Has anyone created a course over 500 slides?

Apr 14, 2011

Hi,

Has anyone created a course over 500 slides in length with no technical problems?

I am creating a course with lots of branching scenarios and so far having completed only 3 out of 12 modules I am already at slide 161!  I also have Articulate Interactions, XML image components and Flash video within my course.

I noticed at about 150 slides that PowerPoint began to slow down.  And now at slide 161 PowerPoint is beginning to 'stop working' and keeps asking me whether I want to disable the 'add-in' i.e. Articulate.

Bearing in mind I have 9 modules to go and the client wants all the modules in one course - I'm getting rather concerned about what's going on.

To try and reduce the size of my presentation file I always optimize all images and group as many slide objects as I can.

Can anyone give me reassurance that PowerPoint can handle what I need to do (expected total slide count at around 600) or give me any tips on how to reduce the presentation file any further?

Thanks!

5 Replies
Kayla Burtch

What MIGHT be a solution would be to make the modules seperate, but then create one "main menu" module that links to all the other modules (either as webobjects within the module or as webobjects that open in a new window) It depends how you are delivering the course. I've never tried to make a course that large, but on top of powerpoint crashing, it will also take "forever" to load on the student side of things.

The other thing I'm wondering is why it should be all one file at all? Is this even a little bit negotiable. Generally learners learn better when information is presented to them in small digestable chunks. I don't know many people who can sit through 600 slides in one sitting. What is the reasoning behind it being all one file?

For making the filesize smaller, I don't think "grouping" images helps file size. You have to group, save as picture, and then bring the image back in as one png (the negative to this being that you can't edit it later, I usually keep the ungrouped version in a seperate file in case I need to tweek it later)

Lastly, try to make use of master slides whenever possible. Even if you only have 3 slides that are similar, it is worth making a master of the similar elements to  cut down on filesize if it is something you are worried about. If you have any items that are on every slide they should be in the master. (Even hyperlinks can go in the master, so if you have a "home" button on every slide, that is loading 600 times... so it should definitley be in the master)

Hope that helps.

Louise Ward

Thanks for your reply.  

I will definitely try the first suggestion!

Regarding the 600 slides - this will not be the amount of 'pages' the user will see when taking the course (it is because I'm using much branching and hyperlinking to pages - but the learner will think they're on the same page - so e.g. where it might be 10 slides worth of hyperlinking, it will only be 1 page to the learner).

Basically it's an Induction course that will sit on an LMS - the inductee will be required to complete the course over a duration of 3 months - so they won't be taking the whole course all at once.  I have the Modules running down the 'contents bar' to the left and then module hyperlinked 'sub' tabs on the right).

Good point regarding the 'grouping' I hadn't thought of that! 

Re; Master slides - I have in fact created several Master's for 'background' images, but I will look again to see if I can create any more. Also as far as I'm aware, Articulate doesn't support hyperlinks on Master slides?  I'm sure I tried this and it didn't work - maybe I'm wrong?

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