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PowerPoint won't play video like Media Player

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John Canon View Drop Down
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  Quote John Canon Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: PowerPoint won't play video like Media Player
    Posted: 06 Jun 2011 at 03:12

Hello 123ppt users, I hope someone can help me.

I need to have a video file in my presentation but when i embed it into my PowerPoint presentation it doesn't play. Actually it crashes my presentation.

So I tried linking to the file and the same thing happens.

My question is this. Why won't my video play in PowerPoint when it plays in Windows Media Player?

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Charles Henry View Drop Down
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  Quote Charles Henry Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Jun 2011 at 03:18

Hey John, welcome to the PowerPoint Forum.

I guess there's a couple of things to be aware of here with PowerPoint.

  • PowerPoint does not embed video. By that I mean you cannot embed a video file into your PowerPoint presentation. PowerPoint always creates a hyperlnk to a video clip file. Whether it be an .wmv, .avi, or .mpg file. PowerPoint always links to a video file it does not embed it.
  • PowerPoint uses MCI Media Player to play video. So whilst a video clip or movie file may play without any difficulties in Windows Media Player, this does not mean that it will play without difficulties within PowerPoint.

To see if your video file will play correctly with Windows MCI Media Player,  try the following: 

  • Press the Windows Start button.
  • Select Accessories >  Run
  • Type mplay32.exe in the command line.
  • Click OK.

Play your video from here. If your video file is not playing in the MCI player, then it won't work in PowerPoint either.

Charles Henry,
Creative Director, www.123ppt.com
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John Canon View Drop Down
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  Quote John Canon Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Jun 2011 at 03:20

Charles, thanks for the fast reply. I did as you suggested and yes the video plays. What do I do now? How do I get the video to play in PowerPoint?

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Charles Henry View Drop Down
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  Quote Charles Henry Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Jun 2011 at 03:30

It may be that the path name to the video file is too long John.

Windows has a maximum pathname (combined character length of path and filename) of around 260 characters so if your video name is quite long and the path to your presentation long or within several folders then it may exceed the maximum length of the acceptable pathname in Windows.
 
Try to reduce the length of the file name of your video file to just a few characters and relink the video to your PowerPoint presentation.

Alternatively make a root directory on your C:\ drive, for example C:\MyPPT and copy your PowerPoint presentation and video file there and relink the video file.

 
It should play correctly now
Charles Henry,
Creative Director, www.123ppt.com
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John Canon View Drop Down
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  Quote John Canon Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Jun 2011 at 03:33

That did it Charles. It is working now. Many thanks for your help.

I'm pretty sure I was about to run out of hair after pulling it all out!

I am just wondering Charles. What if the video file didn't play in the MCI Player? What then? (just thinking about if I ever run into this problem again)

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Charles Henry View Drop Down
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  Quote Charles Henry Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Jun 2011 at 03:35
John, if the video file didn't play in Windows MCI Player, then basically it is encoded using a codec that is not available for MCI but only for Windows Media Player. You would have to convert the video file using a standard codec such as Windows Video or Cinepak to allow the file to play across all machines and applications without problems or difficulties in either Windows Media Player, MCI Player, or any application where video can be embedded or linked such as PowerPoint.
Charles Henry,
Creative Director, www.123ppt.com
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powerpoint dude View Drop Down
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  Quote powerpoint dude Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Jun 2011 at 03:39
Guys, I had a similar problem a few months ago. I tried playing a file in mplay32.exe and the program would just hang and then eventually close powerpoint.

i downloaded and installed the K-Lite Codec Mega Pack and the video plays with no problem now.
 
powerpoint dude
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ejungk View Drop Down
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  Quote ejungk Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Aug 2011 at 14:26
Hello, Thanks for your advice on this matter. I too am having some issue with a .wma file that I want inserted into a ppt deck (2003). It plays fine on the MCI Player and I moved the presentation along with the movie file to the C:drive and re-inserted the link, but when I click on the movie to play it just turns to a white screen. Not sure what the issue is since there are other videos in the file and they play fine.
 
e.
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admin View Drop Down
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  Quote admin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Aug 2011 at 10:00
Hi Erin,
 
welcome to the 123PPT Community and PowerPoint Forum.
 
It may be as Charles has discussed that that the path and filename is exceeds Windows limit for a complete pathname. If the video was playing fine using the MCI Player then it will play in PowerPoint. The only reason for it not to play in PowerPoint is if the link (pathname) to the file exceeds the maximum length of the acceptable pathname in Windows.
 
Did you move your presentation and video to the root of the C: drive or do you have them in a folder? I.e.
 
C:\mypresentation\
 
If you have reinserted the link. Are you sure that you have removed the old link completely? It may well be that when you reinserted the link that PowerPoint has referenced the old link to the old location before you moved the files if all instances of the link were not completely removed before you resinserted the video file.
Admin, 123PPT
http://www.123ppt.com
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