PPT won't play properly in PPT Viewer

[DavidF]

For starters, I am using PPT 2007 with XP as the OS.
I have a two part presentation (two separate files). The first is an intro
loop that will play until I press an object linked to the second file. The
problem is the first file. This file is only 2 slides long and on the 1st
slide, has text that magnifies on entry, the text also has 3-D with shadow
settings and 3-D settings. The second slide has several entries that will
fade in and out, each having 3-D settings and shadows. When I play the file
in Slide Show view, it works just great and links to the 2nd file with no
problem.

The problem occurs when I package it for CD. The animation on the first
slide doesn't work at all but the other graphics are okay. Only half of the
entries on the second slide show the graphics (3-D and shadow) and the other
half doesn't. But the animation works. Also, the link on both pages work.
I went out and did the compatibility check and it gives me two issues on
about 12 different areas on the slides. They are: 1. The shape and any text
in it cannot be edited when uysing earlier viersions of PowerPOint ( Slide 1
and 2) 11 occurences; and number 2. Animations on uneditable shapes may be
removed when using earlier versions of PowerPOint, (slide 1) 1 occurence.

I am saving the file as file type PowerPoint Presentation, which is also
the default setting when I check the PowerPoint Options/Save.

I wanted to see what I had to do to get it to view in the viewer and
essentially, the only thing I could do was put basic text down, no animation,
no graphics.

One other thought, I have a new PC, a Dell Precision 490, with
quad-processors, tons of memory and disk space.

Would someone please help me. I have saved files many times before using PPT
2007 with no problems and now all of a sudden I am getting this.

Thanks for any assistance anyone can give me.

David F.

 

[Lucy Thomson]

Hi David

This is a problem with the (very poorly named) 2007 viewer - it is really
the 2003 viewer with the compatibility pack. This means when you use the
viewer or package for cd with the viewer PowerPoint 'down saves' your file
to a 97-2003 format, which converts much of the new eye-candy (SmartArt, the
new cool font stuff, etc) to images and loses animation in the process. A
work around is to convert the new pretty stuff to a picture yourself (cut ->
paste special -> png/jpg) and add animations to the picture. Far, far, far
from perfect but a workaround at least.

Lucy

 

[DavidF]

Thank you Lucy for responding. I had a funny feeling that was the case. It
sure is poor that MS didn't upgrade the Viewer along with everything else. I
recorded the the intro presentation and inserted the movie into a slide and
played just fine. One problem with that though; it would not repeat, it
would only go to a blank screen. I tried the kiosk setting and the continous
loop setting and both gave me the same result. Got any suggestions on that
one?

Again, thank you for responding.

David Frazier

 

[Lucy Thomson]

Hi David

The naming of the '2007' viewer is what gets my goat I must admit. I'm happy
for MS to spend their time making improvements to the programme itself
rather than the viewer but the name is a misnomer that catches many people
out.

As for your question, I'm afraid I'm neither a looping nor a movie expert.
However, I'll give it a go ;-) When you say you recorded the first
presentation and then inserted it as a movie, may I ask why? And how did you
record the movie file?

Lucy

 

[DavidF]

Hi Lucy,
I am giving 3 presentations in one day at a conference and I want the loop
to play while people come into the room. It is just two slides, one being
the titile with some text graphics and some animation that magnifies the
title and the floats out of the screen. The second slide is where various
words appear and disappear one right after the other using the fade in/out
animation. At then end of that slide, it goes back to the 1st slide. This
works fine when playing the loop in PowerPoint.

I recorded the slide-show using software called Camtasia Studio 5.0. It is
an application that centers around recording, editing and sharing of screen
video content. Its a great piece of software and I use it to produce
internet training videos. If you are interested in seeing it, I'll send you
our website so you can see a video I completed.

Back to the problem, I record the slide show as it happens and save it off
(publish) as an .avi file. I then go to the Insert tab and select Movie in
the Media Clips group and select the video to insert it into the slide. You
can then double-click on the slide and it will play or play it in the
slideshow. The problem is that it will play the first time through, but then
it will go to a black screen and stop after the last slide. That is where I
am stumped.

Also, I experienced another problem with the PPT Viewer yesterday. I am so
sick of this thing I feel like chunking it all out the window. I have some
text slides inter-mixed with various video-slides and I noticed yesterday
after running the Package for CD, that when the text slides come in, the
first letter of each line is missing. When you pull up the original slide,
the one used to package it, it is fine, no problems. It only occurs when
using the Viewer.

I moved all the text slides to the front of the slide show and in front of
all the videos slides and it did the same thing. Really frustrating.

I appreciate your time and any help/wisdom that you can give me.

David Frazier

 

[Lucy Thomson]

Hi David

OK. I think you would be better off using the method described here for
doing the looping of the first 2 slides:
http://www.awesomebackgrounds.com/powerpointlooping.htm
Avoiding video wherever possible is a good idea in my book

You are completely correct - Camtasia rocks ;-)

Hmmmm, problem of the first letter going missing when package for CD is
used - don't know about that one. I would imagine it is related to the
down-saving to 97-2003 format that happens when using package for CD &
viewer. Tell me about the slide - how was it built, is the first letter in
its own textbox, etc.

Lucy

 

[DavidF]

Hi Lucy,

I got the PowerPoint working using the procedure you suggested. A lot to do
for something that should have already been done to begin with, but it does
work. Thank you.

As far as the dropping letters, the slide was built in PowerPoint 2007 and
there were 3 bullets. The first bullet is below and the other 2 bullets were
single line entries. Each bullet was built inside a Text box with the
exception of the first one and the entire entry was built in 1 text box. In
the example below, the >M is missing of the major bullet, the 2nd 3rd and 4th
lines are complete. In the other 2 major bullets, the >P (for Personal) and

O (Outlook) were also missing the > and the first letter. Every text slide

I had was like that. It makes no sense. I checked the margins and box
positions and everything looks fine.

I agree, it has to be the downward formating from PPT 2007 to the 2003
viewer. Nothing else makes any sense.

Let me know if you come up with anyting. I really appreciate your help.

David Frazier

Microsoft
Seven Ways to Organize Your Email
To download a copy go to
http://www.microsoft.com/atwork/manageinfo/emailtools.mspx

 

[Lucy Thomson]

Hi David

Do you want to send me a copy of the slide and I'll have a look at it? lucy
@ aneasiesrtomorrow . com . au

Lucy

 

[DavidF]

Hi Lucy,
I'll do a couple of things so you can see what is happening. I'll packaga
the slide show and see if it will go. It is only 28 slides but I'll see if I
can get it small enough to send out. If not, I will forget that part, but at
the very least will send a couple of the original slides so you can see them.
I will try and get those out today. Trying to get finalized for the
conference I am speaking at and have a class to teach so I am a little busy
but will get it today or tomorrow for sure. Again, thank you for your help.

David Frazier

 

[DavidF]

Lucy,
Just curious, Why do you say to avoid using videos in slide presentations?
I have found them very useful. I started using video about 8 months ago when
I was asked to do a seminar on How to Manage Your Outlook. I demo'd all the
ideas using video. I captured them on my pc and edited them for content.
Then sent the video to my pc and kept a backup on a CD. Showing a static
slide to a group is so boring to me. I wanted to do the presentation using
my live outlook back at my office, about 200 miles away, but was really
worried about connectivity, response time, the usual networking stuff. So
that is when I decided to capture each topic to video. I can click on it to
start it, click on it to pause it, or click the slide itself to go ot the
next slide. This way, I didn't have to depend on a network to make it work.
I got it all with me. Several people aroudn here liked the idea themslelves
and now that is how they do their own demos. So I was just curious why you
don't like it.

David F

 

[Lucy Thomson]

Hi David

It's not that I don't like video, it's just that I avoid it if there is an
alternative as it can be so problematic. If you are using your own equipment
which you can test in advance then go for your life . But if you are
going to turn up somewhere with a usb stick and crossed fingers you need to
make sure you can cope if it all goes pear-shaped. Like I say, I'm not
against it, I'm just aware there are issues (many of which you can overcome
given understanding, PFCPro and time. But normally I won't be on site and
clients can be, well, erm, how should I put this, oh let's not go there...).

I must admit I never use powerpoint if doing demo/training on software
(except of course if it's powerpoint I'm demoing...), I always use the
software itself. That isn't always possible in which case screen capture
video is the way to go (see statement number 1 ).

Lucy