The issue is that an AVI can be just about anything. AVI simply means the
Audio and Video are Interleaved in the same file. (As opposed to having
separate files for Audio and Video.) So by definition almost any of today's
video files are an AVI. You can easily have an Mpeg labeled as an AVI.
To add to it, there are lots of codecs that may have been used to create the
AVI. You may or may not have the right one installed and even if it is, it
may or may not be compatible with the Windows MCI Media Player. (PowerPoint
uses the MCI player, NOT the Windows Media Player.)
What to do? There are two ways to approach this.
1. Use a utility like GSpot to determine the actual type of file and which
codecs are being used. (There will be two codecs, one for video and one for
sound.) After determining the correct codecs locate them on the internet,
download them, and install them on your machine. This will work *most* of
the time but be aware there are codecs out there that are NOT compatible
with the MCI Player. In such a situation you will not be able to use the
media in a PPT presentation. Also keep in mind that if you move the
presentation to another machine, it too MUST have the correct codecs
installed and working.
2. Convert the media into a more standard format that is compatible with the
Windows MCI Player and thereby compatible with PowerPoint. There are a
number of video editing packages on the market that do this, just be certain
to use a common codec that is likely to be on other PCs.
With all that said, I have written an add in to PowerPoint called PFCMedia.
It will do all the above work for you automatically and the resulting
presentation will "Play For Certain" on your PC and just about every Windows
PC you might run into. You may download a fully functioning trial version
from
www.pfcmedia.com and use it with out any cost for two weeks. Should do
the trick and resolve this problem for you.
Austin Myers
MS PowerPoint MVP Team
PowerPoint Video and PowerPoint Sound Solutions
www.pfcmedia.com