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Edited by HansV to update link that no longer worked

PPT doesn’t use the Windows Media Player to play multimedia, so that’s not a good test. What PPT does use is the antiquated Windows MCI controls. There’s a good tutorial on how PPT handles multimedia at Microsoft PowerPoint and Multimedia, and I highly recommend reading it thoroughly.

As the tutorial explains in the “how PPT handles multimedia” section, a good way to test your multimedia file for “compatibility” with PPT is to play it in the old MCI Media Player. To do so click Start – Run, and in the command line type “mplayer.exe” (or “mplay32.exe” for WinNT/2000/XP) and click OK. This starts the MCI Media Player. Then use File – Open, navigate to the file you want to test, and see if it plays properly. If it does, it should work in PowerPoint just fine; if it doesn’t play correctly it will NOT work in PowerPoint.

If your multimedia file doesn’t play in that test, then your MCI settings have probably been overwritten by a third-party program such as QuickTime, Real, or any of a variety of other media programs. If you’re using Windows 9X or ME, you can reset the MCI extensions by modifying your Win.INI and System.INI settings as the tutorial describes. If you’re using Windows NT, 2000, or XP, you’ll need to modify these settings in your Registry. The tutorial gives instructions on this as well. Just be sure to back up your registry and/or INI files before you start messing with them!

Another reason that multimedia files won’t play in PPT is because they’ve been compressed with a nonstandard codec. The PPT Multimedia tutorial also lists common codecs that will be found on most machines. If you need your multimedia file to play on a number of computers (not just on your own), it’s best to ensure that one of these have been used to create the file in the first place. Cinepak is a good codec to use in this case.

Codecs can be hard to find on the ‘net, but the NIMO pack is one that includes many that you might need. It’s available at http://www.divx-digest.com/software/nimo_pack.html%5B/url%5D Programs that you can use to recompress your multimedia files include AVIEdit http://www.am-soft.ru/aviedit.html%5B/url%5D (You’ll want to use the export command as opposed to “save as.”), VideoMach from http://www.gromada.com[/url%5D , and a nice little utility at http://www.tmpgenc.net/%5B/url%5D to convert AVI to MPEG 1 (which also plays nicely with PPT). I also hear that good sources for similar apps are http://www.digital-digest.com[/url%5D and http://www.vcdhelp.com[/url%5D , but you’ll want to know what you need when you go poking around in there! There’s also stuff like Adobe Premiere and Vegas Video, but they’re fairly pricey.

Finally, PPT and QuickTime don’t get along very well, although PPT (well, actually, the MCI as described above) will play QT versions 1 and 2. http://www.indezine.com/products/powerpoint/ppquicktime.html%5B/url%5D has a wealth of information on how to get your QT files to play in PPT. And there’s a pretty comprehensive Movie Troubleshooter at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?…dia/Default.asp%5B/url%5D which will walk you through troubleshooting and link to the MSKB articles that are related. It’s specified for PPT 2000, but most (if not all) of the steps should be valid for PPT 2002 as well.

But what is the Select Multiple Objects tool?

It’s a tool you have to add to your toolbar via Tools/Customize. It basically gives you a dialog box with a list of the stuff on your slide; you tick the box beside whatever object you want to select.

Very handy for selecting items which are below other items or otherwise difficult to select.

Whatever text you put in the Web tab when you go to Format/Object shows up in the Select Multiple dialog, too. That’s another reason it’s handy — you can basically select objects by name if you’re disciplined about inserting descriptive text in the Format/Object/Web tab.

But what is the Select Multiple Objects tool?

It’s a tool you have to add to your toolbar via Tools/Customize. It basically gives you a dialog box with a list of the stuff on your slide; you tick the box beside whatever object you want to select.

Very handy for selecting items which are below other items or otherwise difficult to select.

Whatever text you put in the Web tab when you go to Format/Object shows up in the Select Multiple dialog, too. That’s another reason it’s handy — you can basically select objects by name if you’re disciplined about inserting descriptive text in the Format/Object/Web tab.

Well, you could do a search for *.POT files on your harddrive and delete the ones you don’t want.

Or maybe try renaming the *.POT files to something like *.POX or *.PXX — they shouldn’t show up then.

Moving them from the folder may also make them not show up. See http://www.soniacoleman.com/Tutorials/Powe…t_templates.htm%5B/url%5D for some further info on where templates are stored.

Just add a hyperlink. Right-click the object you want to use as the link, select Hyperlink, and type the URL (for example, http://www.echosvoice.com) into the Address box.

If you need a “live” page that updates on the slide, then you can use Shyam’s Live Web add-in.

You might want to try the free RnR Starter Set add-in, then. Use the “memorize position” tool to pick up placement settings for one object, then use the “place exactly” (the hammer) tool to hammer other objects into place. http://www.rdpslides.com/pptools/starterset/FAQ00011.htm%5B/url%5D gives better instrux for using these two tools.

Import PDF content into PowerPoint

Can you modify the slide layout to allow extra space at the top for those slides with 2-line titles? If so, then just create another slide master and call it 2-line title or something. Then apply that master to the appropriate slides.

You’ve already received a response mentioning the line spacing. That will help. You might double-click the title placeholder on the master and check the Textbox tab — anchoring the title at the bottom or top might help also.

Additional resources for creating an add-in: http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/FAQ00031.htm%5B/url%5D

I’d recommend recording the sound outside of PPT and then inserting the narrations later. PPT’s recording (as you’re seeing) leaves a lot to be desired.

You’re correct, it’s not something PPT should be doing. It’s actually a bug. PowerPoint is reapplying the first slide master to the slide.

One thing that sometimes works is to go to View/Master/Slide Master and use a different slide master as the first one. Just drag and drop a different master to the front of the list of slide masters.

Another thing that will work is to create a new slide master with appropriate font size settings and apply that to the slide in question. (Someone suggested this already, I think.)

What I sometimes end up doing is copying the placeholder and pasting it back on the slide, deleting the original placeholder. Now the placeholder isn’t a placeholder, and so it won’t change font size to match the font size in the placeholder on the first master slide. This can be a hassle when you apply a different template or copy the slide into a new presentation, but it’s a quick fix that’s guaranteed to work in the specific presentation you’re struggling with, anyway. Better to create a proper master for the slide, though.

Hans’s workarounds are indeed the way to go because, unfortunately, you cannot add placeholders or new slide layouts.

WAVs can be linked or embedded, depending on your settings. See http://www.echosvoice.com/gotchas.htm#SoundAdvice%5B/url%5D for some more information. It sounds as if you do have a path issue.

PPT 2003 (and 2002, also, for that matter) handles sound differently than PPT 97 does, so it’s not unusual that your sounds won’t play at home on 2003.

You can use the 97 PPT Viewer to view the file at home if you want.

Oh, you can also try the workaround described at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?…kb;en-us;832039%5B/url%5D — even though it only talks about the PPT 2003 Viewer, I think I recall that it applies to viewing the presentation in PPT 2003 as well.

You can also try turning off the new animations and transitions in PPT 2003, which effectively takes you back to “PPT 2000 mode.” (PPT 2000 handles sound much as PPT 97 does.) To do this, go to Tools/Options/Edit and click to disable “new animation features.”

I believe I responded to this question in the Microsoft PowerPoint newsgroup either today or yesterday. If it hasn’t answered your question, you need to let me that you’ve tried my suggestions but they didn’t work.