518 442-3608 Working with Video in PowerPoint 2010 Adding video to a PowerPoint presentation can be very useful. In this handout we will explore many of the program s video options. When you start PowerPoint your screen will resemble the illustration below. Make sure the Home tab on the ribbon is selected, then click the Layout button in the Slides zone. Layout button 1
Select the Blank layout from the panel. This layout will be easiest to work with right now. You will now have a blank slide. Click the Insert tab on the ribbon. The ribbon will change to show you insert options as shown below. In the Media section of the ribbon you will find two options. You can insert either video or audio here. The Video button has an upper part and a lower part. If you click the upper part, as shown on the right, a panel will open and you will be able to navigate to a video file on your computer and then insert it. \ If you click the lower part of the Video button, as shown on the right, you will be given three choices: Select video from an existing file Select vido from a Web site Select video from a clip art catalog 2
We will explore all three options. Click Video from File. The Insert Video panel will open. It will resemble the illustration on the right. Navigate to the file that you want to use, then click Import. NOTE: PowerPoint 2010 will import files that are in the most popular audio formats. Included are Windows Media Video, QuickTime, Flash, AVI, and various MPG formats The video will be inserted into your slide. Under the video will be a set of video controls, such as a play button and sound volume slider. You can now click the play button to test your video. You can also fast forward, rewind, and control the volume with the button on the controller. When you hover your mouse pointer on the video the controls will appear under the video. 3
You can also insert clip art audio. Click the lower part of the Video button, then click Clip Art Video. A new panel will open on the right side of the screen. This panel is the same one that is used for finding graphical and audio clip art. But in this instance the video options have been selected. Video clips are shown in thumbnail form. To insert one of the files you can simply click once inside the thumbnail icon. However, you can also click the bar to the right of the icon that has the little down-pointing triangle in it. A drop down list will appear. You can make several choices from this list, the one most appropriate at this time is the Insert option. When you click Insert the video clip will appear as discussed above. 4
Customizing the Appearance of Your Video PowerPoint allows you to customize the appearance of your video in the slide. Select your video by clicking on it. The ribbon will change appearance, and a new tab labeled Video Tools will appear. Click Format. The ribbon will change to resemble the illustration above. Options at the left end of the ribbon, in the Adjust zone, allow you to correct the brightness and contrast of the video, adjust color, select a poster frame, or reset the design. In the Video Styles area you can select from many different designs, some of which are shown below. In the example below the video has had a style applied to it that causes the video to resemble a flat screen television. 5
Additional tools at the right side of the Video Styles area allow you to apply special shapes, borders, and effects. The illustration below features the same video with a heart shape applied to it with a special border color, glow, and 3-D effect. Tools at the far right of the ribbon, as shown below, provide options for aligning, rotating, cropping, and making other adjustments to your video 6
With the video selected, click the Playback tab on the ribbon. You will now be able to edit the video itself. The illustration below shows your options. One of the most important features is the ability to control the length of your video. Clicking Trim Video will bring up the Trim Video panel. The green slider on the left will allow you to set a start position. The red slider on the right sets the end point. Test the video by clicking the control buttons. Click OK when you are finished. Other options of the ribbon allow you to set the video to play at on click, after the previous event, or with the previous event. Options for playing the video at full screen, looking, and rewinding can be selected. 7
Using Action Buttons to Control Video Action buttons are specialized shapes that allow you to insert graphical controls into your presentation. While graphical controls can make the appearance of a presentation more interesting, they are especially important when the presentation may be used by persons who are not experienced with PowerPoint. For instance, the presentation may be used in a kiosk configuration where it is playing on a display computer at a trade show or lobby. By using action buttons you can make is obvious what a user should do to play a video. Action buttons are available from the bottom of the shapes selection panel. Click the Insert tab on the ribbon. Click Shapes in the Illustrations section of the ribbon. Click any action button at the bottom of the panel. The action button row is circled in he illustration on the right. For this handout we will select the action button that has the illustration of a camcorder. You mouse pointer will now turn to a cross. Left click and drag the action button into shape on your slide. It could resemble the illustration below. 8
Of course, the actual size and shape will depend on how you draw it! As soon as you release the mouse button an Action Settings panel will appear. It will resemble the illustration on the right. You have two general choices for the action. Click the Mouse Click tab or the Mouse Over tab to select whether the action occurs when the action button is click or if the action occures when a mouse pointer passes over it. Click the None radio button if you do not want any action to be associated with the action button. If you select None the button is totally inactive. Click the Hyperlink to radio button if you want to create a hyperlink to the video file that you want to view. Select Other File on the drop down menu. 9
Click the Browser button. Navigate to the video file that you want to play. Select the video. Click Open. The video file is now attached to the action button. NOTE:The Play sound checkbox allows you to specify if a sound should be played when the action button is activated by clicking on it or passing over it. If the checkbox is selected you can choose from a large number of sound effects that are avaiable on the drop down list. You can also elect to play a sound file other that the sound effects if you wish. You may want to uncheck this box to avoid playing any sound other than your video s sound. When you play your PowerPoint presentation the action button will be available in the slide. The video will play in the default video player when the button is clicked. The illustration on the right shows the video playing in Windows Media Player. NOTE: Sometimes a warning will appear on the screen that advises against playing files of unknown origan. Usually you can ignore this warning. However,if you do not want this to appear on the screen, you may not want to use action buttons in your presentation. 10