How to stop AVI rewinding in Powerpoint?

Tony,

I can't find a knowledge base article on microsoft.com that details this problem. That doesn't mean there isn't a particular problem with this. Just that I can't find it on microsoft.com :)

One workaround would be to have the 1st frame as either a black frame, or something similar to your presentation. Then when it does rewind, it's no noticeable.

If you want the 1st frame visible before the vid starts, then just add a static grab of your video, over the top of the video clip in powerpoint. When the movie starts to play it will automatically play over the 'static grab'.

Out of interest... what format is the video (e.g. mpg avi wmv etc)
How did you insert it into the pres (e.g. insert > movies > from file)

Cheers
TAJ Simmons
microsoft powerpoint mvp

you might take a look at the articles:
PPT2000: Inserted Movies Always Rewind in Slide View
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;212469

PPT97: Inserted Movies Always Rewind in Slide View
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;163392

I hope one of these helps you out.
regards,
Jeroen

I saw those, but there related to ppt 97 and 2000, the original question is about 2002 and 2003.

TAJ

Hi TAJ,
perhaps I might be wrong although I cannot imagine that there will be a huge difference between 2000 and 2002 on this subject since I asumed that the call some functionality of the movie player. I still believe it might be worth trying. Although I believe you know more what is possible since you will beat me any time on powerpoint as you already earned you marks on Powerpoint :)

Jeroen

TAJ,
Thanks for your interest! I have found 4 - 6 internet forums where this very problem was asked.  There is never any reply, except that in one case the questioner speculated that the problem may be something to do with Windows Media Player, which also shows the first frame at the end of a AVI video.

The vid was AVI, and it was inserted into a PowerPoint slide  by  the menu command: Insert | Movies and Sounds ... | Movie from file .

You suggest having a first frame that is specially designed so as to be non-distracting when it occurs as the last visible picture on the screen, at the very end of the video. If this is plain white or other background colour, and if the rectangular sector the screen where the vid is to be shown is intended to show just the background both just before and also just after the video, then your workaraound will provide a smooth show without distractions.  

However, what I am producing right now is a series of successive videos and slides showing in the same rectangle (or whole screen) and the background must not show in between one item and the next.  One could have the first frame of Vid1 (to which the rectange reverts after Vid1 ends) to be the same picture as the first want-to-show frame of Vid2.  This would give on-screen continuity in the transition ebtween Vid1 and Vid2,  but only at the cost of having a flicker of an anomalous starting frame when Vid1 starts to play.

I tried avoiding this by using your workararound in the above manner and also setting Vid1 to "jump" the first frame without showing it, using the following command:
Custom Animation | Right-Click | Effect Options | Effect | Start Playing from time 00:09 seconds .
The result of this command was, bizarrely, that Vid1 played BACKWARDS from time-point 00:09 seconds to time point 00:00 !

In any case, I wish we could find a more direct solution, as the suggested workaround demands frame-by-frame editing of AVI files, using third-party software -- a tedious and counter-intuitive approach which greatly detracts from the rapid, elegant ease-of-editing approach built into PowerPoint.

Any more thoughts, by any chance?
Tony

I still have to have a look at your suggested references, but I read somewhere that the problem did not exist with PowerPoint 2000.

The references you suggested say "The Play Options dialog box is designed to control how the movie plays in Slide Show view, not in Slide view. When you run the presentation as a slide show, the movie does not rewind if you selected the Rewind Movie When Done Playing check box. "

This is not true in my PowerPoint 2003 (and I believe also in Powerpoint 2002 as well).  The behaviour of the video in Slide Show view is identical to that in slide view.

looking to Powerpoint 2003 I have the following option after right click on movie object:
Edit MOvie Object

here I have the option: Loop untill Stopped which is unchecked.


or perhaps checking the custom animation settings. setting it start on click.

perhaps this is also in your case?
regards,
Jeroen

Yes, I have the same options.  The first one loops until a mouse click, and the second one makes the video start when the mouse is clicked.  Are these useful for this problem?  I cannot use them in a presentation that is to be run without operator intervention - that is, in "Kiosk" mode.

Hey!  After enduring the problem many, many times, the problem suddenly did not occur, and two videos played successfully back to back without an anomalous frame jumping up between them!  The settings are the same normal ones previously used.   PowerPoint 2003 is being used. I had no idea this was an intermittent problem - in fact, I was sure it wasn't.

If the problem recurs, I have no idea what to do. What is going on?  

Sounds very strange, perhaps TAJ has noticed some like this. Just out of curiousity: did you close powerpoint and restarted it?

Yes, but I'd done that many times before as well.

I wish I could help since I agree with you when you knwo why it didn't work and suddently it does it prevents a lot of troubles, unfortunatly I cannot help you with this.
regards,
Jeroen

I have not isolated the problem yet, but I am reducing the presentations to the bare minimum to try and do so.
I now have one small show with a video on each of two slides, called ShowA_Anomalous, which HAS the problem.
I also haev a similar show called ShowB_OK which does NOT have the problem.  I am making sure that all the settings are the same in both presentations.  So far, they seem to be. I'm willing to sedn them to anybody interested

The two Presentations being played in Powerpoint 2003 are titled:
(a) ShowA_Anomalous and
(b) ShowB_OK

They appear to be identical, but ShowA plays anomalously (showing briefly the first frame of VideoA after it finished playing), while the second presentation ShowB plays properly.

The CONTENTS of both shows are identical as follows:
Slide 1 is empty;
Slide 2 contains a 9 second video [Video1] , full screen
Slide 3 contains another short video [Video2], full screen
The videos (Video1 and Video2) on ShowA are the same as Video1 and Video2 in Show B.

THE FOLLOWING ARE THE SETTINGS FOR Video1 ON SLIDE 2 IN BOTH ShowA and ShowB

Set up Presentation | ...Kiosk
Right-Click on Movie itself | Edit Movie Object | All unchecked
Right-Click on Movie's icon in custom animation (in Task Pane) | Effect
              Start playing | On CLick
              Stop playing | On click
Right-Click on Movie's icon in custom animation (in Task Pane) | timing
              Start | After Previous
              Delay | None
              Repeat | None
              Rewind when done playing [Unchecked!]
              Triggers |  Animate as part of click sequence
Right-Click on Movie's icon in custom animation (in Task Pane) | Movie Settings
               Display Options | Hide while not playing [Unchecked]
                                           Zoom to full screen | unchecked

SLIDE TRANSITION | No transition
Modify transition | Speed | Fast
Modify transition | Sound  | no sound
   
Advance slide | Automatically after 00:02

This Video plays anomalously in Show A but properly in ShowB!
----------------
If anybody wants to get a copy of these two files, please write to me on imagine at maltanet.net.
I am leaving the computer now as it is late in Central Europe time zone.

I have changed the slide exposure time to be either smaller or larger than the AVI video's own playing time.  No effect upon the anomaly.
I have experimented in creating a presentation in PP2002 and opening it with PP2003 and augmenting it there, and vice versa. No effect here, either.
Whether the video displays as full screen or a small rectangle - this also is not a factor.

Well, well well.  That explains why there was never any expert advice given on this problem in other forums - understandably, nobody thought of pscifying the SlideTransition modes, some of which proved to be undocumentedly quirky.  I hope MS can do something about this, now; maybe you will tell them.

Well done, TAJ.  Many thanks!  I'm smiling.

Tony

aa

Taj,
I am struggling with the same issue. However, the slide transition is not helping me solve it.
Everything is the same: Powerpoint 2003 SP2, avi file, rewinds at the end of each continuous loop.
Any suggestions?