Oddity with playing music clip

[Rick Altman]

For years, I have known that playing sound within PowerPoint has offered
quirks and curiosities, but now on the eve of giving a workshop on the
subject at PowerPoint Live, I must confront what they are. One in paricular
is bedeviling me and it has to do with playing sound simultaneously. Here is
what I have observed:


1. A 60-second music clip begins playing

2. At 10 seconds in, a one-second clip plays

When the sound files are linked, the 60-second clip continues to play behind
the one-second clip, and when the one-second clip is done, the 60-second
clip continues, not having missed a beat.

However, when the sound files are imported and embedded within the
presentation file, the one-second clip pre-empts the 60-second clip,
stopping it in its track (ha ha).


I am aware of no documentation describing this or reason for it. Can anyone
confirm this behavior and, better still, explain it??





--
Rick Altman
The PowerPoint Live User Conference
Oct 28-31 | The French Quarter of New Orleans
www.powerpointlive.com
(10 seats left)

 

[PPTMagician]

It's by design:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/894266

 

[Rick Altman]

Okay, I appreciate the confirmation, but can you speculate on the rationale?
It's by design, but why was it designed that way? I can't make sense of
that...




RA

 

[PPTMagician]

If I had to speculate, I'd say so both background music and sound effects
could play at the same time.

No clue why they'd differentiate between embedded and linked, unless the
thinking was "embed sound effects", "link music". So sound effects wouldn't
run over top of each other.

--
Thanks,
Glenna Shaw
Microsoft PowerPoint MVP Team
http://www.pptmagic.com