How can I put a MATLAB figure in a presentation, and rotate the axes during the presentation?

I have a figure:

logo;
set(gcf, 'color', 'w');

Lovely! I'd like to put that figure, or at least the object in the figure, in a presentation. I happen to be using Powerpoint, but I guess I might switch programs one day. I want to be able to manipulate the object (say rotate, zoom, pan, etc.) with the mouse during the presentation, so people can see it in all its 3D glory.

Any ideas how I might do this?

[Paulo Silva]

Use one of the free screen recorders like CamStudio and insert the video (panning and zooming the logo) into the presentation.

[Oliver Woodford]

Paulo, that's a good suggestion. Why don't you post it as an answer to my question, rather than a comment on it? That way people can vote for it and I could accept it, and people could comment on it. This comment section is really for discussing the question itself, not the answer. :)

[Jiro Doke]

@Oliver: Is this for use on a computer without MATLAB installed? Or do you expect to have access to MATLAB?

[Oliver Woodford]

I don't mind. The method could use MATLAB if you want. Alternatively you could export the figure to some other 3D format which it is possible to manipulate in Powerpoint (perhaps using some plugin). PS I have no specific solution in mind.

Answer 1

[Jiro Doke]

It's not exactly what you are asking for, but I've created animated GIFs from MATLAB graphics (including interactions) and embedded them in PowerPoint presentations. The main downside is that you don't get the interactivity. It animates based on your predefined motions.

EDIT: Here are some resources for creating animated GIFs in MATLAB:

• MATLAB function: imwrite
• MathWorks TechNote Solutions: "How can I create animated GIF images in MATLAB?", "Why do animated GIFs generated from MATLAB not animate in PowerPoint 2003?"
• File Exchange entries: anymate, Animated GIF

[Oliver Woodford]

Nice idea! It would be useful to know how to do this.

[Oleg Komarov]

@Jiro: so, is it actually possible to embed it and use matlab engine behind ppt in order to exploit rotation, zoom and so on...?

[Jiro Doke]

@Oliver: I'll find some links to include here on how to create animated GIFs.

@Oleg: No, I meant embedding an animated GIF image. The image is not tied to MATLAB, but the image will animate based on a prescribed motion.

[Oleg Komarov]

@Jiro: yes I got it, but is it theoretically/feasibly possible (meaning that ActiveX knowledge and MATLAB only) to embed an object which (assuming MATLAB is installed) will be exploitable as a .fig?

[Jiro Doke]

@Oleg: I'm not very knowledgeable with ActiveX, so I can't say. But you can have PowerPoint talk to MATLAB via ActiveX. The live figure manipulation might be extremely difficult, though.

Answer 2

[Jan]

You can use a modified version of Alexandre Gramfort's "Matlab mesh to PDF with 3D interactive object": http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/25383 Embedding an ActiveX object letting Acrobat display this PDF in your PowerPoint presentation is much easier. But you can create the complete presentation as PDF also! Even Acrobat-Reader can handle fullscreen mode, cross-fading and animations.

Answer 3

[Jiro Doke]

If you have MATLAB available on your presentation machine, you can take a look at "Calling MATLAB from PowerPoint" by Brett.