or Section.
• Advanced: If needed, you can adjust the volume levels of your audio in tutorials by directly editing the following attributes in the OBJECT embed tag: ClickSoundVolume, SoundBiteVolume, and BackgroundSoundVolume. Valid values for these three parameters are between 0 (muted) and 1 (full volume).

Adding Sound Bites or Background Music to Your Demo

There are two ways to add audio to your demo: you can record your own audio using the DemoMate Sound Recorder, or you can Attach pre-recorded audio files. DemoMate supports both .mp3 and Windows Media Audio (.wma) file formats.

The benefits of using the DemoMate Sound Recorder are that it is extremely simple, fast, and easy to use. The benefits of using professional audio software are that you have the opportunity to perform post-production functions not supported by the DemoMate Sound Recorder, such as normalizing volume levels, eliminating static, and editing out dead space. Check the DemoMate Team Blog for recommended audio packages. When using professional audio, you may still want to use the DemoMate Sound Recorder for the purposes of timing and “scratch tracks.”

Adding Audio to a Step or Section

To add an audio “sound bite” to a Step or Section, click on the Speaker Button next to the Step number or Section Name in the right navigation pane. This will launch the Sound Bite dialog box, with the following options:

Play – Preview an existing sound bite.

Stop – This button serves dual purposes, and will either stop playing a sound bite if one is playing, or stop a recording session.

Record – Begin recording a sound bite.

Attach File – Allows you to browse and select an existing file.

Delete – Deletes the existing sound bite.

Using the Mini Audio Control Panel

There is an additional way to add an audio Sound Bite to a Step. If you have an individual Step selected in the navigation pane, you can also use the Mini Audio Control Panel, embedded in the bottom panel, to preview, record, or attach sound bites. Finally, you can right click on a step (or section) in the navigation pane to bring up a context menu that allows you to perform certain actions.

Adding Demo Background Music

To add background music to your demo, click the Music button located directly above the Capture New Section button in the right editor pane.

Introduction to Audio in DemoMate

DemoMate gives you the ability to add audio “sound bites” to individual Steps within a demo, or to Sections within a demo. You can hear the audio whenever you use one of the auto-play options in DemoMate. These options include: clicking the Play button from the DemoMate Editor, or selecting Package Tutorial on the Share tab.

When playing a demo back, audio “Sound Bites” associated with an individual Step will play first, then advance the demo, giving demo authors control and flexibility over how sound bites are used in the demo. Audio associated with a Section will keep playing as the demo progresses from Step to Step. If the audio file is longer than all the steps in the Section, then the mouse cursor will pause on the last step of the Section until the audio file has finished playing.

You can also add Background Music to your demo, which will play and loop in the background of your demo.

Note: Even in a DemoMate where audio has been added, the audio will not interfere with your use of any presenter-driven DemoMate formats, such as selecting Preview or Present from the DemoMate Editor, or selecting “Package for Distribution” or “Publish for Download” from the Share tab. In any of these cases, the recorded sound bites and background audio will simply not play when Presenting or Previewing. However, they will be included in any packaged file and available to the recipient for use in auto-play scenarios.

DemoMate Enhancements - July 2009

The DemoMate Team is pleased to announce that the latest version has been released (Build 756), introducing 3 major new features that will help you save money, increase sales, and delight your customers:

Audio Support
We’re excited to release the most-requested feature the DemoMate community has been asking for – Audio Support.

Now you can attach sound bites to individual steps or entire sections of your demos, as well as add background music. By adding sound in "Bites," you maintain the ability to edit, re-order, or extend your demos as usual, without needed to re-record the audio or use complex editing software. That’s a big time-saver for you, and another industry first for the DemoMate Dev team!

Audio-enabled demos can be easily embedded into your websites, blogs, SharePoint portals, or applications, using the "Package Tutorial" button on the Share Tab. This is a great new way to enhance your solutions with "How To" content that accelerates your customers’ ROI, and sets you apart from your competition.

Speaking of embedded demos, click here to learn more about audio from the demo embedded in our blog (you can also click on the image below).

Package Executables
We’ve introduced a new packaging option for your auto-run demos, called "Package Executable". This lets you package an auto-play tutorial in a single executable file, suitable for running at trade shows or kiosks, or burning onto CD/DVD resource kits.

Play Button
We’ve incorporated a new Play Button in the DemoMate client, letting you run your demos in auto-play mode without the need to package them. This is a great way to preview your work while you’re building a tutorial, and also lets you quickly auto-play a demo whenever you choose.

Thanks to the Community
We’ve been working hard to deliver these features and we want to take a moment to say “Thank You” to everyone in the DemoMate community who has contributed their time and ideas to these powerful new capabilities. We love the success stories you tell us and we’re looking forward to seeing how you take advantage of these new capabilities.

Go forth and Demo!