Media Actions for Audio
We have already explored how you can add an audio clip within a PowerPoint slide. Once you place an audio clip, you can associate
this clip with several Media actions such as Play, Pause, Resume, and Stop. And although Media actions work the same way for both
audio and video clips, there are some subtle differences. Due to these differences, we will explore both of them separately. In
this tutorial, we will explore Media Actions for Audio in PowerPoint 2013.
Poster Frames for Videos
After inserting a video within your presentation, you may see a blank / black rectangle on the slide as placed video clip.
The appearance of the blank / black rectangle is caused by the file format of the video clip inserted on the slide - not
all the formats show these blank / black rectangles. In fact, you may also see the first frame of the video clip in some cases.
Media Actions for Video
A Video Action in PowerPoint is something that causes an event for any inserted movie/video clip -- these are simple events such as
Play, Pause, Resume, and Stop. Although PowerPoint classifies Movie Actions as an animation type, these are not strictly animations.
However, since Movie Actions can be accessed through the Add Animation gallery, we have included this tutorial in our Animations
section. Once you add these Media Actions to your video clips, PowerPoint will allow you to make these Actions interact with other
animations, including Triggers.
Video Correction Adjustments
Sometimes when you insert a video clip on your slide within PowerPoint 2013, it may appear too dark or light -- similar to what you
might have seen on your television, especially a new television where you have to make a few adjustments to get the picture just
right. These adjustments can be made to any of the video clips you insert within your PowerPoint slides. These kind of adjustments may
be not only necessary for the appearance of the video clips on your computer, but also for how they show when projected onto a screen
or even on a connected TV.
Add Trigger for Audio and Video Media Actions
An interactive PowerPoint presentation always interests audiences since it gets them involved actively navigating
the slides. However, the audiences for whom these interactive slides are intended must be aware that some interactivity
has been included so that they can click a slide object to cause an action to happen. With trigger animations, you click
on a PowerPoint shape (or even an Action Button or any other slide object) to cause an audio or video clip on the
same slide to play, pause, resume, or even stop.
Video Recolor Options
Sometime the original look of the inserted video may not work well with the color palette of your presentation.
You could play around with the brightness and contrast for an inserted video by using the Corrections option.
Additionally, you can also completely recolor your inserted video -- so you can make your full color video appear
as a grayscale video, or even like a duotoned video such as blue and grayscale -- or any of the other Recolor options.
Video
Styles
Similar to Shape Styles that you apply to shapes, PowerPoint provides you with Video Styles for your inserted video clips. These
pre-built Video Styles add edges, shape, and effects to videos -- and can be applied with just a single click. Your videos no longer
need to be rectangular -- some of the Video Styles change the video clip so that it plays within an oval or a rounded rectangle. Video
Styles also transform the look of your inserted videos by applying borders, 3-D effects, shadows, frames, etc. around your video
clip.
Inserting
SmartArt
SmartArt in PowerPoint allows you to replace bullet points with info-graphic content using shapes that contain text. This approach is
more logical in the way that we view and present content. In this tutorial you'll learn how to insert a SmartArt graphics within
PowerPoint 2013. If you are new to this, do also take a look at the What is SmartArt? and SmartArt Samples pages.