10.2. Adding Video Effective video clips can help you get your message across by demonstrating things you can't present in person. For example, imagine you're a drama teacher giving a presentation on Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun . Showing brief clips of last season 's performance can help you illustrate your points in a way that mere description can't.
Warning: Because they take the focus off you and put it on your slideshow, video clips can detract from the effectiveness of an in-person presentation. They're best suited for Web-based and kiosk presentations.
PowerPoint can play just about any digital video format known to mankind. You can find clips in the following formats all over the Internet (as described in the box on page 340): -
Windows Media files (.asf, .asx, .dvr-ms, .wpl, .wm, .wmx, .wmd, .wmz) -
Windows Video files (.avi) -
Motion Picture Experts Group (.mpeg, .mpg, mpe, .m1v, .mp2 .mpv2, .mp2v, .mpa) -
Windows Media Video files (.wmv, .wvx)
Note: Another way to incorporate video into your presentation is to set up a hyperlink that, when clicked, runs a video file not in PowerPoint, but in another program such as Adobe Flash Player. Page 323 explains the process.
To add a video clip to a slide: -
Go to Insert  Media Clips Movie. (Alternatively, click the down arrow beneath the Movie icon and choose "Movie from File from the shortcut menu.) The Insert Movie dialog box appears. DESIGN TIME
Doing Video Right | | Whether you download, purchase, or create the video clips you add to your PowerPoint presentations, keep these tips in mind: -
Make sure the clips you use are relevant. The world doesn't need another PowerPoint presentation with fireworks going off in the background, or snowflakes drifting down over the bullet points, or hands clapping. -
Keep clips short and position them strategically. Because video files are notoriously huge, they can slow down slideshow playback. They also interrupt the flow of your presentation by switching your audience's focus from you to the screen. Edit your clips down to the bare minimum and position them for effect: for example, to break up an information- intensive speech or add a touch of levity (or seriousness) where you think it's needed. -
Make sure you have permission to use the clips before you use them. If you didn't create the clip yourself, make sure you read about copyrights in the box on page 328. -
Expect a certain amount of trouble. PowerPoint does a bang-up job of letting you incorporate video clips, but video isn't its strong suit. In addition, instead of embedding video clips into your PowerPoint slideshow file, PowerPoint links to themand links tend to break when you move your presentation by emailing it or by posting it on the Web. For help solving all the problems that can occur, head to http://office.microsoft.com/training and search for "playing movies". You may also want to check out one of the many third-party companiessuch as PlaysForCertain (www.PFCMedia.com)that specializes in helping folks straighten out video-in-PowerPoint snafus. | -
In the Insert Movie dialog box, browse for the video file you want to add to your slideshow. When you find it, click it to highlight it and then click OK (or, just double-click it). The Insert Movie dialog box disappears, the Movie Tools Options tab appears, and a prompt asks when you want to play your movie. -
In the prompt box, choose either Automatically or When Clicked. If you choose Automatically, your movie begins to play as soon as you display the slide. If you choose When Clicked, the movie doesn't play until you click the movie player that Flash adds to your slide. After you make your choice, the prompt disappears, and you return to your slide, where you see a movie player. The ribbon displays the Movie Tools Options tab (Figure 10-10).  | Figure 10-10. As you can see, many of the settings on the Movie Tools Options tab are similar to the ones you can see on the Sound Tools Options tab (Figure 10-5): Volume, Hide During Show, Loop Until Stopped, and so on. All of the settingsincluding the movie-specific onesare explained below in step 4. | |
Note: Any changes you make to the movie player by changing the settings on the Picture Tools Format tab affect only the movie player, not the movie itself.
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Customize how you want your movie clip to play by changing settings on the Movie Tools Options tab. Some of these options determine how the movie looks during playback, while others control when it plays: -
Slide Show Volume. Clicking this icon lets you set the volume of your sound clip to Low, Medium, High, or Mute. -
Play Movie. Choosing one of the three Play Movie drop-down options tells PowerPoint whether you want it to begin playing the video clip: as soon as the slide appears and stop it as soon as the slide disappears (Automatically); only after the presenter clicks the placeholder icon (When Clicked); or automatically but continue playing it until the clip finishes, even if the presenter advances to the next slide (Play across slides). -
Hide During Show. Turning on the checkbox next to this option tells PowerPoint to hide the opening still frame when you run the slideshow. You don't want to turn on this option if you've chosen When Clicked (see above) because you'd have nothing to click on. -
Play Full Screen. Tells PowerPoint to enlarge the video placeholder until it swallows up the entire slidetypically the best choice if you're running your slideshow on a wall screen, since it the video clip easier to see. -
Loop Until Stopped. Useful for short clips, turning on the checkbox next to this option tells PowerPoint to keep playing the video clip over and over again.
Note: Another way to change the playback settings is in the Movie Options dialog box (Figure 10-11). To open it, click the dialog box launcher at the bottom of the Movie Tools Options Movie Options group.
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