Virtual Flipcharts using mmhmm

Virtual Flipchart being displayed

Guidance on installing Virtual Flipcharts through mmhmm and similar commercial software. Virtual Flipcharts are a free, simple and easy way of including a flipchart electronically in your webcam. They help engage participation and form a helpful, and easy to distribute record of the meeting.

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How to set up Virtual Flipcharts in mmhmm

Recently a couple of colleagues said that they preferred the simplicity of mmhmm over OBS, and asked if they could use the Virtual Flipchart with mmhmm. The answer is yes, and the approach is very similar, but a bit more limited and therefore more straightforward.
Virtual Flipcharts can be used with any virtual webcam software which enables you to add an existing window to your webcam. Our assumption here is that if you want to use Virtual Flipcharts with your existing software, you already know how to set it up and add new windows to it.

The Flipchart bit

All that remains is to add the ‘Reading View’ window of your chosen Virtual Flipchart PowerPoint file to mmhmm.
Simply download the Flipchart of your choice. Open it up in PowerPoint. On the ‘View’ ribbon (1), click ‘New Window'(2) and then click ‘Reading View'(3).
PowerPoint View Ribbon

To explain this in a bit more detail We are doing a couple of very simple PowerPoint tricks. Click on the ‘View’ menu item (1) presents us with two very powerful tools.

Image of resizing the reading view window.Clicking ‘New Window’ (2) opens up a second window on the same file. Clicking ‘Reading View’ (3) is essentially about switching to ‘slideshow’, but in a window. This gives us the option to resize this window so that it is tight onto the image of your flipchart (see left).

Now, because these two Powerpoint windows are linked, anything you type into the slide in edit view in the first window should immediately appear on the reading view.
At this point you now have two windows open on the flipchart – one in slideshow mode, and the other in edit mode. Whatever you type, scribe, draw or paste into the flipchart in the edit window will appear on the slideshow window.

The mmhmm bit
Schematic showing how to easily set up Virtual Flipchart in mmhmm

Now, within mmhmm,:
  1. Click ‘New Slide’ in the bottom left. Then click the ‘Add Screen Share’ option.
  2. And on the window that opens, under ‘Share a Window’, select the Slideshow for the Flipchart, and click ‘Share’.
  3. Then, select the flipchart from the slides along the bottom of your mmhmm window, and click ‘shoulder.’
  4. Resize the various windows in the normal way until you have it looking right.

Check that you can edit your flipchart in mmhmm through the edit window in Powerpoint.

Then use your mmhmm webcam when you join your next virtual meeting.

This approach works with any of the Virtual Flipchart solutions: Standard; whiteboard; blackboard; slate; …   And with any of the Virtual Flipchart tools: Plain; timer; templates; supercards; moodtracker; …

 

Track your progress to ensure the efficacy of this strategy.