Video Playback Issues

[Doug001]

Version: 2008 Operating System: Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) Processor: Intel Office 2008, MacBook Pro 2.8 GHz C2D, 4 GB RAM, GeForce9400M GT, Mac OS X v.10.6.2, QuickTime Pro 7, all software updates applied.

This is a highly capable laptop. I have issues. ;o)

1. Video stops playing 1 sec. before the end (I have read many posts from others with this issue), and
2. Video drops frames on playback when using presenter tools.

This happens with every video file I've tried (several QuickTime codecs, MPEG-1, etc.). I've even tried .wmv, but the video and audio are out of sync before I even link the movie, so that's a non-starter.

Funny thing is that on my 6yo G4 PowerBook with Office 2004, I have none of these issues (except the .wmv thing, but that's on Telestream I suppose).

What's the deal with video playback in PowerPoint '08?

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[Jim Gordon Mac MVP]

Version: 2008 Operating System: Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) Processor:
Intel Office 2008, MacBook Pro 2.8 GHz C2D, 4 GB RAM, GeForce9400M GT,
Mac OS X v.10.6.2, QuickTime Pro 7, all software updates applied.

This is a highly capable laptop. I have issues. ;o)

1. Video stops playing 1 sec. before the end (I have read many posts
from others with this issue), and
2. Video drops frames on playback when using presenter tools.

This happens with every video file I've tried (several QuickTime codecs,
MPEG-1, etc.). I've even tried .wmv, but the video and audio are out of
sync before I even link the movie, so that's a non-starter.

Funny thing is that on my 6yo G4 PowerBook with Office 2004, I have none
of these issues (except the .wmv thing, but that's on Telestream I
suppose).

What's the deal with video playback in PowerPoint '08?

Thanks for any suggestions.

Flip4Mac just released an update. Install it, try it, and post back if
the out of synch problem has been cured.

Thanks.

-Jim

 

[Doug001]

>
> Flip4Mac just released an update. Install it, try it, and post back if
> the out of synch problem has been cured.
>
> Thanks.
>
> -Jim
>
> --
> Jim Gordon
> Mac MVP

Thanks for the reply, Jim.

My Flip4Mac components are up to date (I check those routinely).
I'm a video guy, so what I'm seeing may be considered normal for .wmv playback. In my case, the audio lags behind by about 3 frames, even when played in QuickTime Player. Most folks probably don't care and think it's fine, but it drives me absolutely crazy. This alone keeps me from using .wmv in my presentations, so I've not tested it extensively.

Regardless, 640x480 QuickTime files shouldn't drop frames in presenter mode, nor should they stop before they get to the end - I'm really curious to know if nobody else notices these things, or if it only happens to me. ;o)

Is there a bug reporting mechanism that reaches the Mac Office team?

Thanks again,
Doug

 

[Jim Gordon Mac MVP]

Thanks for the reply, Jim.

My Flip4Mac components are up to date (I check those routinely).
I'm a video guy, so what I'm seeing may be considered normal for .wmv
playback. In my case, the audio lags behind by about 3 frames, even when
played in QuickTime Player. Most folks probably don't care and think
it's fine, but it drives me absolutely crazy. This alone keeps me from
using .wmv in my presentations, so I've not tested it extensively.

Regardless, 640x480 QuickTime files shouldn't drop frames in presenter
mode, nor should they stop before they get to the end - I'm really
curious to know if nobody else notices these things, or if it only
happens to me. ;o)

Is there a bug reporting mechanism that reaches the Mac Office team?

Thanks again,
Doug

Hi Doug,

There are so many possible causes that this one could take a while to
sort out. There have been a couple other reports of out-of-synch audio
and others of movies getting cut off. These could be due to the same
problem, or could be completely separate.

It's compounded by the fact so many different pieces are involved.
Microsoft makes PowerPoint, but PowerPoint relies on Apple QuickTime to
play movies. QuickTime relies on the Flip4Mac codec to enable wmv
playback. All of them rely on Mac OSX. Graphics cards and processor
hardware variations could be involved.

I haven't personally experienced either of these problems on the Macs I
administer.

You can report the problem to Microsoft using the Help menu's send
feedback feature. You'll want to send two separate reports: one about
the videos getting cut off, the other about out-of-synch because these
may be independently caused. Be sure to include as much information
about your setup (processors, graphics cards, OS build, Office build,
haxies, anything that might make a difference).

Send copies of your reports to Apple via their feedback mechanisms and
also to Flip4Mac. It may take communication among all of these
organizations to solve this problem.

-Jim

 

[Bram]

Hi,

I have the same problems with my Mac Book pro and PPT 2008. The funny thing is PPT on a windows machine does the same thing ( dropping the last couple of frames ) This happend when a fadeout is a bit short.

Have the same problem with the presenter view; changing the resolution down helps a bit, both with QT and WMV
This means is has to do with the way powerpoint adresses the video card.

PPT in windows uses a MCI player as video player; it seems like the PPT for mac has something similiar build in, not sure, any suggestion ??

Keynote seems to be better on video playback but still has huge transfer problems with PPT.

Bram

 

[Doug001]

Jim Gordon wrote:

Hi Doug,
>
> There are so many possible causes that this one could take a while to
> sort out. There have been a couple other reports of out-of-synch audio
> and others of movies getting cut off. These could be due to the same
> problem, or could be completely separate.
>
> It's compounded by the fact so many different pieces are involved.
> Microsoft makes PowerPoint, but PowerPoint relies on Apple QuickTime to
> play movies. QuickTime relies on the Flip4Mac codec to enable wmv
> playback. All of them rely on Mac OSX. Graphics cards and processor
> hardware variations could be involved.
>
> I haven't personally experienced either of these problems on the Macs I
> administer.
>
> You can report the problem to Microsoft using the Help menu's send
> feedback feature. You'll want to send two separate reports: one about
> the videos getting cut off, the other about out-of-synch because these
> may be independently caused. Be sure to include as much information
> about your setup (processors, graphics cards, OS build, Office build,
> haxies, anything that might make a difference).
>
> Send copies of your reports to Apple via their feedback mechanisms and
> also to Flip4Mac. It may take communication among all of these
> organizations to solve this problem.
>
> -Jim
>
> --
> Jim Gordon
> Mac MVP
> Co-author of Office 2008 for Mac All-in-One For Dummies
> http://tinyurl.com/Office-2008-for-Dummies

Hey Jim,

I've sent feedback to Microsoft about both issues. Haven't sent anything to Apple, but I'll do that too.

Where can I get more info about the upcoming version of Office:Mac?

Thanks!

 

[Jim Gordon Mac MVP]

Hey Jim,

I've sent feedback to Microsoft about both issues. Haven't sent anything
to Apple, but I'll do that too.

Where can I get more info about the upcoming version of Office:Mac?

Thanks!

Hi again,

Usually the first place the MacBU blabs about the upcoming versions is
in their blog:
http://www.officeformac.com/blog/

One major feature that we know is coming is the return of Visual Basic
for Applications (VBA).

There's a major new feature for Windows PowerPoint 2010 regarding the
ease in which audio and video is handled. I am hoping that the new Mac
version incorporates these improvements, but it's too soon to know.

The roll-out of the new Windows Office begins June, 2010. It'll take a
few months. After that, the Mac version can be rolled out. The Mac
version has to wait because it will be an even newer version than the PC
version.

-Jim