Help
Trim the start and end points of video and audio playback to include just the part you need. To do this:
- On the Video Tools Playback tab (or Audio Tools Playback tab), in the Editing group, click Trim Video (Trim Audio). The video or audio object opens in a separate dialog box.
- In the Trim Video or Trim Audio dialog box, you see a timeline with green and red handles to indicate the start and end point of the content, respectively. Drag those handles to trim or specify times in the Start Time and End Time boxes.
- Click the play button in the dialog box to preview your trimmed media. When you’re happy with your trim settings, click OK.
You can return to the Trim Video or Trim Audio dialog box at a later date to alter the trimmed portion. However, if you compress a trimmed video, the trimmed portions may be deleted if the trimmed size is smaller than the compressed size. Additionally, if you use the Document Inspector to remove some types of potentially private information from your presentation, trimmed areas are removed. So, before you trim the media, be sure you have a backup copy of the presentation or the original media source files in case you find that you need the trimmed portions at a later date.
Note: In PowerPoint 2010, on the Video Tools Playback tab or Audio Tools Playback tab, in the Editing group, you also have the option to set the video or audio files to fade in and out. Set timing in seconds, to 1/100 of a second in precision.
It’s a great detail for a simple professional touch, and nearly effortless to apply. Note that this feature is completely different from using a fade animation effect on your media object. Animation will fade the object in or out, depending upon your settings. These settings are true video and audio fade that will fade the media in or out as it plays.
For Mac Users If you open a PowerPoint 2010 presentation that contains trimmed media objects, those trimmed regions will be respected when the media plays in PowerPoint 2011. Additionally, remember that you can trim media files before you insert them into PowerPoint using the free QuickTime Player that comes installed on Mac OS. |
Use Bookmarks to Navigate or Choreograph Your Media
Another PowerPoint 2010 exclusive feature enables you to add bookmarks at specific points in video or audio playback. Bookmarks are visible on the timeline while the media plays, so you can just click a bookmark to move to that position.
But bookmarks provide a much more important benefit than a simple pointer for playback. You can use a bookmark to trigger the animation of other objects on your slides. So, for example, you can add text boxes or other objects to the slide to use as captions for specific points in your video. Animate the object to appear and trigger that animation to start automatically when the specified bookmark is reached during playback.
To set a bookmark:
- Begin playback on your selected video or audio object while in Normal view.
- When you reach the point in the playback where you want the bookmark to appear, on the Video Tools Playback tab (or Audio Tools Playback tab), in the Bookmarks group, click Add Bookmark.
The bookmark appears as a white dot on the timeline. To move to a bookmark during playback, just click it. To delete a bookmark, click it and then, on the Video Tools Playback tab (or Audio Tools Playback tab), in the Bookmarks group, click Remove Bookmark.
After you set a bookmark, it automatically becomes an available animation trigger.
For Mac Users Though bookmarks are not available in PowerPoint 2011, if you open a presentation that contains media objects with bookmarks, you can use them for navigation. And if those bookmarks have been used as animation triggers, they will be respected when you run the presentation in PowerPoint 2011. |
Learn more about this topic from Documents, Presentations, and Workbooks: Using Microsoft® Office to Create Content That Gets Noticed.
Get expert techniques and best practices for creating professional-looking documents, slide presentations, and workbooks—and apply these skills as you work with Microsoft Word, PowerPoint®, and Excel® in Office 2010 or Office for Mac 2011. This hands-on guide provides constructive advice and advanced, timesaving tips to help you produce compelling content that delivers—in print or on screen. Work smarter, not harder!
