Slides and your face on the same stage

Most talks have slides, and most recordings of talks make you choose: show the slides, or show the speaker. A viewer wants both, and a small studio can do that without a second tool.

Put the slides on stage#

In Facecast the content shares the stage with you. A PDF opens from a file or a link, and PgUp and PgDn turn the pages. A presentation from Geenius OS Office plays with its transitions and its build animations: → is the next step and ← is back. A document shows as a reading column that moves down a screen at a time.

Choose the layout for each part#

Press 2 for your face in a bubble over the slide, and 3 for side by side when a slide needs room. Press 4 when a slide should be alone, and 1 for a moment when you are speaking to the viewer. The switch morphs, so it feels like one piece. Each switch is kept as a chapter mark.

Point at things#

Ink tools have keys, so you do not need the mouse toolbar. A draws an arrow, H a highlight, D a pen and K a laser. C clears. On a slide or a PDF page the ink belongs to that page, so it does not follow you to the next one.

Capture the moments#

Press S when a slide matters. The shot keeps its time into the take, and you can caption and star it afterwards. Starred shots make a summary card you can end the take with.

Chapters for the viewer#

After you keep the take, the layout and source switches become chapters. Copy them as lines into a video description so viewers can jump to a part. The lines look like this:

00:00 Intro
02:10 The numbers
06:45 What to do next

What it does not do#

It does not edit. A take is a take, so rehearse the order, and use the pause button if you need a breath. It also needs a computer to share a screen: phone browsers have no screen sharing. A PDF or a picture works anywhere, though.

Start with the content on stage guide.