Relative Video Links Explanation?

[camnoreal]

I understand relative video links, but only partly. I have packaged a
presentation with videos into a folder on my desktop and then zipped it
and sent it to a client. When he unzips it and runs the presentation,
the videos aren't linked. Of course, things work fine unzipping to
other computers.

My question is, how exactly does PPT link videos this way? Does it look
to the folder where the presentation itself is? Does it look for the
name of that folder on the desktop? Is it something behind the scenes
so that you could rename the videos within that folder or rename the
presentation and have it still work?

 

[Sonia]

If the video is located in the same folder as the presentation AT THE TIME that
you insert it, PowerPoint will expect the video to be in the same folder as the
presentation when everything is moved to another system.

The problem on your client's system might not be a broken link. It could be
that the video will not work on his system. Ask him to go to Start > Run and
type mplay32.exe and open the video file and click the Play icon. Does that
work?

Or, if he put the folder (presentation and videos) deep in the path to My
Documents, that might explain why it doesn't work when the presentation is run.
Ask him to move the files to C:\Test and try playing the presentation. Does
that help?

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

 

[camnoreal]

We do think it's a video problem on the client's side. Their IT is
looking at the particular computer since it runs fine on everyone
else's. Thanks.

- N

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

I understand relative video links, but only partly. I have packaged a
presentation with videos into a folder on my desktop and then zipped it
and sent it to a client. When he unzips it and runs the presentation,
the videos aren't linked. Of course, things work fine unzipping to
other computers.

My question is, how exactly does PPT link videos this way? Does it look
to the folder where the presentation itself is? Does it look for the
name of that folder on the desktop? Is it something behind the scenes
so that you could rename the videos within that folder or rename the
presentation and have it still work?

One other addition to what Sonia's mentioned:

PowerPoint doesn't actually look for linked files in the same folder as the PPT
when the links are relative (ie pathless). It actually looks in the *current
directory*.

Usually when you open a PPT file by doubleclicking it or choosing File, Open
and browsing to the file, PPT sets the current directory to the directory that
contains the PPT, so if the videos are also in that folder and were inserted
according to Sonia's instrux in the first place, PPT makes the magic.

BUT

For some bizarre reason, if you start PPT then choose File and pick one of the
files from the Most Recently Used list (that numbered list at the bottom of the
File menu) PPT won't set the current directory = the directory the PPT's in.

The links will break.

Since your presentation's working elsewhere ok, you might ask this one user if
they're using the "MRU" menu. And if so, tell 'em to cut it out.
;-)