18) The manual way

http://www.flashgeek.com/tutorials/09_ppttofla_01.htm
http://www.indezine.com/articles/flashppt2.html

In PowerPoint, you can export your presentation to a picture sequence and import the picture files into Flash's timeline. Then, export the timeline as Shockwave Flash File (SWF). Exporting the individual slides into WMF format is the best approach as it allows the vector images and graphics to be kept in their original format when imported into Flash.

17) Powerbullet

http://www.powerbullet.com/

Powerbullet is a free tool that allows you to create Flash presentations for business, sales or educational use. No technical expertise is needed with its simple drag and drop interface. If you are familiar with a basic text editor, you should be comfortable with Powerbullet. Add sounds (MP3 or WAV files), images (PNG, GIF, JPEG) and Flash files (SWF). Create animations on any element in the page and add page transitions — entry and exit — with the click of a button.

Type text directly into the layout area and add color, formatting, special effects such as drop shadows and animations. Can also copy text from Word or other programs and paste into Powerbullet while retaining the formatting. Create color effects using transparency, gradients and overlaps.

Powerbullet exports the Flash movie in different modes, depending on your choice: for a standard slide-show, navigation buttons are automatically generated and added to the bottom of each page (or slide). Or select auto-advance mode and have the slides advance according to a timer. You can also synchronize a page the sound attached to it, so the page will wait until the sound has finished before advancing. For kiosk use, select full-screen output mode, which works in all modern Web browsers.

Powerbullet is no longer in production. You can still download it, check out the samples and get help at the user forums.

Price: Free.

16) Converting PowerPoint files to Flash Using the PPT_FLA Template

http://www.tc.umn.edu/~kurtis/flash/ppt_fla/
http://dmc.umn.edu/objects/ppt_fla/ppt_fla.shtml

Use this Flash Template file and print these instructions to convert PowerPoint presentations to Flash .swf files in a few easy steps. You'll need to have PowerPoint along with Flash MX to use this template. What you need to know: Rudimentary Flash skills... if you have never used Flash, go to the Help menu and select Tutorials. Choose the Introduction option.

With this tool, PowerPoint transitions and animations are not reproduced in Flash. If you are an experienced Flash developer, you can use this template as a starting place and add Flash animations to the presentation.

Download: http://www.tc.umn.edu/~kurtis/flash/ppt_fla/ppt_fla.fla [.fla file]

15) FlashSpring

http://www.flashspring.com/

FlashSpring is an easy-to-use application for creating professional Flash content in PowerPoint. It comes in three types: FlashSpring Lite which is free and converts your PowerPoint presentations into Flash format, FlashSpring Pro (former FlashSpring enhanced with a set of new feature), which creates Flash content while retaining the interactivity and animations from your original PowerPoint presentations and FlashSpring server, a product for PowerPoint to Flash conversion in batch at server side.

Movies are produced in PowerPoint and converted to Flash format with a couple of mouse clicks. FlashSpring functions are embedded in PowerPoint toolbar and are easily accessible from there. It works as an add-on for Microsoft PowerPoint and supports almost all PowerPoint animation effects.

The application retains original layout, text styles and decorations of your PowerPoint presentations and makes them accompanied with different audio effects in WAV and MP3 format conversion including customized narrations. You can see a comparison between Lite and Pro at http://www.flashspring.com/products/flashspring_pro/features.html.

Trial: http://www.flashspring.com/download.html

Price: Lite is free. Pro is USD $149 / EUR 124 (volume licensing available).

Update: The software has recently changed name, and offers more features now. Please check iSpring into this guide.

14) Adobe Captivate (formerly Macromedia Captivate and eHelp RoboDemo)

http://www.adobe.com/products/captivate/

Adobe Captivate is an easy way to create interactive demonstrations and software simulations in Flash format. Captivate records your actions in any application and instantly creates a Flash file with visible and audible mouse movements. The small file size and high resolution make Captivate simulations and demos easy to publish online or burn to CD for use in training, sales, marketing or user support.

Captivate integrates a full PowerPoint import feature and can output Flash in a multitude of formats including Flash (SWF), Editable Flash (FLA), Self-Executing File (EXE), Macintosh Projector File (HQX), Microsoft Word (DOC), Text (TXT) for Translation, Linux Projector File (EXE), and more. I've used the program and importing PowerPoint is easy. It also imports the notes and any page — it can be one page, five pages, or all pages.

Trial: http://www.macromedia.com/cfusion/tdrc/index...

Buy: USD $599 (full edition) and $299 (upgrade) Price page is difficult to find.