Macromedia Flash meets Microsoft Powerpoint

More than six years ago, flashgeek was founded to provide one of those seemingly cryptic Macromedia Flash tutorials: putting Flash into Microsoft Powerpoint presentations. Since then, the site has evolved, devolved, and revolved.

Now, flashgeek is back on the upswing. Stay tuned for changes over the next few weeks, including revisions to Flash tutorials, more Flash books, more Flash news, more Flash jobs, and more content for both Flash and Powerpoint users.

Yes, yes. You'll still see the old look and feel throughout the majority of the site, but we're working to change that. Please stick with us as we transition through the changes. (We just wanted to post this first page to give you a taste of things to come, and to let you know that we miss you dearly, and to thank you for the cookies.) Rest assured, you will likely be disappointed with our over-promising and under-delivering, but it will be something to monitor, won't it? And, as always, you can air any gripes on the flashgeek discussion board.

The obligatory caveats
As with any good set of tutorials, the flashgeek tutorials come with a couple of caveats. Caveat number one: While these Flash and Powerpoint tutorials are written in an effort to help you accomplish the minor miracle of placing Flash content inside your Powerpoint presentation, if at all possible, you should either a) build your presentation entirely in Flash or b) prepare for a little hair tearing. This isn't a case of "You got peanut butter in my chocolate"-what-a-tasty-mess-we-have-discovered-and-it-is-so-easy. It is easy to do, but it can cause you to stare at your screen and ask "Why?" repeatedly.

Oh, you're still here? Good. The tutorials will help, but we wanted you to be prepared. Caveat number two: We cannot possibly test on every configuration, so the tutorials may not work for everyone. However, we would love to hear what conflicts you're having. The more people who report the errors they've encountered while following these tutorials, the more people we can help in the long run. Always, always, always post your difficulties here. Final caveat isn't really a caveat, it is simply this: It's the swf file, not the fla file. And you're putting it in the ppt.

Now, without further ado, the tutorials:

Macromedia Flash and Microsoft Powerpoint:
Making them play nice

1. What do I need to make this Flash and Powerpoint magic work?
2. I want to put a Macromedia Flash movie inside of a Microsoft Powerpoint presentation.
3. I've got the movie in there but all I see is a big X.
4. I've got the movie in there, but it only plays the first time through. I need it to keep playing.
5. a. How do I rewind my movie in Powerpoint 97 to the beginning every time the slide is loaded?
   b. How do I rewind my movie in Powerpoint 2000 or Powerpoint XP to the beginning every time the slide is loaded?
6. I happen to have Visual Basic and I want to launch files from the projector environment.
7. I don't happen to have Visual Basic, you nerd. How do I launch files from the projector environment, smarty pants?
8. The Infamous Flash 3 Preloading Technique. Macromedia made preloading easier for Flash 4, but I still use Flash 3. How do I make an effective preloader?
9. I need to go the other way. How do I get my Powerpoint content into Flash? (Powerpoint 97 and lower)