Are you looking for an easy way to create presentations and upload them for others to see? Well now you can with PresentationTube. This is a program/service that you can use to create presentations at home (or work, or anywhere) and then share them with anyone you want. It is perfect for both teachers and business professionals.

WHAT IS IT AND WHAT DOES IT DO

Main Functionality

PresentationTube is a program that allows you to create presentations for the purposes of teaching something. These presentations can have literally whatever you want; you can draw things or type text. You can also record a voice narration and include footage of your webcam, if you want. You can even insert PowerPoint slides. Think of it like creating a presentation that you would show to an online class, but you can use PresentationTube for any purposes — it doesn’t necessarily need to be for online classes.

When you are happy with your presentations, PresentationTube allows you to either output the presentations in video format (WMV or AVI) or upload the presentation to PresentationTube’s website from where you can share the presentations with anyone by simply providing a link.

Do take note ‘PresentationTube’ is actually a program and a service. ‘PresentationTube Recorder’ is the program, and the service is the PresentationTube Network. As the names suggests, you download and record presentations with the Recorder, and your uploads are stored on the Network. Pretty simple.

Also take note PresentationTube has a free (Lite) version and a paid (Pro) version. We specifically reviewed the Pro version for the purposes of this review but we will mention the differences between the two.

Pros

• Provides a range of tools to assist in creating presentations: a ‘whiteboard’ for text; a ‘drawing board’ for drawing graphs, shapes, etc.; a ‘web’ feature for displaying websites during the presentation; the ability to insert verbal narration and/or webcam video; the ability to show your screen in presentations; and the ability to insert and show PowerPoint slides
• Has a ‘Slides Note’ feature that allows you to input notes and follow those notes as you record your presentations; the notes are not shown in presentations — they are for your eyes only
• Webcam or screen feed can be shown in presentations as full screen or in a corner
• You can output recorded presentations as WMV or AVI, or upload them directly online to PresentationTube’s website to share with others
• Comes with free (Lite) and paid (Pro) versions

Cons

• Cannot insert images or videos into presentations (aside from using the ‘web’ feature to show images or videos from websites)
• You *must* use a PowerPoint… otherwise you cannot create a presentation
• Has no offline ‘Help’ at all, and online help is limited
• Requires you to register to download the Lite version
• The restrictions in the Lite version are a bit of a deal-killer, such as only being able to create a presentations up to 15 mins

Discussion

I don’t make a lot of presentations. In fact, I don’t think I have made one since back in my school days. That being said, I know there are people out there that make presentations on almost a daily basis. For those people, PresentationTube may prove to be very rewarding.

PresentationTube is a small program that you can use to record presentations and then upload them for others to view. These aren’t PowerPoint-like presentations. Rather, these are the types of presentations you use for remote learning; the type that you would use for an online course or to teach a topic.

There are two versions that you can try. The Lite version of the program is completely free to use. However, there are limitations. For example, your presentations can be no longer than 15 minutes in length. I had presentations in school that had to be longer than that so I can imagine that limitation being a deal-killer for people that would otherwise be interested in the Lite version. Also, a number of your advanced video recording options have been removed although the developer is not specific about what exactly are advanced video recording features that have been removed. The company also states that the Lite of the program can only be used for personal or educational use. If you run a business, you need to buy the Pro version.

The paid version of this program has full features without limitations. Due note that there are three types of licenses for the Pro version. The cheapest one is $50, and that is a single use license. $450 gets you a ‘teamwork’ license while $950 gets you a ‘site-wide’ license. So what do you get in the Pro version? Well, you get unlimited storage on the PresentationTube Network, and all limitations of Lite are lifted (duh). Other things include a 1-year free upgrade, 24/7 tech support, and a lifetime software license.

Overall, PresentationTube is fairly straightforward and easy to use. However, that does not excuse the fact that there is no offline ‘Help’ and there is very limited online help resources. You basically need to learn to use the program on your own. The biggest issue I have here is it isn’t very obvious how to insert PowerPoint slides into presentations. In fact, I still haven’t been able to figure it out and without a help section I probably never will.

Another thing that bugs me about this program is the fact that you have to sign up for an account (which is free) before you even download the program. Maybe I want to give the program a test run before I completely sign up for the service. Well, you can’t. Signing up is required just to download the program. No, it doesn’t take long, but it is the principle of the matter.

CONCLUSION AND DOWNLOAD LINK

The program doesn’t really have a lot to offer me, but I don’t make presentations. For any of you who do, PresentationTube is not the most advanced presentation making program out there but it will get the job done… assuming you can figure out how to insert PowerPoints! Overall, my feeling on PresentationTube is ‘average’.

Before you purchase I highly suggest giving Lite a go; do note, however, you will have to sign up for an account before you can do any of that.

Price: Lite version, free / Pro version, $50 for individual user license, $450 for teamwork license, $950 for site wide license

Version reviewed: 1.9.1

Supported OS: Windows XP / Vista / 7 / 8

Download size: 8.81MB

VirusTotal malware scan results: 0/46

Is it portable? No

PresentationTube homepage