In PowerPoint 2013, if you want to enhance the look of your
inserted video, you are certainly not limited to the options we have
already explored including Corrections,
Recolor,
Video Styles, and
Video Borders. In addition to these options, you can also apply
Video Effects such as shadows, glows, bevels, 3-D rotation, etc. to your video clip. Follow these steps to learn more:
- Open your presentation, and navigate to the required slide where you have already
inserted a video clip. Just select or double-click the video clip to bring
up the two Video Tools tabs in the Ribbon. These two tabs
are Format and Playback. Click the Format tab to activate it, as shown in
Figure 1 (highlighted in red).
Figure 1: Video Tools Format tab of the Ribbon
- When you insert a video on your slide, it may display a black rectangle on the slide (see Figure 1, above). If your video clip
does not show a black rectangle, then directly proceed to Step 3.
If you see the black rectangle in place of the video clip, then you will have to add a
Poster Frame to your video clip, as shown in
Figure 2 below.
What’s a Poster Frame?
A Poster Frame is a still picture from your video clip. You can manually choose a Poster Frame, especially if you see just a black rectangle
on your slide, at the time of inserting the video clip. When you are choose different
Video Effects, it is good to see
a
live preview of the actual video clip being applied with those
Video Effects, rather than seeing a black rectangle. Anyhow, applying a
Poster Frame is entirely optional, and has no
relation to your being able to follow the rest of this tutorial.
Figure 2: Video clip with a poster frame added
- Once the video frame is made visible, select the Video Tools Format tab, and click the
Video Effects button (highlighted in red within Figure 3).
Figure 3: Video Effects button within the Video Styles group
- This opens the Video Effects drop-down gallery, as shown in Figure 4.
Figure 4: Video Effects drop-down gallery
Let us explore these Video Effects as marked in Figure 4, above. For more information on how to apply these effects,
refer to the linked tutorials below. Although these linked tutorials discuss the Effect options for
Shapes, the procedures explained applies to Videos as well:
- Preset: This option enables you to use the preset combinations of various effects available. These work well most of the time.
Refer to our Apply Preset Effects tutorial for more
information on how to use and edit the Preset Effects.
- Shadow: Applies a shadow to the selected video. PowerPoint provides three types of shadows: outer, inner, and perspective. You
can apply any of these, or customize them to meet your requirements. Refer to our
Apply Shadow Effects tutorial for more information
on how to use the Shadow Effect.
- Reflection: Adds a reflection to the selected video clip, and you can choose from several reflection styles. Remember, you may
want to avoid using Shadow and Reflection for the same video clip. Refer to our
Apply Reflection Effects tutorial.
- Glow: Provides a hazed, blurred color perimeter outside the video area. PowerPoint provides several glow variations; the glow
colors are based on the Theme colors, although you can also choose any other
color as well. Refer to our Apply Glow Effects
tutorial.
- Soft Edges: This effect type makes the video's edges feathered. There are some soft edges variations available. Refer to our
Apply Soft Edges tutorial.
- Bevel: Applies bevel effects to the selected video clip. You can also customize the applied bevel. Refer to our
Apply Bevel Effects tutorial.
- 3-D Rotation: Imparts parallel, perspective, and oblique 3-D effects to the selected video clip. Refer to our
Apply 3-D Rotation tutorial.
- Choose and apply any of the Video Effects to your video. Do note that you can apply multiple effects to the same video.
Figure 5 shows the selected video clip with two effects applied (Bevel and 3-D Rotation). Compare Figures 2 and 5.
Figure 5: Multiple Effects applied to one video clip
- Play your video clip to see the difference and remember to save your presentation often.
See Also:
Video Effects in PowerPoint 2016 for Windows
Movie Effects in PowerPoint 2011 for Mac
Video Effects in PowerPoint 2010 for Windows
