Video not playing in PowerPoint on Windows - Quick Time error [Solved]

Problem
Sam included a video in his PowerPoint (PPTX) file. The MP4 video and the PPTX file were in the same folder. He sent the entire folder to his friend. When his friend viewed the slideshow, the video did not play and gave an error message that 'Quick Time Player' was required to play the video.

Solution
MP4 and MOV videos will play in PowerPoint only when you have Apple's Quick Time Player installed on your system. While Quick Time Player is free, and you can surely install it, your recipient (client or colleague) might not have the player. Then what?

Convert the video into WMV (windows media video) format and then insert it in PowerPoint.



How to convert MP4 to WMV?
Download Movie Maker (Microsoft's free software for video editing) --> Open your MP4 video using Movie Maker or insert your video into Movie Maker --> File --> Save movie --> For computer or high-end display (choose the desired quality) --> Save as type WMV.

That's it. Your video should play now.

PowerPoint file not opening in Windows 10 [Solved]

I am using Windows 10 and enjoying it as well. But Windows 10 caused a weird problem on my laptop. I was not able to open PowerPoint, Word or Excel files sent by others. The moment I tried to open the files, MS Office gave me an error message. It urged me to repair the file. Upon clicking repair, it failed to do so successfully.

The solution?

Download the file onto your computer. --> Right click on the file --> Properties --> Go down to the bottom (just below Attributes). You will find Security --> Click on Unblock --> Ok.

Windows 10 was blocking all external MS Office files on my computer. The solution is to unblock it manually.

Embed your fonts before emailing your deck

www.pixabay.com

Your slide deck is ready. You have spent hours, if not days to make it. Now is the time to shoot if off. But wait...

If you have used any special or uncommon fonts in your presentation, remember to embed them within the PowerPoint file.

The special fonts used by you will most likely be absent on the computer of the person receiving the deck. What happens when he/she opens your presentation?

The computer will replace your special font with whatever is available. The result - all the layouts will go haywire. The look is gone. It will actually ruin the look and formatting completely.

How to embed fonts in MS PowerPoint 2013? (2010 and earlier versions are similar)
Go to file -> Options -> Under Save -> Embed fonts in file -> Embed all characters

Now the computer which receives your file can display the special fonts. Good luck!

Solve this Problem: Editing Points in Motion Path

Eric Pitcher from the US wrote to me a couple of days back with an interesting problem he is facing in MS PowerPoint 2007. It relates to editing points in motion paths (under custom animation). Here is the problem in his own words. See if you can solve it.

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"I was wondering if you have had the same problem that I have when it comes to ‘Editing Points’ on motion paths. If I animate an object with a custom, straight line motion path, most of the time I am not able to edit or add points to it.

For example, I want to make an object look like it is bouncing off of the bottom of the screen. I insert a clip art object on the screen and select to custom animate. In the menu I pick: Add Effect – Motion Paths – Draw Custom Path – Line. I draw the path line across the middle of the screen from left to right.

Now here is the problem: I right click on the motion path to get the Motion Path Menu. However, the ‘Edit Points’ entry is grayed out and cannot be selected. The weird part is that I know this can be done since I am able to select ‘edit points’ once every 100 attempts.

So I must be missing something. BTW: I am using PowerPoint 2007. Any thoughts?"

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If you have a solution to Eric's problem leave a comment here.

Are you ready for a colour problem?

I attended a presentation two days back wherein an advertising agency was presenting some designs to its clients. Design which needed to be approved by the client. The major elements which were under scrutiny from their client were the shape and the colour scheme.

The Problem
The presenter could see that the design was not coming out as well on the screen. The projector was good but was not able to bring out the colours so well. For any normal business presentation it would have been fine. But this was a 'design presentation'. What should the presenter do in such a case? Will you let a projector ruin your hard work?

The Solution

Interestingly the presenter was seeing this problem but was not taking any action on it. The designs which were 'cool' on his Mac were looking pretty ordinary on the screen. Here are two possible solutions to this problem:

1. Carry hard copies - A good quality print will do a better job than a poor projection on the screen. Please note that it was not this particular projector's problem. I have seen innumerable number of presentations and almost all the time the colours on the screen are no where near how they look on the laptop. So the next time your design skills are on display, carry good quality hard copies with you. You might be presenting website designs or a soap packaging, bear this tip in mind.

2. Carry another laptop - The agency could very well have shown the client the designs on a laptop. They could have carried a spare laptop and put it right in front of the client. Remember that the objective is to present the designs as they look in reality (on the monitor) and not how they appear on the projected screen. Why let technology ruin your business?

How would you deal with this problem? Can you think of more ways to solve this problem?

Troubleshooting: My video is not playing

The Problem

I inserted a video (.mpg) in a slide. But it was not playing in slideshow mode. I had chosen the option of 'play on click'. And when I was clicking, it was displaying a white rectangle.

The Solution

I find it a bit weird. MS PowerPoint does not play a video if the file name is more than 24 characters long. These characters include text, numbers and spaces. As soon as I reduced the file size, the video started playing. I found this solution on Microsoft Office's website.

Have you recently faced any problems playing a video in a presentation? Share it here. My problem was with MS Office, what about Keynote users? Share your problems and the solutions as well.