[Tex/LaTex] Workaround for the animations in Beamer? How to convert a pdf presentation to a Sozi svg

beamerpdfpdftexsvg

I want to use Beamer to write my presentations, mainly because I can use TikZ code on it. I also use to include png and pdf figures, so I like to compile with pdflatex. However, I'm starting to hate having a pdf as output… there is so many troubles with the pdf viewers!. Some times the color change between them, and almost always it is difficult to reproduce any video included.

So, what can I do to use Beamer, pdflatex but finally end with a svg file that can be edited in inkscape or Sozi?

I only can think in two alternatives:

1a. Find a way to compile or convert the Beamer presentation to a
one page pdf grid of slides.

1b. convert the pdf grid to a svg with pdf2svg

1c. make a script that write some stuff to put a Sozi view point per
slide in the grid.

or

2a. Use pdf2svg first

2b. concatenate the svg files into one svg file

2c. make a script that write some stuff to put a Sozi view point per
slide in the grid.

I guess that step 1a should not be too difficult. For instance, I could be using pdfjam to build the grid. However step c is a long path for my skills, so… Do you have any advice or a better idea of how to do this?

EDIT

I would like to specify the limitations that I see in using a pdf as a presentation format.

It seems that only Acrobat and Okular can support videos. There is many discussions about this issue in the forums (e.g. here, here, here and here). I been using Okular in my presentations, and works well. However, not all the Beamer features are well exploited by this two viewers. For instance, take a look at the \animate or the \animatevalue commands. Mixing this commands with TikZ could results in incredible animations (e.g. [here][5], here and here) that can really boost the presentations to another level without too much effort. However, only Acrobat can pass slides in sequence (which is necessary for this animations) and after this I can't go back the slides (the last slide in the animation works like a diode, it always kick you to the next slide).

It is important to take into account that I'm running Linux. There is many nice pdf viewer in Linux, like Okular or MuPDF, but to run Acrobat I have to use an unsupported old version or just wine. While it is true that the audience won't care if I'm a Linux user or not, I have to compile and work with the presentations many times before reach any audience. Thus, things that the audience don't care (like the speed of the pdf viewer running trough wine) can be very important for me.

On the other hand, I also saw the Sozi presentations that seems to work awesome in all the things that bother me from the pdf. It also has this zoom and rotate capability and it just need a navigator. Sozi 15 seems to include all the information for the slide transitions in a html document. By inspecting the html file, I saw that the main thing is the svg figure and the camera is controlled by just a couple of lines.

Then, I though, if there is a way to say to beamer "Hey, don't put the slides in different pdf pages, just put them in a grid in only one page", then svg2pdf and some scripting… I thing is an interesting thing to try.

Best Answer

Maybe not the most elegant solution, but you can use pgfpages to place all your slides on one page:

\documentclass{beamer}
\usetheme{Boadilla}

\usepackage{pgfpages}
\pgfpagesuselayout{2 on 1}

\begin{document}

\begin{frame}
    \frametitle{Frame 1}
\end{frame} 

\begin{frame}
    \frametitle{Frame 2}
\end{frame}

\end{document}

This pdf can now either directly be directly or after conversion in a suitable format be used in the presentation tool of your choice. For example in Prezi on can directly add the pdf. For animating the presentation prezi frames can be added around the beamer frames and voilà:

http://prezi.com/r9himczycvzy/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

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