Automatic launch in PPT view

[Guest]

Using PPT 2003 and set video clips to launch automatically, which they do in
the slide show view. Is there anything that can make them launch
automatically in the PPT view? We have people who will be using them in both
modes and want them to launch in the regular PPT view as they go through
them, either by clicking with mouse or scrolling down with arrows.

 

[Sonia]

Have them go to Slide Show > Custom Animation. There will be a "Play" button at
the bottom. They just need to click it.
--

Sonia Coleman
Microsoft PowerPoint MVP Team
Autorun Software, Templates and Tutorials
http://www.soniacoleman.com

 

[Guest]

Thanks, first of all, Sonia, for taking time to look at my problem. I wasn't
as clear as I should have been (I expect everyone to read my mind). I have
the video clips set to play automatically, which they do in slide show mode,
and I can play them in regular PPT mode by double clicking on them. The folks
that will ultimately be using this presentation wanted me to "make it" (don't
you just love that!) also play automatically in just the PPT mode without
them having to click or do anything; for example, when they go from slide 6
to the next slide with the clip, it would just launch on its own without
anyone having to click play, click the video box, etc. The same way it does
in slide show. Does that make sense? I'm not the best at wording things to
convey my needs!

 

[Sonia]

What you wrote makes sense. What the client wants may make sense to them, but
not to me. That would make me crazy, even if I knew how to do it. You would
probably have to write some code and install it as an add-in, but automatically
means just that. It would *always* play every time they moved to that slide. I
wonder if they even realize what they are asking for.

 

[Guest]

I am Soooooo glad to hear you say that. I kept thinking am I nuts? when I
truly thought they were! ha! I have already listened to this clip so many
times that I can mouth it along with them now. I felt like I needed to verify
that this is something not normally or easily done, which you have verified
for me! Thanks again for your help. Sharing your knowledge makes life better
for the rest of us!

 

[Echo S]

Kinda scary when we start questioning ourselves in response to crazy
requests from clients, isn't it?

[Happens to me all the time! ;-) ]

 

[David M. Marcovitz]

You might explain it to your client this way. PowerPoint is designed to
make things easy to show in Slide Show view, and it is designed to make
things easy to edit it Edit/Normal view. While it is possible to show an
entire presentation in Edit/Normal view, it is not designed with that in
mind.

If you want an academic explanation, you can try to explain this in terms
of conceptual models (the client has a mistaken conceptual model for the
way PowerPoint works). See

Norman, D. (1989). The design of everyday things. New York: Doubleday.

which has an excellent explanation about conceptual models.

--David

--
David M. Marcovitz
Director of Graduate Programs in Educational Technology
Loyola College in Maryland
Author of _Powerful PowerPoint for Educators_
http://www.loyola.edu/education/PowerfulPowerPoint/

 

[Sonia]

Maybe you can just save the presentation as PowerPoint Show (*.PPS). Then they
can always open the presentation in Slide Show mode just by clicking on the file
and their videos will always play. After a full night's sleep, it occurs to me
that it sounds like maybe the client doesn't want to edit the file, they just
want to automatically play it when it opens.