Movie in slide show plays ok when composing show, but will not play in show on another computer

[TAJ Simmons]

Bill,

Re-insert the movie....
What happens if you "insert > movies > from file" on the other PCs just to prove if it's a link ( can't find the clip)
problem.

If that does not work...then it's probably a codec issue. (Try a true MPEG1 file).

Cheers
TAJ Simmons
microsoft powerpoint mvp

awesome - powerpoint backgrounds,
free powerpoint templates, tutorials, hints and tips etc
http://www.powerpointbackgrounds.com

 

[RE]

I'm helping someone with their PP presentation, and we thought to snazz it
up some by adding a 20 second movie created in Adobe After Effects. I
rendered the film as an mpeg 2 file for better quality, and it's about 9
megs. The movie is in the second slide, and is set to run automatically.

The movie plays fine by itself in Windows Media Player, and when my friend
plays it on her computer within the slide show, it works ok. But when I
load the PP presentation on another computer it won't run, either within the
slide show presentation or when I right click on the movie and select play
movie.

To check for a linkage problem, I've tried taking the movie out, saving the
ppt file in a separate folder, putting the movie in that folder and then
reloading it from within that folder. This doesn't help on the other three
computers I've tried it on, but when I run it out of the folder on my
friend's computer it plays.

I'm stumped. Any help would be great.
Bill

 

[Echo S]

See http://www.soniacoleman.com/Tutorials/PowerPoint/multimedia.htm for
information on how PPT handles multimedia.

It could be a path length issue, it could be the broken path as you
suspected (put the movie in the same folder then insert it into the
presentation and move both the movie and the presentation to the other
computer to test for this), it could be a codec issue, it could be an issue
with the MCI settings on the other machines.

In short, these things aren't always easy to troubleshoot.

 

[RE]

I've searched through recent posts and I have checked to make sure that
mplay32.exe is available.

 

[Echo S]

But available doesn't cut it. Does the movie actually *play* if you do a
Start/Run and type mplay32.exe ?

 

[Echo S]

Adding to my confusion and amazement is that all of these files play
fine in Windows Media Player, which is supposed to be integrated into
Powerpoint.

No, PPT uses the MCI Media Player (mplay32.exe) to play multimedia in PPT.
If the movie doesn't play when you go to Start/Run and type in mplay32.exe,
it's not going to play in PPT.

Again, see http://www.soniacoleman.com/Tutorials/PowerPoint/multimedia.htm
for specifics.

Now, with PPT 2003, if the MCI Media Player can't play the file, PPT's
supposed to hand it off to Windows Media Player. But I don't think it does
(or at least I think sometimes it doesn't do it right), otherwise we
wouldn't see video problems with PPT 2003 at all...but we still do.

After fuming about this a little longer: Perhaps one thing to
consider is that the three computers that are giving me problems all
have ATI vid cards -- Mobility 7500, Mobe 9600, and a 9500 pro --
while the comp that it works OK on runs an old Nvidia Geforce 1.
Could that be the source of the problem, some kind of screwy
Microsoft/ATI interface??? Bill

I doubt it.

 

[RE]

I went back to the basic .avi file and tried it on one of the resistant
computers and it works ok in PP, though since I rendered at highest quality
it's very large, leading to choppy playback. I then rendered the .avi into
an mpg1 file at 1.1 megs CBR, which I think is pretty standard. That
crashes PP on that same computer (xp service pack1) -- the same comp I used
to run After Effects and which otherwise runs very well. PP on that comp
will load an mpg2 version, but it has a black screen. On another computer
PP (win2K, sp4) won't recognize an mpg to load, but it will run the .avi.
On yet another computer (xp, service pack 1) PP will play the movie when I
right click ---> play movie, but when I F5 for the slide show I just see the
first frame.

Adding to my confusion and amazement is that all of these files play fine in
Windows Media Player, which is supposed to be integrated into Powerpoint.

After fuming about this a little longer: Perhaps one thing to consider is
that the three computers that are giving me problems all have ATI vid
cards -- Mobility 7500, Mobe 9600, and a 9500 pro -- while the comp that it
works OK on runs an old Nvidia Geforce 1. Could that be the source of the
problem, some kind of screwy Microsoft/ATI interface???
Bill



----- Original Message -----
From: "TAJ Simmons" <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.powerpoint
Sent: Sunday, May 16, 2004 1:13 PM
Subject: Re: Movie in slide show plays ok when composing show, but will not
play in show on another computer

Bill,

Re-insert the movie....
What happens if you "insert > movies > from file" on the other PCs just to

prove if it's a link ( can't find the clip)

 

[RE]

Yes, it plays fine in all versions.

But available doesn't cut it. Does the movie actually *play* if you do a
Start/Run and type mplay32.exe ?

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP]
http://www.echosvoice.com

I've searched through recent posts and I have checked to make sure
that mplay32.exe is available.

 

[RE]

I should add that my friend will be running this presentation on yet another
computer in a different city. I guess what she could do is, as requested,
email the files and then ask them to see if it runs properly. Is mpg1 the
most likely candidate for a successful run?

 

[RE]

I need to correct myself here. All versions of the movie play ok on
mplay32.exe on the comp that's not having problems. On the comp on which PP
crashes, it crashes as well. On another comp mplay32.exe will run the mpg1
version but not the mpg2. Both of those are ATI driven. I can try it on
another Nvidia card later, but I guess this indicates codec conflict, right?
I've been using Vegas video's Mainconcept encoder for the mpg. I tried using
tmpegenc, it also produces movies that crash mplay32 on the comp on which PP
crashes.

Yes, it plays fine in all versions.

But available doesn't cut it. Does the movie actually *play* if you do a
Start/Run and type mplay32.exe ?

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP]
http://www.echosvoice.com

I've searched through recent posts and I have checked to make sure
that mplay32.exe is available.


I'm helping someone with their PP presentation, and we thought to
snazz it up some by adding a 20 second movie created in Adobe After
Effects. I rendered the film as an mpeg 2 file for better quality,
and it's about 9 megs. The movie is in the second slide, and is set
to run automatically.

The movie plays fine by itself in Windows Media Player, and when my
friend plays it on her computer within the slide show, it works ok.
But when I load the PP presentation on another computer it won't
run, either within the slide show presentation or when I right click
on the movie and select play movie.

To check for a linkage problem, I've tried taking the movie out,
saving the ppt file in a separate folder, putting the movie in that
folder and then reloading it from within that folder. This doesn't
help on the other three computers I've tried it on, but when I run
it out of the folder on my friend's computer it plays.

I'm stumped. Any help would be great.
Bill

 

[TAJ Simmons]

Whatever codec you use....it needs to be installed on all the PCs that will be used for playback. That's why mpeg1 is so
good...as it just plays on just about anything.....(occasionally hiccuping on early NT machines)

TAJ

 

[Echo S]

It's hard to say whether the crashes are due to a codec conflict or
video problem. It seems to me that codec problems usually result in
the movie not playing rather than crashes. Can you try setting the
video hardware acceleration back on one of the crashing boxes with
the ATI cards?

I'd also suggest making sure that the MCI settings are correct as delineated
in the screenshots at
http://www.soniacoleman.com/Tutorials/PowerPoint/multimedia.htm

(Then again, that's the third time I've mentioned that article, yet I get
the feeling Bill still hasn't bothered to read it.)