Adding Audio & Video

[Guest]

I'm a middle school teacher that teaches PP on Mac's (PP 2001) adding Audio &
video is fairly easy. I have the students find Quicktime movies (.mov) &
Audio (.wav) files and insert them with very few problems. Sometimes the
..wav file is too small under 20k and it will not work so I have them find a
larger file. Sometimes we have to insert an audio file as a movie to get it
to work. Otherwise no problems. We are going to PC's with PPXP and I have
tried to figure out Audio & Video with nothing but problems. First QuickTime
movies don't seem to be compatible. Next the .wav file was not working until
I stumbled on Tools>Options>General tab and increased the default file size
for audio files that are linked. Is this correct? This seems rather
cumbersome compared to PP 2001 for the Mac. Finally, I am having lots of
problems figuring out Video? I put the files in .wmv or .avi and they don't
play. I inserted a Power DVD file that did work? Then I stumbled on
inserting the video files as an object which seemed to work sort of. It put
the name of the file below the video and then had video controls below the
movie which did not look that great and it was rather confusing. I can't
believe that the version for the Mac works much better than the version of PP
for a PC? Anyway my school is going to PC's so I need some help figuring
this stuff out. Can anyone help, or know a great resource that will def.
tell me how to add audio video? I have tried the help menu & searching
on-line.

(e-mail address removed)

 

[Bill Dilworth]

PowerPoint for Windows is a different program than PowerPoint for Mac's.
They look similar from this side of the monitor, but how they do, what they
do, is very different on the other side. Here is a link that will help you
sort out what isn't working as is should:
**The Myers Multimedia FAQ by Austin Myers (PowerPoint MVP)
http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/FAQ00099.htm
and
http://www.soniacoleman.com/Tutorials/PowerPoint/multimedia.htm


Inserting (misnomer, they are almost always linked) sounds and videos is
simple, having them play as you want is a little more complicated.
PowerPoint does not play the sound, it just asks the Operating System to
play it. The Operating System may use something called MCI to play stuff.
The trouble is that a lot of program manufacturers think they know what is
best for your MCI settings and change them whenever their software is
installed. The changed settings cause the MCI not to be able to play your
sounds. Don't blame PowerPoint, blame the people that wrote the installation
programs for the other sound software.

Video playback is also difficult when the video has an unusual CODEC, or
compression algorithm. If the player can't decode it, then it can not play
it. You are correct, QuickTime is an Apply company and does not share it's
current compression secrets with Microsoft. The newer versions of QuickTime
files are not compatible with PowerPoint, but they can usually be converted
into some format that is.

I would suggest to your students that they copy whatever sound or video file
they want to use into the same directory folder as the presentation prior to
inserting it. Then include the entire directory when moving the
presentation. The description of the problem your students are having
suggests that you are moving the presentation after sounds and videos are
'inserted', but before it is being played. See:
**Sounds/Movies don't play, images disappear or links break when I move or
email a presentation
http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/FAQ00155.htm



--
Bill Dilworth
Microsoft PPT MVP
===============
Please spend a few minutes checking vestprog2@
out www.pptfaq.com This link will yahoo.
answer most of our questions, before com
you think to ask them.

Change org to com to defuse anti-spam,
ant-virus, anti-nuisance misdirection.
..
..

 

[Geetesh Bajaj]

Look here as well:

PowerPoint and Video: http://snipurl.com/ppvideo


--
Geetesh Bajaj, Microsoft PowerPoint MVP
PowerPoint Notes: http://www.indezine.com/notes
Free Templates:
http://www.indezine.com/powerpoint/templates/freetemplates.html

Technical Specialist, PowerPoint Live
http://www.powerpointlive.com