Video: Play music for a set duration

You have a slide show that plays using slide timings, and want a music clip to play, but for only one section of the slides. Watch this video to find out more.

I have a slide show that plays using slide timings, and I want a music clip to play too, but only for one section of the slides.

The music should start with Slide 2 and end after Slide 4.

To specify this duration for the music, I need to work with settings in the Animation Pane.

Here's how: I have inserted the audio file on Slide 2, which is where I want the music to start.

I have trimmed the music clip, so it plays for the right length of time for Slides 2 through 4.

We discuss trimming audio in Movie 2: Trim a music clip and fade it out.

Now, I'll select the audio icon, click the AUDIO TOOLS PLAYBACK tab, and change the Start setting for the music to Automatically.

I'll also check Hide During Show to hide the audio icon.

Next, we click the ANIMATIONS tab, Animation Pane.

In the Animation Pane, the inserted sound file appears as a media play effect, indicated by the blue arrow icon.

The file is identified in the pane by its file name, Poeticize_10.

The automatic start I just chose for the sound is reflected in this clock icon, here.

When I click the down arrow in the selected effect, I see that the clock refers to the setting Start: After Previous.

So, the music will start automatically after any effect that precedes it.

There is no other effect, so the music will play right when the slide is displayed.

On the same menu, we next look for Effect Options and click it.

Here, we specify a duration for the music.

It is set to start playing From beginning, the beginning of Slide 2, which is what we want.

Under Stop Playing, we check After,and click the up arrow to 3 slides.

So, the music starts on Slide 2, the current slide, and plays for three slides - Slides 2, 3, and 4.

Let's click OK.

We get a preview of the music.

To play the slide show, starting from Slide 1, I'll press F5.

Slide 1 opens, with no sound.

On Slide 2, the music starts, and plays through Slide 4.

Then, we start a new section.

You now know the key methods and settings to use, to insert a music file, and coordinate it with timed slides.

For more information, see the course summary and experiment some more with PowerPoint.