Video Formats in PPT

[Kaitlin]

Hello
I need to play a video full screen in a Powerpoint presentation. I am making
the presentation on a Mac but it will be played off a PC. What are the best
video formats to use for a PC? I have read that newer versions of quicktime
do not work with Powerpoint.

Also I need the video to play full screen. (It will be projected onto
another screen) I was reading a past post about from 9/27/2004 about a person
having a problem with the video playing at different sizes between the
monitor and the projected image. Does that happen naturally? When you use a
projector does it automatically switch to full screen? If so, what is the
quality of the video like? What is the best file format gives the best
quality?

Thank you.

 

[Kelvin C.]

From my personal experience,

I like using Windows Media Video (wmv) which works well for a PC I find.
Since you are working on a Mac and porting the presentation to a PC, I would
think MPEG2 would be the best as it is cross platform, also in
hi-resolution, it is fairly presentable, not too pixellated.

However the catch to MPEG2 is that, depending on the length of your movie,
the file can be pretty big.

Hope this helps.

 

[Mike M.]

MPEG2 also requires a licensed decoder. You would need to install DVD
playing software or purchase a decoder on the machine that runs the show.
WMV works well with PowerPoint.

 

[Echo S]

Hi

Thank you for all your answers. I have a few more questions because of them
(sorry...)

MPEG-1 is fine. I have a decoder which can process the different formats. I
have noticed that there is an audio file and video file when I export it.
Powerpoint will be okay play both, right?

I'm not sure I understand this. Do you mean that when you render your MPEG,
it comes out as two files -- a video file (MPEG) and an additional audio
file (say, MP3)?

Does the video you're working with have an audio track or not? I'm asking
because someone I know ran into a weird MPEG just the other day. It had an
audio track which really didn't have any sound in it, and that prevented a
different audio file on the PPT slide from playing.

You'll probably also want to read through this:
http://www.soniacoleman.com/Tutorials/PowerPoint/multimedia.htm Pay special
attention to the section on common codecs.

Also, when you hook a projector up to the Powerpoint Presentation does the
video become full screen? It seems that way from everything I have read on
the discussion group. I am just making the presentation, and passing it on. I
do not have a projector to test this with, much to my dismay.

Don'tcha just hate that? We so often are "just" making the presentation, and
there's no easy way to test that what you've been asked to do will *really*
work with 100% reliability on the other end.

Anyway, the only way I know to ensure that your video will play full screen
is to size it full screen on your slide. That's probably going to mean a
pretty big video file size.

See, the full-screen thing is -- I think, anyway -- a combination of an
issue with the video card and driver and the projector itself.

For example, the videos I use usually only take up about 1/4 of the screen.
If I play the presentation on a laptop hooked up to the projector and have
the display settings set to play the presentation on both the laptop and the
projector, the video will sometimes jump to a full-screen. So the video
often looks pixellated on the projected screen because it wasn't designed to
be upsized like that.

The workaround here is to toggle the display so that it's only showing on
the projected screen and not on both the laptop screen and the projected
screen. Now, I guess if you wanted full-screen video, displaying on both
screens might be one way to get it to happen. However, I know that I sure
can't make it happen reliably! I also know that sometimes you'll get just a
black box instead of a video on the projected screen. See "videos play
correctly on computer but not on projector (black box)"
http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/FAQ00467.htm for specifics. The upshot is
that I wouldn't recommend displaying on both screens as the "fix" to ensure
full-screen video; I'd just resize the video itself.

Hopefully someone else will chime in here with better information and a good
set of instrux for forcing full-screen video.

 

[Dave]

I'm not sure I understand this. Do you mean that when you render your MPEG,
it comes out as two files -- a video file (MPEG) and an additional audio
file (say, MP3)?

Does the video you're working with have an audio track or not? I'm asking
because someone I know ran into a weird MPEG just the other day. It had an
audio track which really didn't have any sound in it, and that prevented a
different audio file on the PPT slide from playing.

You'll probably also want to read through this:
http://www.soniacoleman.com/Tutorials/PowerPoint/multimedia.htm Pay special
attention to the section on common codecs.


Don'tcha just hate that? We so often are "just" making the presentation, and
there's no easy way to test that what you've been asked to do will *really*
work with 100% reliability on the other end.

Anyway, the only way I know to ensure that your video will play full screen
is to size it full screen on your slide. That's probably going to mean a
pretty big video file size.

See, the full-screen thing is -- I think, anyway -- a combination of an
issue with the video card and driver and the projector itself.

For example, the videos I use usually only take up about 1/4 of the screen.
If I play the presentation on a laptop hooked up to the projector and have
the display settings set to play the presentation on both the laptop and the
projector, the video will sometimes jump to a full-screen. So the video
often looks pixellated on the projected screen because it wasn't designed to
be upsized like that.

The workaround here is to toggle the display so that it's only showing on
the projected screen and not on both the laptop screen and the projected
screen. Now, I guess if you wanted full-screen video, displaying on both
screens might be one way to get it to happen. However, I know that I sure
can't make it happen reliably! I also know that sometimes you'll get just a
black box instead of a video on the projected screen. See "videos play
correctly on computer but not on projector (black box)"
http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/FAQ00467.htm for specifics. The upshot is
that I wouldn't recommend displaying on both screens as the "fix" to ensure
full-screen video; I'd just resize the video itself.

Hopefully someone else will chime in here with better information and a good
set of instrux for forcing full-screen video.

Projection can be a nightmare unless you obey the No.1 rule - Use the
primary display to view the show and split the source.
If the show is mission critical obey the rule, whether you are using a
box or a laptop. Have the presentation on another machine so you can
view the slides in sorter mode, if you have to know what's coming next
or have to manually navigate.

For dual output (clone), have more than twice the needed amount of video
ram. Make sure the resolutions are the same, if using nVidia turn off
the desktop management as this causes full screen video (most times) on
the secondary display when you don't require it. Ati can sometimes have
trouble, mpegs playing OK on the secondary but Vobs (DVD) insisting on
using the primary. If this is the case, Use rule No.1. No good swapping
the displays for obvious reasons. (Can't get to the bottom of this one,
must be the way they are encoded, still testing this!)

Extended desktop, use with caution. Although it is "nice" to have the
presenters view (especially if you ARE the presenter operating and you
need your notes (Rehearse, rehearse cough!!)) but in the real world it
just doesn't cut the mustard. The transitions aren't visible the
animation's don't appear anywhere at the same time or even as they
should and your confidence is shot, is the projected image doing that as
well?? And boy does it have trouble with video...

So to sum up:
Use presenters view, if you have to see your notes, large video ram,
turn off nVidia management, and your presentation has NO video.

All others - SPLIT the source.

Before anyone says it, yes you need a vga splitter and if using a laptop
you will need a separate monitor.

And remember PowerPoint is very good at what it does, but a DVD player
is better at playing DVD's, a betacam plays tapes better... you get the
gist.