Having several possible pathes in a single presentation

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Fred,

I like this idea. To be honest one of the earliest version of prezi could handle more than one paths. But it was a bit too sophisticated or we could not design good interface for it.

So let me know. if you have any idea how to switch between paths.

What you can do now? Add a detailed path. And use the mouse during the presentation. You have a path going from A to B and C, D, E. You start the presentation and go from A to B. You want to jump to D, simply click it. The next command will take you to E and not C.

peter

If you think of it in terms of a standard flow chart, this shouldn't be too complex. If you were allowed to pick a point along a path an "Make this a branching point", you could diverge from the main path at will wherever one of these decision points were encountered. The interface at the presentation could be the "Alt" key. Hold down "ALT" click the right-arrow on the Prezi (or Alt-Tab), and it diverts. The audience would not know the difference, but the presenter has the freedom to take a different path if required (say he/she has less time to give the presentation than planned and has built-in an abbreviated version). Also if we could add a button to "Return to last decision point" on the navigational menu, that would be sweet!

I agree with fred that this could be accomplished simply by using colors, and frankly it should be limited to one or two path diversion per decision point. It's a railroad switch, either you go straight, take the right path, or the left, you don't have an infinite number of paths to choose from (that would be too complex).

If you went down an alternate path, and it terminated where another path continues, then the natural course would be to continue on the new path (did I make sense there?).

I included a picture of an actual flowchart to illustrate the process. :-)

1. first I think there needs to be a way to select portions of the path.

I suggest that clicking once on a path section hilights it. Shift click to ad to the selectoin and double click to select it from start to end. Selecting path sections would be useful for other things to like making the path a curve or changing its speed.

Once you have that ability just use the delete key like you would for deleting other content.

2. I think you should be able to set any object (picture frame video...) as the default loading view. The option could be a circle that reads "Start" right beside the "up" and "down" circles in the place menu and would highlight when an object is selected.

I see 4 key advantages to this.

-Using a frame you can completley controll what the user sees first thing.

-Its more natural because where prezi loads to is location, rotation and scale, all of which an object shows visually. A path point just looks like a location.

-You can start any where on any path, or not start on a path at all.
Its dependent on if or where the object is on a path.

-Its simple because you can already select objects in place mode.
(Instead of making all the path points selecteble just to set one as
the start. Since all path points are on objects already it might be bloating to make the same thing selectable in two ways.

Thanks for being so involved in the community during development
that means allot to me.

To me, having multiple paths that have no relation to each other (do not intersect or divide from one another), is like creating multiple presentations in one Prezi. Nothing wrong with that, but if there is no interrelation, then what's the point? You might as well not have any paths at all. Still, if that's what you want out of the presentation, then I think the "Hyper Prezi" idea that is being discussed on this forum would amount to the same thing and perhaps avoid muddying up the interface.

Paths are somewhat integral to the success of Prezi. As much as it is lauded as non linear (which it is, particularly when building a presentation) it is the zooming nature of the path motion that WOWs the audience. If you just wanted to click from object to object, Prezi already allows for this as you could progress through a Prezi with no path whatsoever in a completely non linear nature. The path allows for a linear transition of non linear objects.

From the perspective of the presenter, not the architect of the presentation (whether they be the same person or not), how would you be able to navigate the complexities of the presentation in real time (without involving the audience in the minutia). As Prezi has no "For the presenter only" screen, with information that would let the presenter know what path their on and how to switch without revealing the whole thing to the audience (I like to keep mine in suspense)? For me this is the crux of the problem.

So, I think having a finite alternate path model (which is what I think Fred originally proposed, and is definitely what I'm talking about) keeps it simple enough that it can be executed during a presentation. As for what the user would hear/see/feel, I think at a "decision point", the paths to the next (and only the next) objects/frames would become visible and would have a letter (A, B or C) and the path selected would momentarily "light up". A practiced presenter could go through that step pretty quickly without holding-up stalling the presentation for their audience. Alternatively you could have the next object itself "light up" without revealing the path at all. The problem I see with that is if the next destination is off-screen, you'd be at a loss as to which was highlighted. If you can only see the beginning of the path however, you'll at least have an idea of which way you're headed. I suppose you could alternatively add some kind of path indicator somewhere else on the screen, but again the more you add to the "Show" screen the more you take away from the presentation itself. The audience should not have to be involved in the mechanics behind the presentation.

haha I love a challenge, and that is a tricky question. how about this:

When an object is assigned too two or more paths a ring with the colours of each path surrounds the path point. If the ring is left multicoloured then the tab or next button will chose a random path. If you click on one of the path colours in the ring then that path becomes dominant and the hole ring goes that colour(like the deep blue path in the pic).

Well I can only speak for myself, basically I wouldn't want any paths to show in any way while im presenting. I would prefer to memorize the default paths.

When I present I use a gyration mouse (like a wee remote). Basically I can control the mouse pointer as I walk around the room very easily. Navigating a prezi is very easy even if im walking and talking in a crowd! Because most people dont have this my opinions about the interface may be unique.

For me it would be just scroll to zoom out, click the object I want and know by memory what path its on. I dont require any preset click or keys for navigating path junctions.

I totally see where your coming from (lol presenting was frustrating before i got that mouse) I think there should be a way to
assign keys or clicks to paths.

With the picture above in mind, The first click on a color in the ring could select it, at which point any key you hit would be assigned to that path on that junction, the key character would show up right in the color ring. If you click a color twice it becomes the default and the next button no longer acts randomly.

If a default ring (shown in dark blue) is clicked again then the ring gose back to random and you can edit the assigned keys again.

Would that work for you Gruth?

Random is an exiting feature for me to because for self guided web sites every users could have a different experience every time they came to the site.... even if there wasn't any new content since they were there last!

"once in "show" mode it has to be transparent to the audience....but at the same time apparent to the presenter " - Your right on the money Gurth!

Perhaps it would be nice to have a key combination, say Alt+P, that shows the paths and there keys while in show mode, or have the path info always showing on the presenters small screen but not on the projector screen.

Another helpful feature would be a second frame in the browser that loads one object ahead of the actual presentation.

Where would the colored tabs appear and if you were zoomed in the whole way on an object, how would you be able to differentiate one path from another?

Now that you explained your solution a little more thoroughly I suppose my question isn't relevant at all. If the path option is part of the menu system (i.e. where the timer display is, or thereabouts) and does not muddle-up the presentation itself, that's great.

I think your solution would work fine, unless the presentation is overly complex. If there are too many paths for example (or many were independent/disconnected as rylan proposes) it may be hard to keep track of what color went where. Also allowing too many paths in one presentation (equaling too many colored tabs) may also muddle up the interface I think.

One suggestion that may help here, is if when a "decision point" is reached (i.e. place where a path splits) Prezi could automatically pop-up the colored tabs so the presenter would get a little bit of a reminder of where the decision points occur.


Example of what I think you are saying pasted here (with perhaps slightly more muted colors)........

The way I thought of it was railroad tracks or freeway intersections. So selecting A, B or C would only be required when you get to a point in the presentation where such a divergence occurs (a decision point, like in the above flowchart).

Here's how I see it: Using your proposed flag system, when advancing through the presentation, at key locations (intersections, decision points, whatever you want to call them) you can take alternate paths. When one of these points is reached, Prezi automatically pop-ups the colored tab. The presenter then selects which way they want to go. After passing that point the color tabs disappear and the right arrow (play button) automatically follows the selected path.

Also I think that double-clicking the back (left) arrow should take you back to the decision point (so you can take a different path from there if you wish to).

Hi guys,
I've read this entire thread. And I have to say the direction this solution is going seems really really complicated.

What I really would like is to be able to create one GIANT presentation file that might actually have 10 small presentations that can be used as entirely separate paths.

Here's the use case: I am giving a presentation in which the audience asks a question. I have a smaller side presentation in which I address this question. I want to leave the current path and start on a new one that has a beginning and end. Then I want to go back to where I was.

This means that the multiple path process is NOT a choose your own adventure. It's simply more than one path within one file - but separate presentations.

The functionality hinges on you always following one path. Complicating this sounds complicated and might destroy my presentation flow.

Everything could function as it does now, however, if I leave the current path and choose another one I'm now permanently on the new path, even if it uses existing elements. To leave this path I must go back to the origin of another path.

Does that make any sense?

Here's my main concern - keep the functionality simple at this point and do not destroy the presenter's flow with decisions that must be made based on color or number but on the elements in the presentation.

Please let me know if this is off base. I'll bow out.

,Drew

"Here's my main concern - keep the functionality simple at this point and do not destroy the presenters flow with decisions that must be made based on color or number but on the elements in the presentation."

I agree with you- simplicity is very important. Colors and numbers may be great for building the paths but, elements/ objects are my preferred way to chose the next path to.

Thanks for joining the form, I found your opinion valuable.
and a big thanks for reading the hole thread, thats rare!

one man's simplicity
is another's boredom :)

What I would love to see is a way for the person giving the presentation (or viewing the presentation) to actually make the choice of what they want to see next. For example, in a presentation about a person, you could take the path through their personal stuff, their online stuff, their professional stuff, etc.

Paths may contain the same elements, but you would see them in a different order. (Think non-linear presenting.) This would also allow the hiding of content that you don't need to show every audience. It would also allow much more targeting of content - no need to build multiple prezis for different audiences.

@happyseaurchin: If you need to sometimes show the surrounding items, then you make two sets and two paths. Simpler to follow that way. In a perfect world, I would like to have the ability to pick what shows for which path on an object by object basis (visible or not visible) - but that's dreaming.

Hi All,
As a teacher using this in the classroom - students want the ability to collaborate on projects and presentations. The sharing component of Prezi really gives great opportunities for students to share different ideas on the same material in the same presentation.

Also, if students were to make "Choose Your Own Adventure" presentations, they could base the path dependent on the choice - that might be more difficult...and like others have said - the beauty of Prezi is it's simplicty.

If students could set up hubs with choices of paths - they could create interactive presentations - bordering on game like content - and would probably find that pretty meaningful as a way of presenting information.

Cheers to all from sunny Bangkok, Thailand.

Rob.

Maybe you have to give us credit for being smart enough to learn how to use advanced features of the tool? You can have a Preferences or Options of Additional Features that lets each individual user customize the look and feel and features-capabilities of the his Prezi tool. If you can't give this features to the Public User for whatever reason, maybe you can give this option to Desktop users.

You can figure it out. Stop putting unnecessary constraints on the innovations.

Well, here are my two cents. I'm using Prezi to brief a technical project to several different audiences. Some are very technically versed and others are not at all.

Brief summary of what I've read:
Hyper-Prezi (interesting but not what I'm looking for)
Multiple Self Contained Paths over the same content (promising)
Multiple Connected Paths over the same content (confusing)

What I'd like to do is be able to have a way to move through the content (and skip or include some!) based off my audience, so multiple self contained paths.

For the "choose your own adventure" crowd I can see the interconnected path benefit but it seems very confusing and not a great UI yet.

I realized though, going back to the multiple self-contained paths idea, that you can do this in prezi now, you just need to be a bit clever. (And you can frankly do the interconneted path thing too, but you need to be even more clever. I can throw together a walkthrough if people want it. I haven't found one yet.)

Just make your path look like the following:



Then you make the "Easy" "Medium" and "Hard" markers your start point. When you click on one you enter the path at that point.

This is definitely doable in the existing prezi, but the interface makes it a pain in the ass to see everything since you can't isolate the "Medium" path, you have to look at all three on top of each other.