Problem adding MP3 to PowerPoint 2002

[Patrick Morris]

I've used MP3 audios to insert narration on PowerPoint presentations
for years. But suddenly I'm having problems. When I add an MP3 file to
a slide the audio will not play. I am using the "Insert," "Movies and
Sounds," "Sound from File," process. I select "play automatically." At
that point a sound icon is added to the slide. The icon in this
instance is the speaker and 2 musical notes. I mention this because no
such notes appear next to the sound icon when adding a WAV file. And
WAV files play perfectly.

I have a two hour, 100 plus slide presentation, with audio clips
ranging in length from 30 seconds to four minutes. I want to use MP3
for efficiency. Can someone please explain why something I've done
dozens of times before is now causing me such trouble.

My platform is Windows XP Pro, PowerPoint 2002, and the MP3s were
created in Sound Forge 5 and play back perfectly on Windows Media
Player.

Thanks.

(e-mail address removed)

 

[Gus Collot]

Considering you've been inserting audio background before, I guess the
fundamentals are out, but for the record...

Remember to copy FIRST the MP3's into the pres' directory, THEN insert.
Otherwise, the pres, when played in a different drive, will attempt to
search the files in their original location. Also make sure that in Custom
Animation > Play settings you've got the slide span for the audio background
properly configured.

Make sure the names of the MP3's are short ( they usually aren't ) ; instead
of "Strangers_in_the_Night_by_Sinatra.mp3" , just stick to " Sinatra.mp3 ".

As far as the icon appearance is concerned, this is no problem -- as a
matter of fact you can assign whatever icon you like to your Windows system.

Regards,

Gus Collot
http://collotcorp.logon.as

 

[Patrick Morris]

Thanks for the reply. Yes, my MP3s are in the same directory/folder as
the presentation and all of the files are named using 8.3 convention.

Patrick Morris
(e-mail address removed)
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