Advanced PowerPoint - Sound
Sources | About | How To | Glossary
Sources for audio filesNote: Many sites featuring sound files have extensive advertising and pop up windows. Since these sites add new files daily, you may encounter objectionable material at some sites. Use these sites, and any other sites found through searches, with care.
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Sounds, music, videos, and animated GIF pictures are available in the Clip Gallery. To use the Clip Gallery, point to Movies and Sounds on the Insert menu, and then click either Movie from Gallery - to insert movies and animated GIF pictures - or Sound from Gallery to insert music and sounds. There are also additional locations that contain music, sounds, and videos. |
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You insert a music, sound, or video clip on a slide where you want it to play during a slide show. You can choose either to have the sound or video start automatically when you move to the slide, or to have the sound or video start only when you click its icon during a slide show. To change how the clip starts or to add a hyperlink to the clip, click Action Settings on the Slide Show menu. |
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You can also add animation effects and change play settings by clicking Custom Animation on the Slide Show menu. For example, you can set a sound or video to play automatically in an animation sequence. Sounds, music, and videos are inserted as Microsoft PowerPoint objects. If PowerPoint doesn't support a particular media type or feature, you might want to use Media Player to play the file. To play a sound or video as a Media Player object, click Object on the Insert menu, and then click Media Clip. This method uses the Media Player - installed with Microsoft Windows 95 - to run the sound or video. The Media Player plays multimedia files and controls such playback devices as compact disc and video disc players. For more information about the Media Player, see Media Player Help. |
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You need speakers and a sound card on your computer to play music and sounds. To find out what's installed and what settings are in use, check both the Multimedia and Sounds categories in Control Panel. You can also record your own sound or a voice narration. |
How to insert music or sound on a slide
1. Display the slide you want to add music or sound to.2. On the Insert menu, point to Movies and Sounds.
3. Do one of the following:
- To insert a sound from the Clip Gallery, click Sound from Gallery, and then locate and insert the sound you want.
- To insert a sound from another location, click Sound from File, locate the folder that contains the sound, and then double-click the sound you want.
4. A sound icon appears on the slide.
5. A message is displayed. If you want the sound to play automatically when you go to the slide, click Yes; if you want the sound to play only when you click the sound icon during a slide show, click No.
6. To preview the sound in normal view, double-click the sound icon.
Tip: You can also change play settings - for example, loop the sound or add an animation effect to your sound.
How to play sounds when you move the cursor over text or an object
Action settings can help you emphasize hyperlinks in your presentations. For example, you can specify a hyperlink for text or an object with Insert Hyperlink or on the Mouse Click tab in the Action Settings dialog box (Slide Show menu). Then, on the Mouse Over tab, you can specify that a sound should play when the pointer rests on the text or object during a slide show. If the hyperlink is an object, you can also specify that the object be highlighted when the pointer rests on it. Learn about running macros or programs by using action settings.1. Do one of the following:
Create the hyperlink you want using Insert Hyperlink .
Select the text or object you want to represent the hyperlink, and then click Action Settings on the Slide Show menu. On the Mouse Click tab, click Hyperlink to and then specify the hyperlink you want.
2. If you created a hyperlink by using Insert Hyperlink in step one, select the text or object you want to assign an action to, and then click Action Settings on the Slide Show menu.3. To play a sound when the pointer rests on the text or object, select the Play sound check box on the Mouse Over tab and then specify the sound you want.
4. To highlight an object when the pointer rests on it, select Highlight when mouse over on the Mouse Over tab.
Tip: If you specify a hyperlink in the Hyperlink to box on the Mouse Over tab, it's possible to go to a link when you really don't want to - you could accidentally rest the pointer on a hyperlink during your slide show. It's better to assign hyperlinks on the Mouse Click tab or by clicking Insert Hyperlink . Save the "mouse over" method for feedback - for example, playing a "Click here for more information" message or showing a highlight.
How to set options for a sound or video to play during a slide show
1. Select the video or sound icon you want to set options for.2. On the Slide Show menu, click Custom Animation, and then click the Multimedia Settings tab.
3. Select the options you want, or click More Options.
For Help on an option, click the question mark and then click the option.
Tip: You can also animate a sound icon or video - for example, you can have the sound icon "fly in" from the left side of the slide and then begin to play during an animation sequence.
How to insert a CD audio track on a slide
Note You don't need to insert the CD in the CD-ROM drive for this procedure.1. Display the slide you want to add a CD audio track to.
2. On the Insert menu, point to Movies and Sounds, and then click Play CD Audio Track.
3. Select the track and timing options you want, and then click OK.
A CD icon appears on the slide.
4. A message is displayed. If you want the CD to play automatically when you move to the slide, click Yes; if you want the CD to play only when you click the CD icon during a slide show, click No.
5. To preview the music in normal view, double-click the CD icon.
Tip: You can also change play settings - for example, to change the tracks you want to play, or to add an animation effect to the CD icon.
How to record a sound or comment on a single slide
To do this procedure, you'll need a microphone.1. Display the slide you want to add a sound to.
2. On the Insert menu, point to Movies and Sounds, and then click Record Sound.
3. To record the sound, click Record .
4. When you are finished, click Stop .
5. In the Name box, type a name for the sound, and then click OK.
A sound icon appears on the slide.
Tip: To animate the sound so that it plays automatically in an animation sequence, select the sound icon, click Custom Animation on the Slide Show menu, and then select the options you want.
How to insert a video on a slide
1. Display the slide you want to add the video to.2. On the Insert menu, point to Movies and Sounds.
3. Do one of the following:
To insert a video from the Clip Gallery, click Movie from Gallery, and then locate and insert the video you want.
To insert a video from another location, click Movie from File, locate the folder that contains the video, and then double-click the video you want.
4. A message is displayed. If you want the movie to play automatically when you move to the slide, click Yes; if you want the movie to play only when you click the movie during a slide show, click No.
5. To preview the movie in normal view, double-click the movie.
Tip You can also change play settings - for example, loop the movie or add an animation effect to your movie.
How to change sounds for buttons, menus, and other screen elements
1. Click the Windows Start button, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.2. Double-click the Sounds icon.
3. In the Events box, click the event you want.
4. In the Name box, enter the sound you want.
How to record a voice narration
To do this procedure, you'll need a microphone.1. On the Slide Show menu, click Record Narration.
A dialog box appears showing the amount of free disk space and the number of minutes you can record.
2. If this is the first time you are recording, do the following:
Click Set Microphone Level, and follow the directions to set your microphone level.
3. Do one of the following:
To insert the narration on your slides as an embedded object and to begin recording, click OK.
To insert the narration as a linked object, select the Link narrations in check box, and then click OK to begin recording.
4. Advance through the slide show, and add narration as you go.
At the end of the show, a message appears.
5. To save the timings along with the narration, click Yes. To save only the narration, click No.
A sound icon appears in the lower-right corner of each slide that has narration.
Notes
- When you run the slide show, the narration will automatically play with the show. To run the slide show without narration, click Set Up Show on the Slide Show menu, and then select the Show without narration check box.
- Because you can't record and play sounds at the same time, while you're recording the narration, you won't hear other sounds you inserted in your slide show.
About recording a voice narration or sound in a slide show
You might want to add narration to a slide show in the following cases:
- For a Web-based presentation
- For archiving a meeting so that presenters can review it later and hear comments made during the presentation
- For individuals who can't attend a presentation
- For self-running slide shows
To record a narration, your computer needs a sound card and a microphone. You can record a narration before you run a slide show, or you can record it during the presentation and include audience comments.
If you don't want narration throughout the entire slide show, you can also record separate sounds or comments on selected slides or objects.
Because voice narration takes precedence over all other sounds, if you're running a slide show that includes both narration and other sounds, only the narration will be played.
Tip: Keep in mind that voice narration is not always the best way to get your information across. If some of your audience is deaf or hard of hearing, if some people in your audience have computers that do not have sound cards, or if the computer is located in a noisy room, you might want to use slide notes for each slide also.
Windows Media Player
This program will play midi and wav audio files. To open on a typical PC: Start - Programs - Accessories - Entertainment - Media Player
Glossary
WAV: The format for storing sound in files developed jointly by Microsoft and IBM. Support for WAV files was built into Windows 95 making it the de facto standard for sound on PCs. WAV sound files end with a wav extension and can be played by nearly all Windows applications that support sound.
MIDI: Pronounced middy, an acronym for musical instrument digital interface, a standard adopted by the electronic music industry for controlling devices, such as synthesizers and sound cards, that emit music. At minimum, a MIDI representation of a sound includes values for the note's pitch, length, and volume. It can also include additional characteristics, such as attack and delay time.
The MIDI standard is supported by most synthesizers, so sounds created on one synthesizer can be played and manipulated on another synthesizer. Computers that have a MIDI interface can record sounds created by a synthesizer and then manipulate the data to produce new sounds. For example, you can change the key of a composition with a single keystroke.
A number of software programs are available for composing and editing music that conforms to the MIDI standard. They offer a variety of functions: for instance, when you play a tune on a keyboard connected to a computer, a music program can translate what you play into a written score.
MP3: Is the file extension for MPEG, audio layer 3. Layer 3 is one of three coding schemes (layer 1, layer 2 and layer 3) for the compression of audio signals. Layer 3 uses perceptual audio coding and psycho acoustic compression to remove all superfluous information (more specifically, the redundant and irrelevant parts of a sound signal. The stuff the human ear doesn't hear anyway). It also adds a MDCT (Modified Discrete Cosine Transform) that implements a filter bank, increasing the frequency resolution 18 times higher than that of layer 2.
The result in real terms is layer 3 shrinks the original sound data from a CD (with a *bitrate of 1411.2 kilobits per one second of stereo music) by a factor of 12 (down to 112-128kbps) without sacrificing sound quality.
*Bitrate denotes the average number of bits that one second of audio data will consume.
Because MP3 files are small, they can easily be transferred across the Internet. Controversy arises when copyrighted songs are sold and distributed illegally off of Web sites. On the other hand, musicians may be able to use this technology to distribute their own songs from their own Web sites to their listeners, thus eliminating the need for record companies. Costs to the consumer would decrease, and profits for the musicians would increase.
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