Slideshow/background music (with a twist)

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I've read the many postings & replies on how to get background sound during a presentation so I'm all set with that

The question: Is it possible for the audio & slideshow to be out of sync? I want to hear audio in the background (from a 15 minute WMA) loop continuously but the slidedeck timing is less than that which causes the audio to restart when the deck restarts. I am looking for a way for the audio to keep playing merrily until the end of the track (15 minutes later) at which time the track will start playing again, regardless of where in the slidedeck we are

My only solution appears to be launching WMP in repeat mode. The downside to this is the instructions you must convey to a person that is not technical savy: "OK, double click on the WMA file, click Play->Repeat", start powerpoint, press f5, when finished stop both windows media player and powerpoint." The desired solution: Double click the pack & go presentation

Thanks

Scott
 
I would say that it is possible for the background sound to be out of sync
as is coming off of a separate file.

It would also depend on the speed of the computer and seems to be less of a
problem with today's fast computer.

I'm interested in other peoples views on this one.

EricK
www.powerpointhowto.com


Scott Johnstone said:
I've read the many postings & replies on how to get background sound
Click to expand...
during a presentation so I'm all set with that.
The question: Is it possible for the audio & slideshow to be out of sync?
Click to expand...
I want to hear audio in the background (from a 15 minute WMA) loop
continuously but the slidedeck timing is less than that which causes the
audio to restart when the deck restarts. I am looking for a way for the
audio to keep playing merrily until the end of the track (15 minutes later)
at which time the track will start playing again, regardless of where in the
slidedeck we are.
My only solution appears to be launching WMP in repeat mode. The downside
Click to expand...
to this is the instructions you must convey to a person that is not
technical savy: "OK, double click on the WMA file, click Play->Repeat",
start powerpoint, press f5, when finished stop both windows media player and
powerpoint." The desired solution: Double click the pack & go presentation.
 
If I understand your question, correctly, Scott, this is easily achieved:


1. Insert your sound file on Slide 1, tell it to play automatically, and at
the Stop Playing setting under Effects, set the After value for an
absurdly-high number, like 99 slides (or some number beyond your
slide-count.

2. Then go to Slide Show | Set Up Show and check Loop continuously.


When the show ends, the sound clip will stop playing, and then the show will
immediately start again.

Now if you are asking for the clip to continue playing non-stop while the
slide show loops back on itself, with no audio seam at all, no, I don't know
how to do that from within PowerPoint without forcing the viewer to click on
something at the end that would take them back to near the beginning...






--
Rick Altman
PowerPoint Live Conferences and Seminars
Six Cities this Spring
Calgary | Chicago | Dallas | NY / NJ | Phoenix | San Jose
http://www.powerpointlive.com
 
[CRITICAL UPDATE - Anyone using Office 2003 should install the critical
update as soon as possible. From PowerPoint, choose "Help -> Check for
Updates".]

Hello,

PowerPoint does not have a way to specify that an inserted sound should not
restart in a looping presentation. However, a custom soundtrack does not
have the same limitation.

A very cool option in PowerPoint 97 is the Custom Soundtrack add-in. The
PowerPoint Custom Soundtrack Add-in allows you to add
electronically-generated background music to your slide shows. You can
install this add-in from the following folder on the Office 97 compact
disc:

<drive>:\ValuPack\MusicTrk

If you (or anyone else reading this message) have suggestions as to how
PowerPoint might change it's features for controlling the playback of
"background" sound, don't forget to send your feedback to Microsoft at:

http://register.microsoft.com/mswish/suggestion.asp

As with all product suggestions, it's important that you not just state
your wish but also why it is important to you that your product suggestion
be implemented by Microsoft. Microsoft receives thousands of product
suggestions every day and we read each one but, in any given product
development cycle, there are only sufficient resources to address the ones
that are most important to our customers so take the extra time to state
your case as clearly and completely as possible.

IMPORTANT: Each submission should be a single suggestion (not a list of
suggestions).

John Langhans
Microsoft Corporation
Supportability Program Manager
Microsoft Office PowerPoint for Windows
Microsoft Office Picture Manager for Windows

For FAQ's, highlights and top issues, visit the Microsoft PowerPoint
support center at: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=ppt
Search the Microsoft Knowledge Base at:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=kbhowto

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
Use of any included script samples are subject to the terms specified at
http://www.microsoft.com/info/cpyright.htm
 
The question that Scott is asking, is possible for the sound to be out of
sync with the slides. My understanding is yes.
My point is the slides and sound are in different files and therefor would
run a different speeds depending on the size of the file and the speed of
the computer. There may be a drift in sync over a long slide show.

It would be very useful to get more comments on this.

EricK
www.powerpointhowto.com
Scott Johnstone said:
I've read the many postings & replies on how to get background sound
Click to expand...
during a presentation so I'm all set with that.
The question: Is it possible for the audio & slideshow to be out of sync?
Click to expand...
I want to hear audio in the background (from a 15 minute WMA) loop
continuously but the slidedeck timing is less than that which causes the
audio to restart when the deck restarts. I am looking for a way for the
audio to keep playing merrily until the end of the track (15 minutes later)
at which time the track will start playing again, regardless of where in the
slidedeck we are.
My only solution appears to be launching WMP in repeat mode. The downside
Click to expand...
to this is the instructions you must convey to a person that is not
technical savy: "OK, double click on the WMA file, click Play->Repeat",
start powerpoint, press f5, when finished stop both windows media player and
powerpoint." The desired solution: Double click the pack & go presentation.
 
The question that Scott is asking, is possible for the sound to be out of
sync with the slides. My understanding is yes.
My point is the slides and sound are in different files and therefor would
run a different speeds depending on the size of the file and the speed of
the computer. There may be a drift in sync over a long slide show.
Click to expand...

It's not only possible, it's probable. PowerPoint doesn't synch to sound or to
a time-track at all. The sound will play back at a constant rate against time
but the slides won't necessarily.
 
a drift in sync is not only possible, it's probable.


I'd go as far as to say *inevitable.* I've created videos with MIDI files
for music (small and compact) and digital photos for imagery (large and
pixel-laden), and have experienced drifts of as much as four seconds in a
two-minute video. If tight sync is important, there are three things to
consider:

1. The first time you play the video, you might see the most drift, before
the images are cached onto your drive. I counsel clients, if at all
possible, to run the entire video once right before playing it for real.

2. If there are certain passages that MUST be in sync, you're best off using
several audio clips instead of one big one. If your content allows for it,
fade out one and start the second one as close as you can to where precision
sync is needed.

3. If your standards are higher than this, leave PowerPoint and head to a
true production application.


--
Rick Altman
PowerPoint Live Conferences and Seminars
Six Cities this Spring
Calgary | Chicago | Dallas | NY / NJ | Phoenix | San Jose
http://www.powerpointlive.com
 
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