Embedded Sound Issues plus Size Issues

J

Jessjett

We need some expert opinions! Our PPT 02 presentation features some sound
files that are linked and some that are embedded and we are having trouble
with the embedded sounds.

On one slide we have about 8 sound files that are embedded and play as
graphics (png) animate timed to each sound. Sometimes the graphic will
become frozen on the first one while the sound continues to play (and only
the 1st graphic is ever shown). The sound files are embedded WAV files (each
sound file is very short 2-7 seconds and the sizes range from 240kb to
1,432kb). We have increased the size of embedded files to 50,000. We have
also used basic animation for the graphics, and we embedded the sounds with
text that animates (the lyrics to the sound, animates as wipe left).

On the next slide we have another sound file embedded that will occaisionaly
either cut off or cause a delay (2-5 seconds) in allowing the next slide to
transition. That file is an embedded wav with a size of 10,286kb. There is
no extra dead space on the file and the delay is very rare.

Our other issue is our file size...once we embed the sounds noted above and
link a few large WAV files our file size goes from around 32mb to 98mb.
Here's what is really interesting. Let's say we have a problem with a linked
WAV and decide to delete and re-insert. So we delete the linked WAV from the
file and re-insert same file- the file size of presentation goes from 35kb to
65kb. Why the increase? In the past, we found that if we copied the entire
presentation into a blank presentation and saved it new it would reduce the
presentation file size. If we try that trick now, the 65kb presentation goes
to 98kb (just from copying into a blank presentation).

We are concerned that the size of our presentation is contributing to our
performance issues. What are your recommendations?

We appreciate any help!!!!
 
A

Austin Myers

Hmmm,

First, why are you using wav files? I ask as they are the largest possible
file format for sounds. As you are linking to some of them I would suggest
that you might make them all linked instead of embedding them. Second, I
would convert them to wma to get the size down to something reasonable and
to ensure compatibility with other PCs when moving them.

For a sound editor do to this you may want to try Audacity. To completely
automate the process you might want to try PFCMedia.

http://www.pfcmedia.com



Austin Myers
MS PowerPoint MVP Team

Provider of PFCMedia http://www.pfcmedia.com
 
J

Jessjett

Hi Austin,

We were under the impression that WAV was the preferred sound file format of
PPT. In the past we had tried MP3's and they would sometimes not play.

So if we switch to WMA this should solve both our sound AND size issues,
correct? We do record the presentation onto a CD and then it is played on
laptop computers thru a projector, so I'm glad to hear WMAs won't have a
problem with that.

Did you have any other comments as to the weird size issue?

Thanks so much for your input!
 
J

Jessjett

Hi John,

We were under the impression that WAV was the preferred sound file format of
PPT. In the past we had tried MP3's and they would sometimes not play. Is
embedded MP3s the way we should go or should we try WMA? What is the best
sound file for the job?

Thanks for your input!!!
 
J

Jessjett

Followup Note:

My co-worker tried the CDex earlier today (we found the instructions in
another forum) and it created more problems (the sound file sounded slow and
corrupted).

Thanks,
Jess
 

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