Playing movies (mpeg) in PowerPoint (2003)

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I am having trouble playing movies in PowerPoint (2003). These are mpeg files that I have made using MyDVD. Some files play, some do not and the program freezes. Could it be the size of the clip? (5 – 9 minutes) Are there some movie files that play better than others?

I have tried the following suggestion from PowerPoint’s help menu. However, I do not see “media clip” when I go to Insert>Object.
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“If Microsoft PowerPoint won’t play a movie file you try to insert, try to play the movie in Windows Media Player. First, test the movie outside of PowerPoint by opening Windows Media Player and opening your file from the File menu. If the movie doesn’t play, Windows Media Player gives you detailed error messages and a Help link that can help you troubleshoot the problem.

If the movie plays in Windows Media Player, you can then insert it from within PowerPoint by clicking Object on the Insert menu and inserting it as a media clip.

A movie that you play in PowerPoint using Windows Media Player cannot have animation settings and special timings assigned to it; instead, you play it by clicking buttons in the Windows Media Player.”
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I was successful at playing a 4-year old presentation from a CD. There were mpeg files but they lasted less than a minute. Could that be the reason. Is length an issue?

Thank you very much.

Alan Silberlight

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It’s not clear whether or not you were able to play your mpeg files in Windows Media Player? Also, the media clip is only visible when you have the New option selected – if you choose to insert a file, then it goes away and your are prompted for a file location.

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I know I’m way late responding to this, but I figured I might as well since multimedia can be so touchy with PPT.

The MS Help information is fine if you want to use Insert/Object to force Windows Media Player to play your multimedia files.

However, this information doesn’t help at all if you want to play the multimedia in PPT directly (using Insert/Movies and Sounds/Movie from File). In this case, PPT relies upon the MCI Media Player to handle your media files.

To test your file for compatibility with the MCI Media Player, go to Start/Run and type in mplay32.exe Now test your media file in that media player (the MCI Media Player). Does it play? If so, it should play in PPT. If it plays in the MCI Media Player but doesn’t play in PPT, then see http://www.echosvoice.com/tshoot_video2.htm%5B/url%5D for some troubleshooting information.

If the file doesn’t play in the MCI Media Player, then you’ll want to read http://www.soniacoleman.com/Tutorials/Powe…/multimedia.htm%5B/url%5D for specifics on common codecs and resetting the MCI settings in your registry.

Finally, Austin Myers has recently released a nice little utility, PFCMedia (Plays For Certain) that will eliminate these issues. There’s a fully functional trial download.

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