[v6 General Discussion] Powerpoint audio problem
1 Comment
I have been doing projection using EW and PP for many years like 20 or so with EW and over 25 with PP. A long time ago I began making this statement.
"Some people and PowerPoint should not mix"
That was because of getting heaps of PP shows over many years which have poorly built. In other words, some people have no idea when it comes to building PP shows. PowerPoint itself is also to blame on many occasions due to the defaults within the program and which no one thinks about - "plays OK on my computer at home" - hence my statement above!.
When inserting an audio or video file into PP, You must ALWAYS ensure that that media is set, in the animations to "Start With Previous". That means as soon as you go to the next slide (with say a video clip) the clip will play immediately without the need for any clicking.
Many people just drop an audio or video, then to make them run, you need to actually click (PP default) on that media to make it play. That may be your problem. Try running the file directly in PP and see if the audio works automatically. If not, this is your problem and you need to click to make the audio run. Not only that, but you have just been given the file and have no idea it even is supposed to play audio/video! Ask the questions when given such a file. Problem is that when running a PP within EW, there is nowhere to click to make the media file run. Clicking on the thumbnails in the Go Live column will only advance the slides - which is what EW is supposed to do. Normally EW will not allow the cursor to go to the second monitor BUT when running a PP, you are actually running PP on that monitor and PP allows you to put the cursor on the projection screen so, you CAN get the cursor onto that monitor and click which sometimes makes the media play.
Personally, I shudder when given an unknown PP to play without being able to first check it and make sure it works as it is supposed to. Older versions of PP only LINK audio and video into the show. I have been given numerous PP shows where the video is actually back on the PC at home or office and NOT embedded into the actual show. Obviously, no video or audio plays on my computer when that happens!
Issues I have seen:
Fonts. Numerous issues here - Text with poor contrast to the background, making the text very hard to read, text way too small, colours, fancy fonts not on the projection PC (PP will substitute fonts if they are not on the projection PC and often with bad results - like one show I had when PP substituted the font for Wingding's which it felt was the best match for the missing font!!!, text filling the entire screen, black text on a glary white background and the list goes on and on....
Audio Video not playing - as outlined above
Large white areas beside vertical pictures _ use a black background, it is much easier on the eyes.
Overuse of transitions and animations - KISS! Keep It Simple S.....
Text over very "busy" backgrounds - makes the text hard to read.
And this list could go on as well.
Be aware too that PP does NOT sync audio with it's slideshow. PP plays the slides, theoretically timed as you have set the timing, but gets media player to play audio. When played on another computer that may be faster or slower than the one used to built the show, the audio and pictures can, and often do, get out of sync.
Hope this may help with your problem.
"Some people and PowerPoint should not mix"
That was because of getting heaps of PP shows over many years which have poorly built. In other words, some people have no idea when it comes to building PP shows. PowerPoint itself is also to blame on many occasions due to the defaults within the program and which no one thinks about - "plays OK on my computer at home" - hence my statement above!.
When inserting an audio or video file into PP, You must ALWAYS ensure that that media is set, in the animations to "Start With Previous". That means as soon as you go to the next slide (with say a video clip) the clip will play immediately without the need for any clicking.
Many people just drop an audio or video, then to make them run, you need to actually click (PP default) on that media to make it play. That may be your problem. Try running the file directly in PP and see if the audio works automatically. If not, this is your problem and you need to click to make the audio run. Not only that, but you have just been given the file and have no idea it even is supposed to play audio/video! Ask the questions when given such a file. Problem is that when running a PP within EW, there is nowhere to click to make the media file run. Clicking on the thumbnails in the Go Live column will only advance the slides - which is what EW is supposed to do. Normally EW will not allow the cursor to go to the second monitor BUT when running a PP, you are actually running PP on that monitor and PP allows you to put the cursor on the projection screen so, you CAN get the cursor onto that monitor and click which sometimes makes the media play.
Personally, I shudder when given an unknown PP to play without being able to first check it and make sure it works as it is supposed to. Older versions of PP only LINK audio and video into the show. I have been given numerous PP shows where the video is actually back on the PC at home or office and NOT embedded into the actual show. Obviously, no video or audio plays on my computer when that happens!
Issues I have seen:
Fonts. Numerous issues here - Text with poor contrast to the background, making the text very hard to read, text way too small, colours, fancy fonts not on the projection PC (PP will substitute fonts if they are not on the projection PC and often with bad results - like one show I had when PP substituted the font for Wingding's which it felt was the best match for the missing font!!!, text filling the entire screen, black text on a glary white background and the list goes on and on....
Audio Video not playing - as outlined above
Large white areas beside vertical pictures _ use a black background, it is much easier on the eyes.
Overuse of transitions and animations - KISS! Keep It Simple S.....
Text over very "busy" backgrounds - makes the text hard to read.
And this list could go on as well.
Be aware too that PP does NOT sync audio with it's slideshow. PP plays the slides, theoretically timed as you have set the timing, but gets media player to play audio. When played on another computer that may be faster or slower than the one used to built the show, the audio and pictures can, and often do, get out of sync.
Hope this may help with your problem.
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