I am trying to spice up my power point and have some animated GIF files that I have downloaded from a site. I can see the different frames in Paint Shop Pro, and I can get the frames to run in PSP, but I can't seem to import them into Power Point and get them to run...... any tutorials out there, any help, anybody, PLEASE!!!! (Frustrataed after surfing the net for answers, where I even wrote an embedded code, which didn't work!). I know it can't be THAT difficult, any pointers? Thanks in advance!
Unlike Russell, I don't even have a PowerPoint Certificate. But I know the answer to this one. You have to insert it as a movie not as a picture. In PowerPoint 2002, use menu item Insert|Movies and Sounds|Movie from File... and then enter your GIF file name (including the .gif extension). This will insert the file. You'll only see the animation when you are in Slide Show mode.
Thanks Oxpecker, but... When I tried this, it said that the GIF file is not a movie file, so not able to insert. Should I convert it to another format?
Han, my non AACSB degree lets me do lots of research and my research came up with this info: (ok so I cheated and used the help file)see the note at the bottom. Add a movie or animated GIF to a slide "Movies" are desktop video files with formats such as AVI, QuickTime, and MPEG, and file extensions such as .avi, .mov, .qt, .mpg, and .mpeg. An animated GIF file always has a .gif file extension. Display the slide to which you want to add a movie or animated GIF. Do one of the following: Add a movie or animated GIF file On the Insert menu, point to Movies and Sounds, click Movie from File, locate the folder that contains the file you want, and then double-click the file. Note A movie or .gif file that you've added to Clip Organizer is found in the Clip Organizer folder within the My Pictures folder on your hard disk. Or, go to the original location for these files. When a message is displayed, do one of the following: To play the movie or GIF automatically when you go to the slide, click Yes. To play the movie or GIF only when you click it, click No. Note If you try to insert a movie and you get a message saying that Microsoft PowerPoint can't insert the file, try inserting the movie to play in Windows Media Player.
I hate to be stupid here, but I take it into Windows Media Player and it works fine, and I do a Save as, but it only let's me save it as a gif, which gives me the error again. I am a dog chasing my tail.... urgh!
Han, ok, after a couple of minutes of me being stupid I was able to get it to work. Try the following: Insert your .gif file in the slide. Right click to get the dialog box and play with the "custom animation" or "action settings". Once you get a desired effect you can go to slideshow mode and the animated .gif will replay as designed. The cool thing about this feature is you can add your own animation, length of operation, etc.... The normal instructions only work for the standardized file formats within the Powerpoint drop downs. I was able to play .avi and .mpg files pretty readily using the insert functions. Holler back if you are still stuck. Happy Powerpointing.....
In Powerpoint 2002 running on XP it works as I have described. What software versions are you running, Han? Here's the relevant text from Powerpoint 2002 help file: About movies and animated GIFs "Movies" are desktop video files with formats such as AVI, QuickTime, and MPEG, and file extensions such as .avi, .mov, .qt, .mpg, and .mpeg. A typical movie might include a speaker talking — an executive, for example — who is not able to be at the actual presentation. Or, you might use a movie to demonstrate a type of training. An animated GIF file includes motion and has a .gif file extension. Though not technically movies, animated GIFs contain multiple images which stream to create an animation effect; they are often used to accent a design or Web site. You can add movies and animated GIFs to slides from files on your computer, the Microsoft Clip Organizer, a network or intranet, or the Internet. To add the movie or animated GIF, insert it onto the specific slide using commands on the Insert menu. There are several ways you can start it: have it play automatically when the slide displays; click it with the mouse; or create a timing for it so that it plays after a certain delay. It can also be part of an animation sequence. Although accessed through the Insert menu, movie files are automatically linked to your presentation, rather than embedded inside it like pictures or drawings. When your presentation has linked files, you must copy the linked files as well as the presentation if you need to show the presentation on another computer. Using Microsoft Windows Media Player for movies If Microsoft PowerPoint won't play a movie file you try to insert, try to play the movie in Windows Media Player. First, test the movie outside of PowerPoint by opening Windows Media Player and opening your file from the File menu. If the movie doesn't play, Windows Media Player gives you detailed error messages and a Help link that can help you troubleshoot the problem. If the movie plays in Windows Media Player, you can then insert it from within PowerPoint by clicking Object on the Insert menu and inserting it as a media clip. A movie that you play in PowerPoint using Windows Media Player cannot have animation settings and special timings assigned to it; instead, you play it by clicking buttons in the Windows Media Player.
Han, ok, shoot me. Oxpecker is correct. You have to go to slide show mode to see the animation. I was to0 busy playing to realize this fact.
Han, The Microsoft Clip Art Gallery that comes with PowerPoint has a large number of animated .gif files that are easily downloaded into PowerPoint. If you see a yellow star in the corner of the thumbnail of the clip art, this inidcates that it is an animated .gif file. There is also a "clips online" link that takes you to the Microsoft Design Gallery, where you can download hundreds of animated .gif files. You can use the search feature on that site to limit the search to animations. Animated .gifs do not have to be imported into PowerPoint as movies, in fact, you can drag and drop them directly into the slides from the Clip Art Gallery. In normal view, the animated .gif is static, you must run the presentation "full screen" (slide show view). You can do this by: Clicking the Slide Show From Current Slide button (lower left corner of the screen-looks like a little easel) - This will display the current slide and will run the animated .gifs. Doing the following will start your presentation from the beginning and will run animated .gifs: -- Pressing the F5 button on your keyboard OR -- Selecting View > Slide Show OR -- Selecting Slide Show > View Show Tony Pina Faculty, Cal State U. San Bernardino (who has taught PowerPoint for the better part of a decade)
SWEEEEET!!! I found out the problem, I was working in 97, which is not a good thing, so they upgraded me to 2003, WOW! what a difference, and it is just a click and drop. Thanks to everybody, this rocks!!!!!
