Making A Day in PowerPoint

Making A Day in PowerPoint – Video Editing with PowerPoint

Ismaila Ikani Sule
July 21, 2017

PowerPoint 2013 ribbon

I was fiddling about on Microsoft PowerPoint 2013 when I realized I had never used the “Insert” menu option for videos before. The laptop I had been using had no video editing software on it (not even Microsoft’s Windows Movie Maker) and I wondered, “would it possible to edit several video clips, add animations and effects then save the final product as a completed video?”

After several attempts, the answer to my question was “yes, you can”. And I wasn’t talking about exporting an entire presentation as a video file. I wanted to edit and produce a video with PowerPoint like I was using a video editing software.

Basically, I used the following steps:

Adding Effects

  1. Go around the part of Abuja City (Nigeria) I was in, recording videos on a Samsung Galaxy J1 Ace phone (hitting the ‘pause’ button several times to combine as many scenes as I could in each video clip).
  2. Download the video clips from the phone on to the laptop.
  3. Open PowerPoint 2013 and create a blank presentation.
  4. Insert one of the recorded video clips on to the presentation slide.
  5. Use the ‘Format’ option under ‘Video Tools’ to add effects to the video clip (Corrections, Color, etc.).
  6. Keep the size of the inserted video file to be as large as possible (videos from the Samsung phone were set to 1280 x 720 HD resolution), enough to cover the entire presentation slide in fact.
  7. Set the Zoom level for the presentation slide in such a way as to prevent the video controls from appearing over the inserted video clip, but appear beneath it instead (the clip needs to be all on its own for the next step – I set the Zoom to 68%).
  8. Go back to the Insert menu and select the ‘Screen Recording’ option (on the right side of the ribbon).
  9. Click on the Screen Record menu option and PowerPoint minimizes itself with a panel now appearing on the top part of the screen – just use the ‘Select Area’ tool from the panel to draw across any area of the screen then, without closing the panel, simply maximize PowerPoint again.
  10. Click on the video clip so it becomes highlighted and surrounded by those tiny resize boxes.
  11. Now use the Select Area tool again to carefully draw a box around the video clip ensuring both the resize boxes and the video controls are left out.
  12. Click the red Record button and wait for the countdown.
  13. Move the cursor to the Play button on the video’s controls as soon as the countdown reaches ‘1’.
  14. Click on Play immediately the countdown ends so PowerPoint begins recording images on the screen.
  15. Once the video is done playing click on the the Stop button on the Screen Record panel and the captured clip is inserted into the presentation.
  16. Right-click on this captured clip and use the ‘Save Media as…’ option to save it as an MP4 file.
  17. Repeat the same steps above for each of the recorded video clips.

Joining Video Clips

  1. After all the video clips have had effects applied to them and have been saved as MP4 files, insert the MP4 file saved last on to a new blank presentation slide and position it appropriately.
  2. In reverse order, insert each of the saved MP4 video files on to the presentation – resize and position them all to be of exactly the same size and in exactly the same position so the first video now appears on top of the pile (and there are no protruding overlaps).
  3. Use Screen Record again to select the capture area around the videos.
  4. Begin screen recording and play the first video.
  5. Pause recording as soon as the first video ends, then delete the first video.
  6. Start playing the next video on the pile and quickly resume screen recording.
  7. Keep pausing recording and deleting each completed video on the pile until the last one is done playing then stop screen recording.
  8. Right-click on the captured video clip (now a combination of the previous clips) and save it.

Adding Animations

  1. Insert the MP4 video of combined video clips on to a blank presentation slide.
  2. Play the video to determine where animations are to appear.
  3. Position text and shapes all around the video clip area as required.
  4. Apply animations to the text and shapes.
  5. Run the presentation as a slideshow and make sure the video is positioned in an area below the Screen Record panel when it appears.
  6. Select the area of the slideshow to be recorded then commence screen recording.
  7. Quickly play the video and move the cursor outside the recording area on the slideshow.
  8. Watch the video as it is being recorded.
  9. Upon getting to a scene requiring an animation, click on the part of the slideshow outside the recording area for the set animation to play out.
  10. Once recording is completed, save the captured video as a new MP4 file.

Given the number of times screen recording was required, the picture and playback quality of the final product was degraded a little but it added to the effect I was looking for. I also needed to used another software programme to add audio to the video.

There will be probably other tricks one can use to improve upon this method of PowerPoint video editing. For now, do enjoy the finished video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiKbFe5Todk