12. Getting the Story Out

ProShow is really two programs in one: a multimedia editing platform and a rendering engine. The rendering engine provides a full range of output options, from optical media to video formats that support iPods and YouTube to high-resolution streaming Web content and even HDTV. This chapter is a guide to the delivery process and the options you have for getting your ProShow creation to its audience. We’ll also look at the different types of files the program uses to produce a show and how to use them to maintain your work.

The supported formats vary slightly with the version of ProShow you use. Both Gold and Producer let you create DVDs, video CDs, Web-ready content, and PC-executable video shows. But only Producer supports compressed and uncom-pressed AVI output. The complete output process includes designing any menus you need (see Chapter 11) and then choosing output options, rendering the file, and placing it on the target media (covered in this chapter). If you want to play the show online, the file will need a Web host. That’s a topic of the next chapter, which will cover Flash, YouTube, e-mail, and Web-sharing formats.