Before explaining multimedia and PowerPoint it is important to understand PowerPoint uses the Windows MCI player for playback of media files in PowerPoint and NOT the Windows Media Player. (There are rare exceptions but the user need not normally be concerned with them.) What is the MCI player and why does PowerPoint use it? The answer can be summed up in one word, compatibility. The MCI Player is a player application built upon the Windows API calls for media. It is commonly referred to as the Media Control Interface or Media Controller Interface. (In other words, it's part of Windows.)

The MCI player has been a part of Windows since Windows 3.0a. It was designed with the concept that as technology in media compression improved, the improvements could be "plugged in" to the player. You may have heard the term "codec" tossed around when talking about multimedia. In simple terms, codec means the COmpressor/DECompressor used to manipulate a media file. (Think of it as a small program.) With it the user can compress a media file to shrink it's size for transport and the receiving computer can decompress it for playback. In most aspects you can think of it doing the same thing WinZip does for other types of files. The biggest difference is that *some* data is thrown away if it's not needed.

By having replaceable codecs we can install the ones we want or need to both compress the media file and to decompress it for playback. The caveat of course is that the codec must be compatible with the Windows MCI Player if it is used in PowerPoint. (Not all codecs are compatible, Apple's QuickTime is a good example of one that is not.) If I compress a file with a specific codec and send it to your PC, your PC must have the same codec installed to play the media. In almost all cases where a PowerPoint presentation is sent to another PC and the media fails to play, the cause is a missing or improperly configured codec.

You may test your machine set up by manually starting the MCI player and opening the media file to be tested. To do so click Start > Run and type "mplayer.exe" in the command line box and click OK. (For Windows 2000 type "mplay32.exe" and for Windows XP type "mplayer2.exe") If this fails to start the player or if your PC can't locate it, use the Windows search feature for "mplay*.exe" and it should find it for you. Once found double click it to start it.

This will start the MCI player (Not the Windows Media Player. ) used by PowerPoint. You may then open your media file in the normal manner and play it. If the media fails to play in the MCI player it will not play properly in PowerPoint.   (Note, Microsoft removed the MCI executable from Windows Vista, however the functionality is the same in PowerPoint.)

Above we talked about codecs and how they work with the MCI player. The next issue is what to do if you have a media file that requires a codec not installed on your machine. First, it is important to understand there are hundreds of codecs and new ones appear almost daily. With this in mind, it becomes apparent that you can not have every possible codec on your machine, nor would you want to. I caution users here, having too many codecs can, and often does, cause conflicts resulting in failure to play the media properly. There are several "codec packs" available on the internet and my recommendation is to install ONLY the codecs you know for certain you need and NOT to install the entire pack. (A popular downloadable codec pack is K Lite.) Another alternative (and a better one in my opinion) is to use what I would call mainstream codecs. These may be downloaded from the Microsoft Download Center. The advantage here is that Microsoft spends the time and effort to make certain these codecs work as they should and can properly be registered for use by the MCI player.

I'd also like to offer a word of caution about using "open source" codecs. One that quickly comes to mind are the DivX codecs. By being "open source" these codecs can and are modified by anyone wishing to do so. Unless they are very good at programming and following the set standards you may find yourself in a situation where you have the proper codec installed but it fails to play the media (or plays it poorly) because it can't decompress the file properly. I'll also point out that the chance of having the right DivX codec on a receiving PC (you send them a presentation) is almost nil and will surely fail. This of course brings us to the real issue of portability of your presentations. Any multimedia included in your presentations require the proper codec to be in place on the receiving PC. This is the best reason to use only codecs that are commonly supported in Windows.

Lets take a common situation I see users running into and walk through how to correct any issues. In this case we are going to assume a few things: You are running Windows 98se, ME, 2000, XP or Vista. You are running PowerPoint 2000, 2002, 2003, or 2007. You have obtained a multimedia file you wish to use. If you can not insert and play the media file the first order of business is to determine what sort of file it is. While the file name extension (AVI, WMV, MP3, etc.) can give us some clues, I often find that files are mislabeled and are not really what they claim to be. I highly recommend the use of a small program called GSpot. This is a free utility and is an excellent method of gaining information on a media file, including determining the codec being used. If you do not have the proper codec installed to play the file, GSpot will inform you of this and in most cases tell you what codec is needed. With this information you may download and install the needed codec as explained above. This will now allow you to play the media file on your machine and in PowerPoint, however if it is not a standard Windows codec it will not play on other machines when you send them your presentation.

In order to play the presentation on other machines there are two possible methods. The first is to have the recipient install the needed codec and hope they do it properly. The second option is to convert the media file using a standard codec found on all Windows PCs. (This is what PFCMedia and PFCPro do.)

There are a number of multimedia applications that will do this conversion, however a word of caution is required. Many of these applications allow the user to change a number of settings concerning how the codec is used. As the presentation creator it is your responsibility to use only those settings that will result in a file meeting the set standards.  (Explaining these standards is beyond the scope of this tutorial and I encourage users to read up and learn them if they wish to take a hands on approach to encoding media.)

Other areas the user must be concerned with when compressing a media file are things like color depth (bits per pixel) size, and data rate. As an example you would use a low data rate for a talking head video and a much higher data rate for a high motion video like a car race. This must also be balanced against file size and how it will be delivered. (CD, email, etc.) As a rule of thumb, you may use the WMV format with a fair amount of confidence the resulting file will work when played on another Windows PC. However, be aware there are a number of codecs now used in the WMV format and selecting which to use will depend on the type of file being compressed and how much backwards compatibility means to you.

You can also change the audio portion of the media file using the same WMV format but selecting a specific audio codec to be used. To summarize, if you plan to distribute your presentation to others and want to include multimedia the best method of doing it is to convert the media to a standard Windows format before placing it in your presentation.

I don't think there is anything that changes as fast as media use on PCs and keeping up with it is a real challenge for the average user.  Lets face it, most PowerPoint users just want to use media, not become experts in all the technologies for it.

There are really three choices available to PowerPoint users.  Use only media files that work natively in PowerPoint, learn a fair amount about the technology and use a conversion application to make them compatible, or use a product like PFCMedia or PFCPro designed specifically to work with PowerPoint and media files.

One of the biggest problems I see users experiencing is having installed too many codecs that conflict with each other, and installing multiple video applications, players, etc.  There are a number of free media players out there that people install to solve a given problem, unfortunately it quite often creates other problems.

Once again I point out, playing media in a media player is NOT the same as playing it in PowerPoint using the Windows MCI Player.  While the media player application (or a video editing application) may work fine, it may also create incompatibilities with the MCI Player! In most cases the simplest fix is to download and re-install the Windows Media Player.  Even though it is not used directly in PowerPoint, it will "clean up" many of the PCs conflicts and reset the file/codec/filter associations on your PC.  Failing that, the next step is to remove offending applications or codecs as needed and then re-installing the Windows media Player.

If none of that solves your issue then by all means drop us an email on our Contacts page and we will do our best to help resolve the problems.

PowerPoint uses the Windows MCI player (not the Windows Media Player) to play all video in your presentations. Videos, along with their associated codecs, must match the MCI player requirements.  See Tutorial on left.

The most common cause of this is a path/file name that is too long.  Try moving your presentations to a folder with a shorter path (Example "C:\test").  Move the video file to the same folder and then re-insert it in your presentation.

PowerPoint links to media files, it does not embed them. You must move the media files along with the presentation.  Additionally, the media files should ALWAYS be in the same folder as the presentation BEFORE you insert them in the presentation to preserve linking when moved.

PowerPoint respects Digital Rights Management (Copyrights) and will not play media files with it.  The other possibility is that you do not have the correct codec installed.  (See media terms below for "codec".)

QuickTime is format from Apple that is not compatible with the Windows MCI Player.  You must convert QuickTime files to a Windows format or insert the Apple QuickTime Player as an "object" in your presentation.  (For legal reasons PFCMedia and PFCPro do NOT support QuickTime processing.)

YouTube uses a proprietary format that is not compatible with the MCI Player.  Files from YouTube must be converted to a standard Widows format.  (A Google search will give you many convertors.)  PFCPro will insert a player control in your presentation which will link directly to the video across the internet and "stream" it to your presentation.  (See PFCPro description.)

The most common cause for this is the installation of codecs or applications that changed your system settings.  In almost all cases the simplest fix is to download and re-install Windows Media Player.  While not used directly in PowerPoint, re-installing the Windows Media Player corrects your system settings.

AC3 - A very high quality audio codec commonly used in commercial DVDs.  It may contain multiple sound tracks for different languages.

ASF - Advanced Streaming Format - A Microsoft format (that may use different codecs) for media intended to be "streamed" from a server.

AVI - Audio Video Interleave - Any media file that contains both video and audio.  This includes almost all formats and may contain any codec or combination or codecs.

Cinepack - A very early codec with less than great video quality.  However when used in an AVI file it has the advantage of working on both Apple and Windows machines.

Codec - COmpressor/DECompressor - Used to compresses a media file for storage and to decompress it for play back.  There are hundreds of codecs and more being introduced everyday.  We do not recommend trying to install every possible codec.  Instead we recommend reformatting the media to a standard Windows format and codec.  (See tutorial on left.)

DivX - An "open source" codec that has many versions and does not come with Windows.  We do not recommend its use if you are going to distribute your presentation to other machines.

Mpeg-1 - The first video codec developed by the Motion Picture Experts Group.  It's quality is on par with a VHS tape/recording.  To use Mpeg-1 files in PowerPoint they MUST meet the specifications of the format.  (Many "home made" files do not!)

Mpeg-2 - A much higher quality video codec developed by the Motion Pictures Expert Group.  It is commonly used for DVDs and digital TV delivery.  To use Mpeg-2 files in PowerPoint they MUST meet the specifications of the format.  (Many "home made" files do not!)  Special note: Windows XP and earlier versions do NOT come with a Mpeg-2 (DVD) codec (decoder).

MP3 - An audio format used to deliver audio in an mpeg video file or used as a stand alone format used for sound/music.  There are multiple codecs for the MP3 format.

WMA - Windows Media Audio format for sounds/music and may use several different Microsoft codecs.

WMV - Windows Media Video format for video and may use several different Microsoft codecs.

With so many new monitor sizes and ratios (wide screen) its often difficult to make the presentation fill the screen and the result are black areas displayed when the presentation is given.  The trick of course is to alter the slides dimensions to meet the needs of the display, unfortunately finding just the right size can be a frustrating experience of experimenting until you find something close enough to work.  To help with this we built a small utility to help you calculate the exact size needed regardless of the ratio or size of the monitor.  The best part, we provide it free to all PowerPoint users and you can get a copy right here.