video clips & the black screen

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Guest

When my video clips play in PowerPoint, there is a momentary black screen while the computer "thinks" and figures out what to do. I notice that faster computers do better on this than slower ones, yet even the faster ones display a slight black pause. Are there any secrets to eliminating this, or getting it to the point where it is hardly noticeable. In terms of: processor speed, ram memory, and video card, which of these would be most important. I am planning to buy a better notebook, and would like to get one that can make this annoying black screen as negligible as possible.
 
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Hello,

You could try using different movie formats and encodings. PowerPoint
doesn't actually play any multimedia itself but. instead, makes calls to
the Operating System and lets it play the multimedia within PowerPoint
(which system calls it makes will depend on the version of PowerPoint, but
it still comes down to the system doing the actual multimedia playback).
Different movie formats and/or encodings can result in the movie being
played back using different system files and technologies and each of them
will provide a different experience. When you find one that you can live
with, then stick to that movie format / encoding for all presentations that
will be played on that system.

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.
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Dennis,

In short..... powerpoint goes about playing videos in a round about way.... passing the 'play' duties to other software.
This takes time.

(1) The less you can give powerpoint to do the better.... e.g. keep the next event/slide simple. As powerpoint is
getting the next event/slide ready while trying to sort out the video clip

(2) When the presentation is viewed the first time...things are worse....when you view the presentation the next time
round...things are better. Reason....because the files have been cached by your computer...ready for quicker playback.



Cheers
TAJ Simmons
microsoft powerpoint mvp

awesome - powerpoint backgrounds,
free powerpoint templates, tutorials, hints and tips etc
http://www.powerpointbackgrounds.com
 
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