How to insert Flash into PowerPoint 2010

In this tutorial we will talk about how to insert a Flash movie into presentation using PowerPoint 2010. If you use PowerPoint 2007, PowerPoint 2003 or earlier, check out corresponding articles, available via the links below:

First, you have to make sure that your computer has Adobe Flash Player installed and ActiveX control is registered. Both are important to have in order to be able to play Flash movies in a PowerPoint presentation. To insert a Flash file, you have to create a link to your Flash file in the presentation.

Are there easier alternatives?

Before getting down to actually following the instructions, you have to be aware that there is a much easier alternative. You can always choose to use iSpring Pro, a handy PowerPoint add-in that allows you to insert Flash movies with a single click. To make sure it does the work that you want it to, you can download it, install it on your computer and see for yourself.

Besides from inserting Flash, iSpring Pro allows you to convert PowerPoint presentations into Flash movies, packaging all the multimedia resources into a single .SWF file. In the Flash format, it is much more compact and it makes your presentation ready to be uploaded to any website or blog, emailed or viewed from any computer.

Step-by-step instructions

Create a new or open an existing PowerPoint presentation
and select a slide you wish to insert a Flash file onto.
Click the File tab and go to Options:
In the PowerPoint Options window, go to Quick Access Toolbar and double-click Developer Tab in the drop-down list called "Choose commands from".
Now double-click More Controls in the options given for Developer Tab as shown below and click OK.
The More Controls icon will appear in the main menu, and that’s where we want to go next.
Select Shockwave Flash Object from the list and click OK. Use the mouse to draw the control on a slide. You can resize the control to adjust the size of Flash animation.
Right click on the control you added and click Properties in the context menu.
In the opened Properties window, click the Movie property and specify a full path to your Flash file. You can add a Flash file located on your computer (e.g. C:\My movie.swf) or web resource (e.g. http://www.ispringsolutions/tour.swf).
You can tune your Flash movie playback by setting it to play automatically and/or looped.
- To start playing Flash movie automatically when the PowerPoint slide is displayed, set Playing property to True. You can add custom controls for Flash movie and set this property to False.
- To loop Flash movie playback while the slide is displayed, set Loop property to True.
Now you can save your presentation or view it as a slideshow: click SlideShow icon in the View tab or press F5. Press Esc to return to normal view.

Insert vs Embed

There are two ways of integrating a Flash movie into a PowerPoint slide: embed and insert. When you embed Flash into a presentation, it gets stored as an external presentation resource and can be viewed on any computer that has Adobe Flash Player. (Most computers already have it installed). When you insert a Flash movie, PowerPoint creates a link to a .swf file's location on your computer. PowerPoint 2010 only allows you to link external Flash files; it doesn't allow you to embed Flash movies into your presentation due to security restrictions. You can embed Flash movies into your presentation by saving it as a PowerPoint 97-2003 compatible copy.

It's a good idea to store all external resources like Flash movies and a PowerPoint presentation in one folder. The trick is to link a Flash movie's file name instead of a full path to a file. Even if you play your slideshow on another computer, your presentation will run just as smoothly, including all of the Flash animations.

iSpring PowerPoint add-in allows you to create a solid Flash (.SWF) file from your PowerPoint presentation with all external multimedia resources embedded. This makes presentation viewing and delivery easy and hassle-free.

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