.avi to PowerPoint

Hi All,

I've been exporting .avi files from my sketchup models...but the problem is that it says the file is 12 seconds long when it actually plays for around 40 seconds...

this wouldnt be a problem, except that when i insert this .avi file into powerpoint to autoplay it will stop after the 12 seconds that windows media player thinks it is and cut off the other 28 seconds...

does anybody know what kind of setting is causing this? if im using too many frames per second, an incorrect codec setting, or too high of resolution? or maybe its in powerpoint that the settings are skewed...

any ideas would be fantastic...thanks everyone!

David,

Please post the following:

number of pages

page transition time

frames per second

resolution

codec

I'll see if I can help.

-wehby

You can re-do you file if its not time consuming...

Or you can download one of the following:

A program to rebuild the index of the avi file called DivFix

http://divfix.maxeline.com/divfix.html [Hungarian]

DivFix will tell you if your avi file has errors and you can rebuild the index. The index has a list of the frames of video and audio contained in the avi file. Just upen the file and select rebuild index. Pretty simple. Takes from one second to a minute depending on the size of your file.

or re-save the avi using VirtualDub

http://www.virtualdub.org/

- select a mirror

- Download and uncompress to a folder (c:\virtualdub)

- open virtual dub

- open the avi file.

- in the video menu, select Direct Stream Copy

- File menu, select Save as AVI, and select the folder were you want your file to be saved

It should be fine now.

Have a nice day.

5 pages

2 second transitions

28 frames/second

resolution: 1200x900

codec: microsoft mpeg-4 video codec

this particular .avi file says that it is only 4 seconds...but in actuality it runs for about 12 seconds total...let me know if anyone knows anything else about this...i will try to download that other program that you suggested antonio in the meantime.

thank you all so much for your help.

I am curious as to why people need videos of such high resolutions or even the application. Do you mind telling me? Is just that I have seen many people using videos about that size.

Thanks.

Antonio

Antonio,

I too am curious - especially since most computer screens (except graphics people) are set to 1024 x 768 resolution. If you put an oversized avi into a powerpoint show, it just has to be resized on the fly by the computer (a great deal of overhead), and if you are using a projector (again unless you have paid mega thousands for a higher resolution projector), the projector is going to resize it again.

Antonio,

I used to use around 640x480 resolution, but the eventual .avi file ended up being rather grainy in comparison to the 1200x900 one...this is why i keep using 1200x900.

But i found that this problem of time is solved if i reduce the resolution to 640x480...so somehow i need to make it so that at the higher resolution, the time stays constant and the problem doesnt ensue.

David

David,

As an alternative to the load the high resolution avi puts on your computer, why not use VirtualDub to resize it -- you can output high res from SU (with anti-aliasing turned off for speed of rendering), then resize it down. The result will be anti-aliased, look good, and play back easier.

Paul,

I just downloaded VirtualDub and im not really clear on how to use it...if i keep my high re

solution exportation from SU, what exactly do i do next to resize it like you say?

David,

I think that Antonio is right. And I hate him for it. Well, not really, just a little jealous that he thought of it first. An .AVI file's structure is defined by the header: frame rate, codec, etc. That's why you can abort an .AVI export and still have a valid file from the portion before you stopped the export.

You could also try this freeware piece of software to fix your header:

AVIFrate is an utility that allows you to change many important fields in an avi file header.

http://www.am-soft.ru/avifrate.html [reportedly malware site now]

I would try exporting again with different settings.

Comparision of file export sizes and resizes I've posted.

The problems that you had with the smaller video size sounds more like artifacts for encoding, re-encoding, and tre-encoding your files with lossy codecs. I would recommend using Cinepak with 100% quality. If you plan to do a lot of editing, you might want to use Huffy "Lossless" Codec while you are working, then save final with Cinepack.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huffyuv

http://rationalqm.us/mine.html

Information I've posted on codecs:

But, Paul may be right, it may just be anti-aliasing easily fixed with VirtualDub. www.virtualdub.org

As for final size. Since you are presenting this in powerpoint, I would recommend a final resolution of 640x480 (exported at 1280x960, then scaled down in VD). I would also recommend reducing your frame rate to 15 fps (might want to increase page transition time).

Most projectors today are SVGA (800x600). If you pay a little extra you can get one that is XGA (1024x768). You may want to even go smaller on your video if you have an older/cheaper projector.

I hope that this helps,

wehby

In virtualdub, go to video --> filters ---> 2:1 reduction (high-quality)

Also add codec, go to video --> compression.

VideoHelp go to "how to" search for virtualdub

I love VD. I love dvdrhelp.

-wehby