.wma files with slide show

[MrsMac]

Oh my gosh! I have spent hours searching through posts for an answer, trying
a multitude of different configurations, and I've now given up. I cannot
understand why something that seems so simple is so difficult. I've been to
all the linked websites, and still nothing that gives me an answer. Can ya
tell I'm a little frustrated?

I have a powerpoint 2003 photo album of about 160 pics. They have about
5-sec transitions between them. I want to put five to eight songs (.wma) to
run with the slides going and for the whole thing to just keep looping
throughout a party.

I have done Insert sound file and ALL the custom animation stuff -- 999
slides, start automatically, after previous, etc. I have tried every
different configuration I could think of. I had read that I could put
multiple sound files and they would play one right after the other. They
either play all at the same time or the first one plays and that's it. The
path is not over 128 characters. I even tried playing from a CD because I got
desperate and THAT didn't work either! I'm about ready to set a boom box up
behind it and go that route.

I would be MOST grateful for your assistance! Thank you so much.

 

[aneasiertomorrow]

Hi Mrs Mac

The easiest thing would be to merge all the sound files into one file and
then loop that. I use audacity, available for free download here:
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Sounds like you know what to do once you have one sound file but if you have
any problems post back.

Lucy
--
MOS Master Instructor
www.aneasiertomorrow.com.au

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interested too

 

[John Wilson]

Lucy's suggestion to combine the songs into one file with Audacity is good!!
Once you're there this tutorial on looping will help maybe
http://www.pptalchemy.co.uk/loop_sounds.html

 

[MrsMac]

Hi Lucy,
Thank you so much for responding! Okay, I've got Audacity and I'm a little
baffled, but I'll try and work through it. Unfortunately, I can't use my .wma
files. I think my son has a .wma to .mp3 converter on his computer so I'll
explore that unless you have a faster solution? It's Tuesday, the party's
Friday ... BTW, can't wait to dig into your website further -- I like your
philosophy!

 

[MrsMac]

The Audacity program worked great once I learned how to use it. I was able to
cut and paste each song into one track, then fade out the ending. Very
worthwhile program and fairly simple to use, even for me!

On the other hand, the tutorial on looping, which seemed pretty
straightforward, never worked. I went through each step precisely two
different times and the slide show would get to the end, the music would keep
playing, but the slide show would not start over. I checked all the info for
that function and everything was in order.

I finally gave up. Way too many other things to do to spend hours on this!
Trying to sync music to end at the same time as the pics is way too hard to
do. The pics would not transition at the same speed each time so I finally
just had the last song fade out and I'm hopeful that the laptop I'm running
it on will have the pics transitioning pretty true to form. As long as the
show keeps looping, I'm not going to be that concerned with the sync of the
music.

Thanks so much for all your help!!

 

[aneasiertomorrow]

Thanks Mrs Mac - feedback is always appreciated And tutorials heading to
my site soon....(as I pull my finger out)

Lucy
--
MOS Master Instructor
www.aneasiertomorrow.com.au

If this post answered your question please let us know as others may be
interested too

 

[aneasiertomorrow]

Hi Mrs Mac

Glad to hear you figured Audacity out - I'm not an expert but it's not too
hard with all the online tutorials & everything. Don't give up on the show
though! Syncing is a nightmare & powerpoint just won't do it reliably but if
it's just about it getting to the end of the show at roughly the same time as
the end of the song it should be ok.

1. If you used the photoalbum feature and put one photo on each slide use
slide transitions to fade them in & out rather than custom animations (slide
show -> slide transition -> fade smoothly -> set time, say 5 secs -> apply to
all slides)
2. Insert your music file (which you have already put in the same folder as
the presentation, yes?) -> start automatically -> in custom animation pane
click drop down arrow next to 'media' -> effect -> stop after 999 slides
3. Slide show -> set up show -> loop continuously until esc
4. f5

See how you get on. The song will repeat from the beginning when the show
starts again so it needs to be the same length as the whole show. Roughly.
Ways to get the syncing as close as possible: run the whole show through once
& don't quit powerpoint and turn off background software such as anti-virus.

Hope that helps. Have a great party!

Lucy
--
MOS Master Instructor
www.aneasiertomorrow.com.au

If this post answered your question please let us know as others may be
interested too