Trim Video Clips in PowerPoint 2010 for Windows

PowerPoint 2010 enables you to insert video clips in your presentations, but many times the video clip inserted may be too long. Or maybe you just need to show part of the video clip, rather than wasting your audience's time showing them the entire clip. Of course, PowerPoint 2010 has the Player Controls bar (highlighted in blue within Figure 1, below) that allows you to scrub and play the clip from exactly where you want it to begin -- but scrubbing a clip in front of an audience can appear unprofessional. Another alternative is to trim the video clip outside PowerPoint in a dedicated video program, and that would probably be the approach we would suggest if PowerPoint 2010 did not introduce a whole, new Trim Video option. In this tutorial, we'll explore how you can trim a video clip right inside PowerPoint 2010:

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 contextual Video Tools tabs in the Ribbon. These two tabs are Format and Playback -- click the Playback tab to activate it, as shown in Figure 1 (highlighted in red).

Figure 1: Video Tools Playback tab of the Ribbon
Now, within the Video Tools Playback tab, locate the Editing group and click the Trim Video button, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 2.

Figure 2: Trim Video button within the Editing group
This opens the Trim Video dialog box, as shown in Figure 3. By default, it shows the first frame of your video, which in some cases may be just a black screen. Also notice that any Bookmarks you may have added to your video clip show in this dialog box (highlighted in red within Figure 3, below). Additionally, you see a sound wave representing your video's sound track -- this is very helpful if you want to trim off areas that may have no sound at all.

Figure 3: Trim Video dialog box

Notice also the green and red markers representing the Start and End positions, highlighted in blue within Figure 3, above. In addition, the positions of these markers at any given time are shown in the Start Time and End Time boxes (highlighted in green within Figure 3, above).
If you have added Bookmarks to set your Start and End times, follow further – if not, skip to Step 5.

Now drag the green and red markers to overlap the Bookmarks, as shown in Figure 4, below. Notice that the markers will not snap to your Bookmarks, so try to be as precise as you can.

Figure 4: Green and red markers dragged over Bookmarks
If you have no Bookmarks added, you will have to first play the video to ascertain where you want to start and end the video clip. Play the video by clicking the large Play button (highlighted in red within Figure 5, below). When you reach the position where you want to start playing the trimmed video clip, click the Pause button. Now, go ahead and set this paused position as the Start position using any of these approaches:
1. Place your cursor over the green marker to see the two-headed arrow (highlighted in blue within Figure 5, below). Then click and drag the green marker to the same position where you paused.
2. Make a note of the time position, and manually enter the time value within the Start Time box (highlighted in green within Figure 5, below).
  
  Figure 5: Adjust markers when there is no Bookmark added
After setting the Start position, play the video again. When the position where you want to end playing the video clip is reached, pause the video. Now, set your End position as well by either dragging the red marker to the paused position, or by manually entering the time value within the End Time box.
Before you trim the clip, preview which parts are included by clicking the Play button again (highlighted in red within Figure 5, above) -- make changes if you are not satisfied.
Once you are happy with the parts included in the trimmed video clip, go ahead and trim by clicking the OK button, highlighted in red within Figure 6, below.

Figure 6: Press the OK button to trim
This will take you back to the slide with the trimmed video clip, as shown in Figure 7.

Figure 7: Trimmed video clip
Notice that although the video is trimmed, you have not lost the parts that were trimmed off -- to get them back, or to change the Start and End points again, just select the video clip and click the Trim Video button again. This will get you to the same Trim Video dialog that you saw last in Figure 6, above -- you can actually drag the green and red markers again to their original positions, and all the trimming will be undone!

Note: You can only edit the start and end points of videos as long as you do not use any of the Compress Media options -- once you compress the video clips, the trimming will be final, and not editable henceforth.
Make sure you save your presentation.