Inserting Flash Within PowerPoint

by Geetesh Bajaj | Last Updated on June 25 2008
See Also: PowerPoint And Flash Index

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Shyam's ToolBox for PowerPoint
Swiff Point Player Add-in for PowerPoint
Using the Insert Object Procedure
Disclaimer

Shyam's ToolBox for PowerPoint

Shyam's ToolBox is an add-in that adds a set of procedures to PowerPoint, including an option to insert SWF movies within PowerPoint.

You can download a trial version from:

Shyam's ToolBox

The actual Insert | Flash Movie procedure is more extensive than any other you'll find anywhere. Shyam's ToolBox is shareware.

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Swiff Point Player Add-in for PowerPoint

GlobFX Technologies provides a free add-in for PowerPoint that simplifies the inclusion of Flash SWF content within PowerPoint. Although they distribute the product to simplify the usage of SWFs created from their products, any SWF movie can be inserted within PowerPoint using the add-in.

You can download a free copy of the add-in from:

Swiff Point Player Download

The product automatically places an Insert | Flash Movie option within PowerPoint 2000 and 2002 (the add-in does not work with PowerPoint 97). The add-in also does not work too well with PowerPoint 2003 - there's more info here...

However, the add-in does not use Macromedia's Shockwave Flash ActiveX control - it actually uses its own proprietary Flash Player - which is again available as a free download from their site:

Swiff Player Download

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Using the Insert Object Procedure

The following instructions presume you have followed the instruction to create fullscreen SWF movies as explained above:

1. On the slide in PowerPoint where you want your animation to appear select Insert -> Object.
   
   
2. Click Create from File and browse for your Flash file or projector. PowerPoint will not allow you to link to the SWF file or projector so if you make any changes you will need to insert the object again. Click OK and an icon will appear on the page.
   
   
3. You now need to set up the Custom Animation settings to play your file correctly. Right click on the icon and choose Custom Animation.
   On the Multimedia Settings tab (Play Settings in PowerPoint 97). Choose Activate Contents from the Object Action menu and check Hide while not playing.
   
   
4. On the Order and timing tab (Timing in PowerPoint 97) choose to launch the animation either automatically or on a mouse click. On the Effects tab choose No effect.
   
   
5. Run your presentation and your Flash should play full screen and return to the frame from which it was launched.

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Disclaimer

This is just an experiment. No support can be provided for the techniques listed here. Also, I don't suppose either Microsoft or Macromedia would offer support on this subject.

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