Save or export as SWF, not EXE/APP

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Thanks Tim - your updated written instructions are perfect now and the vid tutes are infallible.

Awesome work (with the instructions and the work around).

My mind boggles as to why Prezi doesn't export your (or their own) little swf wrapper file in their prezi exports. I dare say that Prezi would appeal to a wider commercial audience if it were available "off the shelf" in this way.

Thank you for your patience and time Tim.

Cheers,

Ben

I'm an Art Director, and at first glance, I was amazed by Prezi...

But, unfortunately I can't even show it to my clients, because the inability to remove the watermark on (or host our own) embedded Prezis will be a deal-breaker, and I want to save myself the headache.

I design websites for national clients, and they are willing to pay, however the fact that this option isn't even available at a price is unfortunate. I would easily pay double or triple for this option, or some form of license. Corporate clients who are paying between 5 and 6 figures for a website do NOT want someone else's branding all over their stuff - period! And they will pay what it takes. I fear that the people at Prezi are going to neglect the high-end clients with deep pockets and reduce their potentially amazing software to 'hobby software' as it was referred to above.

I use many different services in web development - CMS systems, interactive document viewers, flash apps, photo gallery systems, social media tools etc, and I fear you guys are heading down the Issuu trail. Issuu was going to be the next fantastic document viewer, until they decided to ignore 2 major requests - to be able to download the doc directly, and a real white-label option. Pro account subscribers started dropping them for more flexible (and more expensive) competitors like Calameo. I was one of them, and I alone was contacted by over 40 Pro account holders in the past yr who dropped their Issuu subscriptions for my Calameo recommendation. Now I don't hear about them anymore except for complaints.

Prezi is a truly fantastic and innovative tool, and has amazing potential. When I first saw it, I was daydreaming about building entire micro-sites in there, and applying it to websites that I manage for an association that represents a $54 billion dollar a year industry... but unfortunately, these issues will be a deal-breaker for us. We were all set to purchase a few pro accounts until I started reading the forums....sigh. We pump thousands a year into our favorite go-to software and services (we call them our tool-box), and I was really hoping this would be one of them, and if a REAL white-label option is released, it will be.

Cheers,

I'd like to subscribe on the pro version but I won't do it because I need the .swf files to use in EPi server (cms). I can't embed a prezi file only use a real flash file. Can someone tell me what the status is? Otherwise i will search for an other solution then prezi. To bad ...

read slidedynamic above. I will let you host prezi files on your own webserver.

I teach in Adobe Connect, and I would love to replace my powerpoints with Prezis. Unfortunately, the only way I can do this is with a cumbersome screenshare, instead of just being able to save the Prezi as a .swf file. Until that's an option, I probably won't go through the trouble of moving my powerpoints to Prezis. I need them to be able to play in Adobe Connect. :(

Hello, I'm agree with all people that say that a swf export function would be a very good option... I need to put the prezi presentation on a web solution running on a intranet, but with the prezi limitation simply I can't... prezi developers should listen the needs of your clients.

Think about it.

OK been doing some work here its is Prezi true Autoplay on a website, Dont do anything just watch :)
http://www.slidedynamic.com/prezi-aut...
In a blog just for good measure
http://prezi-autoplayer.blogspot.com/
each transition through Prezi's path is controlled to the second allowing you to specify how long at each point in the path should remain before proceeding Also you can pause and resume. We have add a autoload only.
You can see this in wordpress, thumblr and even embedded in Mybrainshark here
http://www.slidedynamic.com/prezi-aut...
Demo to download and test.
We will be releasing some new exciting updates too in the next week

I'm trying to use Prezi for teaching.
I'd really appreciate the capability to export to swf because I also work with adobe platform (dynamic modules and BPMN made in Adobe Livecycle) and that format is very handy.

i am fairly new to prezi.
at first i was really impressed with it and its features. i work in a hospital and was planning to use it in bussines intelligence and for educational purposes.

well, the first prezi itself is done and even includes a "how to use this prezi" movie.
must say: everyone i show the testcase is enthousiastic, until...

until we try to derive an swf file from prezi.
not able to get our own SWF is sadly a showstopper for further use of prezi in our hospital. we want complete controll over our applications and as it is, its just not possible.

the camtasia option for recording a presentation is just "good" for a presentation. i was however making a prezi more catalogue-style. the camtasia option is not really working in a prezi catalogue.

another and maybe better option for us is probably to design our catalogue in camtasia altogether. learning curve is a bit steeper, and i do have to record al the zoom-inns myself, but it is much more flexibel in its endproduct.

Massive +1 on the let us export to SWF format. I'm willing to hand over my $150/year for this feature today if it existed.

It doesn't, so I'm going elsewhere sadly. As, I suspect are they people who are sharing this view in the various posts on the topic. There's a few thousand dollars right there

But what's worse is the almost complete lack of response from Prezi employees - if we got an explanation, a rough time scale or even a "NO. we're not doing it", that would be OK.

As it stands poor communication is driving people away. Which is a shame as the software is brilliant and that doesn't happen without brilliant people behind it.

Do some customer service training people!

Fair enough, your hands are tied. But I still maintain that some senior manager has made a silly decision with that policy.

In my mind saying "we're working on it, but don't bank on it because we might not be able to get it to function properly" would lead to a lot less frustration (and perhaps less people going elsewhere) than a corporate silence policy.

But hey ho. Nothing you can do. Nothing I can do. Still Sucks though.

Thanks for getting back to me however, I eat my words on the customer service front.

Thanks for letting us know that you are working on it. This thread has been going for 2 years and I had more or less given up.

Cheers Peter - Two employee replies in 24 hours! I well and truly eat my words, thanks for getting back to me.

I distribute essentially e-learning content to UK high schools. .exes are absolutely a no go due to network restrictions (& the fact kids would be playing 24 7 COD on school networks if they were allowed!) also, two of my customers want to use my presentations in computer labs with no internet connections, so embedding is not an option either.

Prezi is so awesome but without an export to SWF/HTML5, it can't do the trick for me, which admittedly is a bit of a weird scenario.

Thanks again,
Kev

Kev,
so is this a solution for you?

a function that creates html and swf files which can be opened by a web browser. You just need to eliminate exe. Am I right?

hp

Spot on! That'd do the trick :)

{edit} Provided that these files can be accessed offline.

Hi Slidedynamic, this is not working for me. Tested on firefox 9.0.1, internet explorer 9, windows 7. Just stops loading at the letter Z.

This happens for me too (sticks on letter Z in preZi) in every conceivable web browser on OSX Snow Leopard.

It's a nice trick I hadn't thought of, but it still requires a resources folder (I think?) - it'd be nice if we could have just one self contained .swf that is generated by a nice simple export button rather than your hacky method (don't take that the wrong way! )

This said, you have proved your version works....so what did you do with the resources folder?

Cheers :)

As a pro user, I have been overjoyed by the Prezi possibilities but ultimately frustrated by lack of audio, autoplay on embed and export to swf or video. It effectively makes Prezi a one trick pony when it could be so much more.
Listening to their customers seems to be something Prezi are to slow to do.
Disappointing.

I'm attempting to integrate a Prezi into a client's HD recording of herself.

It's a nightmare trying to get the thing to transfer without fits and starts.

Without a nice, clean, output that can be run through Sorenson Squeeze to convert to .mov files, my Prezi Pro account is DEAD.

I have also advised my boss (who made me the building Prezi trainer) of this weakness, and, as of now Prezi is dead in the Wayne County MI school district.

It's only 14,000 teachers and 287,000 students, though.

Small potatoes.

Hi,
I'd like to use P. as a sort of (old times) swish: to realize some specific flash animation to be inserted in a presenter/catpivate course...How long for a selfconsistent swf...?

BR

Really hoped for the option to export to more than an exe (which of course couldn't be shared with anyone due to security issues).
Such a shame as I love the concept, but not if I have to make my presentations public.

I hadn't realised just how limited this tool actually is.

In terms of looks the output is incredible, but it's just not practical - using exe files? Try getting that past any half serious IT / security department.

And as for having the Prezi logo on everything - you may think it's clever marketing, and to be fair it's the reason why I know about the product, but it's also another reason not to pay for the product!

Real shame, as I can see some amazing applications for Prezi, but not in it's current state. Unless something changes, our organisation won't be signing up.

I'm evaluating Prezi for our company and want to host the prezi content directly in our website/intranet. Your logo enforcement policy is currently a big stumbling block for me, but an swf output would be an essential requirement for me.

From what I can tell your old portable format used to export a zip file which included an html file with the flash content - this is before you upgraded it to include an exe projector. I understand the rationale behind the exe (presumably to overcome flash security problems) but exes are just not suitable in a corporate environment and restrict me embedding into our web content.
Why not simply continue to provide a movie.swf which can be embedded in html directly?

My usecases:
1. Embed in our public website to showcase our products/software and provide tutorials. Want content to autoplay and be hosted within or site. We cannot have dependcies on external sites (security concern, availability concern, lack of control, etc). Needs our branding on it whilst loading, not yours - though would consider more subtle branding (e.g. right mouse button about menu).

2. Embed privately in our intranet. Content is confidential and not suitable for hosting elsewhere. Would design in your desktop app and host internally.

Please let me know if these usecases are possible with prezi - it seems to have the potential to do just what we need. Thanks

unofficial and not endorsed by prezi but might help if you get stuck, hosted externally with various autoplay options and sync'd audio and even video overlay
http://www.slidedynamic.com/prezi-aut...
more info
http://www.slidedynamic.com/prezi-aut...

Thanks, looks interesting but I'm really looking for support out of the box.

It lacks the slide controls and I would be worried that as an unnofficial solution it might not continue to work in the future.

Thanks anyhow though. Hopefully prezi have a more official solution!

I figured out it is technically possible to host prezi's swf on your own site without any third-party tools, but you do have to do a little work yourself to get it to work.

Firstly, I followed the steps outlined by Tim in his video above - thanks Tim! This is excellent as it lets you play the prezi in flash locally. I then embed the swf in a webpage (using a standard flash object wrapper) - all good so far - but this only works in the browser locally.

The problem comes when I upload the webpage, movie.swf and data folder to my website - suddenly it fails to play. The problem is caused, not due to flash security settings, but rather, because the movie.swf prezi makes a POST request to our server for the main.swf file in the data folder. You can see this for yourself if you monitor the page loading in firebug or similar. Anyhow, our server rejects the request because it can't process POST requests for flash files. This results in a 405 error (method not allowed) which generates the 'oops check your internet connection' message in the prezi.

Prezi could easily fix this problem by changing the request to a GET request when working with local paths in this manner. Its a small change that would really extend the power of prezi. Lets hope they are listening!

Anyhow, it is possible to workaround the problem. The solution is to configure your server to accept (and ignore) the post request for this file and instead simply serve the main.swf file when it receives the request (i.e. treat it like a normal GET request). This can be done a variety of ways but I chose to accomplish this by hex-editing the movie.swf and changing the 'main.swf' reference to 'main.php'. This means its requesting a PHP file on my server (which can accept POST requests) rather than a flash file. Then I created a simple 'main.php' script alongside the 'main.swf' file - it simply ignores the POST parameters and outputs the contents of the main.swf file (together with an appropriate header for the content type and content size). It could probably also be done with htaccess/permissions/rewrite rules if you prefer not to resort to hex-editing the file.

Once the main.swf is correctly served, your portable Prezi plays perfectly in the browser from your own site - loading all resources from your server (with the exception of a crossdomain.xml file - but that doesn't concern me).

Hope this info helps other people trying to accomplish this task. Hopefully, in time, prezi will update the code to make this work right out of the box!

My method retains the normal prezi navigation buttons. If you want rid of them or need greater programatic control over the slides being shown I suggest you take a look at the slidedynamic stuff.

Obliterator

I want to create a .swf-File, to embed it in my Digital Sigange Solution!

I also want to create a native .swf file and post it on our electronic signage system. Please consider giving your paying customers the ability to create single free-standing .swf's that can be played without any .exe's or other loader file requirements. I would also prefer you don't force the Prezi logo on the output of your program.Thanks!