Powerpoint 2007 and AVI

[Guest]

I am trying to get three movies in avi format to run in PP 2007 on three
separate slides in a presentation. I have checked and they all run ok in the
player PP uses (mplayer2). They all have short file names and they are saved
in the same folder as the presentation which I have moved to create a short
path.
On one of the movies I actually get the first frame on the PP slide but it
will not run. On the other two I just get a black box and they will not run.
The file sizes are 1.6MB, 1.7MB and 2.7MB.
Hope someone can help!!

 

[Guest]

Just a quick check:

Were they in the same folder as the pres BEFORE you inserted them?

 

[Ute Simon]

On one of the movies I actually get the first frame on the PP slide but it

will not run. On the other two I just get a black box and they will not
run.

That could be an issue of path length. PowerPoint has problems with paths
longer than 128 characters (incl. file name). Move the presentation AND the
movies to a folder C:\Test and try to start them there.

Best regards,
Ute

 

[Guest]

John,

Yes they are and they are my path is just c:\folder\SB.avi - so it looks
like it does not break the 128 character rule. Any other suggestions please?

 

[Guest]

Thanks for this but my path is just C:\Folder\SB.avi so it can't be much
shorter!
Any other suggestions please?

 

[Telstar]

What does the .avi contain? Powerpoint will only play very limited types of
encodings, which is why I use URL links or embeded windows media player.

 

[Austin Myers]

I can't help but believe it is codec related. As a suggestion, download and
install "GSpot" (Google it) utility and see what it tells you about the
files and the codecs being used. As an alternative, you may want to give
either PCMedia or PFCPro a try. (They come with a fully functioning trial
period of two weeks.) Once you use it to insert the files you can remove
the add-in as the presentations will continue to work without it and will
play on other Windows PCs.

http://www.playsforcertain.com


Austin Myers
MS PowerPoint MVP Team

Provider of PFCPro, PFCMedia and PFCExpress
www.playsforcertain.com

 

[Telstar]

Installed codecs make almost no difference in Powerpoint.....which will not
play any kind of mpeg 2 file.

 

[Austin Myers]

......which will not

play any kind of mpeg 2 file.

Sorry I should have asked if it was Mpeg-2. This is the format used by DVDs
and requires a special decoder (codec). It does NOT come with Windows
(Vista has a limited one for media player). I recommend the one made by
Cyberlink (PowerDVD) and you can download it from here:
http://www.cyberlink.com/multi/cyberstore/order_1_ENU.html

In fact, you can install the trial and then delete it and the decoder will
still be on your machine and will work.



Austin Myers
MS PowerPoint MVP Team

Provider of PFCPro, PFCMedia and PFCExpress
www.playsforcertain.com

 

[Guest]

Thanks for this - I will not have internet access when I present. Managed to
sort out the issue though - thanks

 

[Guest]

Austin,
Tried your PFCPro and it worked a treat, many thanks for your help!!!

 

[Telstar]

Just so you understand: URL also means, in Windows Powerpoint, 'path of a
file on the media.' A filename and path, in other words.

 

[Austin Myers]

Glad you got it sorted !!!


Austin Myers
MS PowerPoint MVP Team

Provider of PFCPro, PFCMedia and PFCExpress
www.playsforcertain.com