Using Movie Clips in Powerpoint Presentations: Part 1, Compatibility Issues

Yam et al. Computers in Radiology Movie Clips in PowerPoint Presentation s

Using Movie Clips in PowerPoint Presentations: Part 1, Compatibility Issues

Chun-Shan Yam1 OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this article is to discuss common compatibility issues relat- Jonathan Kruskal ing to the use of movie clips in PowerPoint presentations. Michael Larson CONCLUSION. Our investigations found that successful display of movie clips in Pow- erPoint depends on the following three factors: movie file format, codec selection, and cross- Yam C-S, Kruskal J, Larson M platform compatibility. These factors primarily result from the rapid change in today’s computer operating systems. Based on a compatibility study of common movie clips used in radiology presentations, a general guideline for preparing movie clips is presented. Also, a simple method is described for converting movie clips into compatible movie formats and reducing large movie clips to manageable file sizes to ensure smooth presentation.

ith advancements in high- Despite the ease and convenience of creat- speed computing, multide- ing movie clips, however, there are still prob- W tector scanning, and real- lems with using them in PowerPoint presen- time image processing, many tations. Many of these problems are the result functional studies and protocols that could of the rapid change in today’s operating sys- not be accomplished previously can now be tems. The purpose of this article is to discuss routinely performed. For example, a full car- these common issues and to provide a general diac CT angiography study can be performed guideline for successful presentation of on a 64-MDCT scanner (Aquilion, Toshiba) movie clips in PowerPoint. in just 10 sec. Subsequently, nearly 1,000 images can be produced and transferred to an Common Issues of Using image processing workstation in less than 10 Movie Clips in PowerPoint min. In addition to providing a swift and Codec Selection streamlined scanning workflow, most of to- A codec (COmpressor and DECompres- day’s image processing workstations, such as sor) is a software algorithm used to com- Advantage Windows (GE Healthcare), Vitrea press and decompress digital videotape or (Vital Images), and InSight (Neo Imagery audio files. The purpose of using a codec in Technologies), are user-friendly. movie clips is to reduce file size. This is es- In all these workstations, 3D models can be pecially important for today’s multimedia rendered and displayed virtually in real time applications over the Internet, where trans- using state-of-the-art volume rendering algo- mission of huge data files is a common bot- DOI:10.2214/AJR.05.0238 rithms with just a couple of mouse clicks. For tleneck issue. Although using a codec can example, a screenshot image of a volume-ren- greatly reduce file size, the absence of a spe- Received February 11, 2005; accepted after revision dered cardiac model is shown in Figure 1. cific codec at the client computer will pre- March 22, 2005. More important, users can easily capture vent the movie clip from displaying. For in- these screenshot images and create movie stance, some PowerPoint movie clips that 1 All authors: Department of Radiology, Beth Israel clips that can be imported directly into Pow- can be displayed in older operating systems Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, WCC, Room 306, 330 Brookline Ave., Boston, MA 02215. erPoint (Microsoft). For many academic radi- (e.g., Windows [Microsoft] NT, Windows Address correspondence to C.-S. Yam ologists, creating movie clips for subsequent 2000, and Macintosh OS 9.0 [Apple Com- ([email protected]). presentation has become part of the academic puter]) will no longer function in the latest workflow. Depending on the application, a Windows XP version without the purchase AJR 2005;185:1074–1078 movie clip can be as simple as a series of axial and installation of an additional third-party 0361–803X/05/1854–1074 images or as sophisticated as a fly-through codec, for example, Indeo codec (Ligos © American Roentgen Ray Society cine loop of a virtual colonoscopy. Systems) (Fig. 2).

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Fig. 1—Screen capture of 3D cardiac model generated at Insight workstation (Neo Imagery Technology) from series of 658 CT images obtained from 64-MDCT scanner (Aquilion, Toshiba). Scanning parameters are 120 kV, 0.5 mm, 80 mA, 200-msec temporal resolution, retrospective ECG-gating, and IV contrast material.

Fig. 2—Screen capture of error message in PowerPoint 2002 (Windows XP Professional, both Microsoft) when displaying movie clip without proper codec. In this example, movie clip was saved in AVI (Audio Video Interleave) format and was inserted into PowerPoint previously using Ligos Indeo R4.4 codec. However, this codec is no longer available in Windows XP operating systems. Similar error messages will appear when any invalid movie clip attempts to display during PowerPoint presentation.

Although this specific codec has been in- ular type of movie to display [2, 3]. Although movie clips (or, at least, use “uncompressed” cluded with or is available for many Windows this example is specific to Windows XP and as the default movie format). The file size of and Macintosh operating systems and is cur- Ligos Systems, similar issues can also occur uncompressed movie clips can be quite large. rently installed on more than 50 million PC with other operating systems where a codec is For example, the file size of a 20-sec movie and Macintosh desktops [1], Microsoft has used to compress movie clips. clip with typical settings of 10 frames per sec- decided not to include this codec in the latest ond, uncompressed, red–green–blue color, and Windows XP operating system. As a result of File Size 512 × 512 pixels is 150 MB. Generally, the file this decision, users must purchase and install To avoid the codec dependency issue, some size (in bytes) of a typical uncompressed color the Indeo codec from Ligos Systems ($14.95) of today’s workstation manufacturers are cau- movie clip can be calculated using the follow- on each of the client computers for this partic- tious not to apply any data compression to their ing formula:

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Size = (time in sec) × (frames per sec) × Nonetheless, the ability to display on the our study results as a general guideline for (image width) × (image height) × 3. Internet does not necessarily ensure equiva- movie conversions if necessary. For movie Although most of today’s portable stor- lent compatibility in PowerPoint. Tables 1–3 conversion, we suggest using a commercial age media can be used to store large data contain summaries of the results from a com- software utility—QuickTime Pro. files (e.g., 700-MB CD-R [CD-recordable] patibility study of these three movie formats and 1-GB USB [universal serial bus] in different operating systems and Power- Movie Conversion Using QuickTime Pro drives), using large movie clips in Power- Point versions. Our study showed that QuickTime Pro ($29.99; Apple Computer; Point will present problems such as system Cinepak (Compression Technologies) and www.apple.com/quicktime/products/qt) is one crashes or sluggish presentations, especially MPEG-1 are the most appropriate choices for of the most common software applications for when a client computer is using a slow pro- PowerPoint presentations. Also, users can use digital movie editing. Unlike other professional cessor or does not have sufficient random access memory (RAM). At least 256 MB of TABLE 1: AVI a Format Results of PowerPointb Compatibility Study RAM is generally necessary. Codec Compatibility PowerPoint Operating System Version Uncompressed Cinepakc Indeod MS Video1b Platform Compatibility b Another frequently encountered issue is Windows XP 2003, 2002, 2000 Yes Yes No Yes platform compatibility. Many movie clips Windows 2000 2003, 2002, 2000 Yes Yes Yes Yes created on the Windows platform are not Windows NT, 98 2000, 1997 Yes Yes Yes Yes compatible with Macintosh and vice versa. Macintosh OS Xe 2004, v.X Yes Yes No Yes Although some movie formats claim to be Macintosh OS 9 2001, 1998 Yes Yes No Yes cross-platform for both Windows and Mac- intosh [3], the true display capability in Note—No third-party codecs were used in this study. aAudio Video Interleave. PowerPoint is still an ongoing issue. For ex- bMicrosoft. ample, the Apple QuickTime movies (.mov. cCompression Technologies. or .qt) cannot be imported into PowerPoint dLigos Systems. in Windows XP unless a change is made to eApple Computer. the Windows registry [3]. Similarly, MPEG-1 (Moving Picture Experts Group) is a b the only movie format supported by Power- TABLE 2: QuickTime Format Results of PowerPoint Compatibility Study Point on both Windows and Macintosh sys- Codec Compatibility tems. Any higher version (i.e., MPEG-2, PowerPoint Operating System Version Uncompressed Cinepakc Indeod Sorensone MPEG-3, or MPEG-4) cannot be used. Windows XPb 2003, 2002, 2000 No Yes No No Guideline for Preparing Movie Clips Windows 2000 2003, 2002, 2000 No Yes No No To ensure smooth presentation, simple Windows NT, 98 2000, 1997 No Yes No No precautions can and should be made when Macintosh OS Xa 2004, v.X Yes Yes No Yes using movie clips in PowerPoint. For this Macintosh OS 9 2001, 1998 Yes Yes No Yes purpose, we generated an array of sample Note—No third-party codecs were used in this study. movie clips using common movie formats aApple Computer. and parameters. We examined the compati- bMicrosoft. bility of each of these movies in different cCompression Technologies. computer operating systems and PowerPoint dLigos Systems. e versions. For practical reasons, we examined Sorenson. the movie formats that are commonly available in today’s radiology environment from TABLE 3: MPEG a Format Results of PowerPointb Compatibility Study PACS and image processing workstations— that is, QuickTime (Apple Computer), Codec Compatibility PowerPointa MPEG, and AVI (Audio Video Interleave). Operating System Version MPEG-1 MPEG-2 MPEG-4 These common movie formats are generally Windows XPb 2003, 2002, 2000 Yes No No cross-platform and compatible with common Web browsers, and they are also being Windows 2000 2003, 2002, 2000 Yes No No used in many Web-based radiology presen- Windows NT, 98 2000, 1997 Yes No No tations (e.g., the recommended movie for- Macintosh OS Xc 2004, v.X Yes No No mats for the Radiological Society of North Macintosh OS 9 2001, 1998 Yes No No America 2004 annual meeting at Note—No third-party codecs were used in this study. www.rsna.org and the GE Scientific Movie aMoving Picture Experts Group. Library at www.crd.ge.com/esl/cgsp/projects bMicrosoft. /video/medical/index.html). cApple Computer.

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Fig. 3—Screen captures of QuickTime Pro (Apple Computer) showing functions for importing movie clip. Top: “Open Movie in New Player” function and viewing detailed movie properties. Bottom: “Get Movie Properties” function.

applications such as Premiere Pro ($699; For illustration, we will discuss the essen- other movie formats and codecs can be used Adobe Systems; www.adobe.com) and tial steps in converting a sample AVI movie (see Tables 1–3). Xpress Pro ($1,699; Avid Technology; clip from Indeo 4.4 to Cinepak codec, so that www.avid.com), which are typically expen- it will be compatible with many operating File Size Reduction sive and designed particularly for movie pro- systems, including Windows XP. As mentioned above, some movie clips duction, QuickTime Pro is cross-platform, obtained from workstations are uncom- low-cost, and user-friendly. QuickTime Pro is Step 1: Import Movie Clips pressed and large (> 100 MB). To reduce file the professional version of the freeware Quick- In QuickTime Pro, select “Open Movie in size, these movies can be compressed using Time Player. Unlike the freeware player, New Player” function from the “File” drop- a PowerPoint-compatible movie format which can be used only for viewing movies, down menu to import an existing movie clip and/or codec based on our results presented the professional version provides many other (Fig. 3). After importing, detailed informa- in Tables 1–3. For illustration, we compared functions such as movie creation, conversion, tion of the movie clip can be reviewed using the file size of our sample AVI movie clip editing, and scripting. To activate the profes- the “Get Movie Properties” function from the using different movie format and codec sional version, a license key, which can be pur- “Movie” dropdown menu (Fig. 3). combinations (Table 4). Our study showed chased online at the Apple Web site, is re- that movie compression can greatly reduce quired. The software installation is Step 2: Export Movie Clips file size. For example, using Cinepak codec straightforward for both Macintosh and Once a movie is imported, it can be saved for both AVI and QuickTime formats can re- Windows versions. Although there are many in different formats using the “Export” func- duce the movie file to less than 10% of the useful movie editing functions in Quick- tion from the “File” dropdown menu in original file size without causing significant Time Pro, in this article, we will only discuss QuickTime Pro (Fig. 3). In the “Save Ex- resolution change. the simple 2-step function for movie conver- ported…” window, select the movie format sions. More detailed information for other and then click the “Option” button for codec Alternatives and Limitations functions can be found at the QuickTime De- selection (Fig. 4). Although AVI and Although AVI, QuickTime, and MPEG are velopers Web site [4]. Cinepak are selected for this illustration, the most common movie files obtained from

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Fig. 4—Screen captures of QuickTime Pro (Apple Computer) showing process steps for converting movie format. In this example, codec of AVI (Audio Video Interleave) movie clip is converted from Indeo (Ligos Systems) to Cinepak (Compression Technologies). Current formats and codecs supported by QuickTime Pro are available at QuickTime Support Web site [5].

TABLE 4: Comparison of File Size example, animated GIF files, WMV files (Win- method for converting movie clips into com- Using Different Movie dows movie videotape, Microsoft), and Shock- patible movie formats and reducing large Format and Codec Settings wave (Macromedia) files. However, it is not movie clips to manageable file sizes. Movie Format Codec File Size (MB) within the scope of this article to discuss the ap- AVIa None 50 plications of these types of media files. Al- AVI Cinepakb 2.96 though we have discussed compatibility issues References in this article (part 1), we have not yet described 1. Ligos Systems Web site. Available at: www.li- AVI MS Video 1c 4.23 how to edit the contents of movie clips (e.g., gos.com/indeo.htm. Accessed July 8, 2005 d QuickTime Cinepak 3.45 brightness and contrast, cropping, masking, ar- 2. Ligos Systems Support Web site. Available at: MPEGe MPEG-1 5.12 row drawing, and image rotation). In part 2, we www.ligos.com/indeo_support.htm. Accessed July Note—Best image quality was used in codec will discuss a simple method for performing 8, 2005 settings for all these movies. image processing on movie clips using com- 3. Microsoft Support Web site. Available at: sup- a Audio Video Interleaved. mon software such as Adobe Photoshop. port.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en- bCompression Technologies. us;821417. Accessed July 8, 2005 cMicrosoft. dApple Computer. Conclusion 4. QuickTime Developer Web site. Available at: eMoving Picture Experts Group. In this article we have discussed the pitfalls www.apple.com/quicktime/resources/. Accessed of compatibility and file size issues in using July 8, 2005 movie clips in PowerPoint and provided a 5. QuickTime Support Web site. Available at: today’s image processing workstations, other general guideline for movie format and codec www.apple.com/quicktime/products/qt/specifica- media files can also be used in PowerPoint, for selections. We have also described a simple tions.html. Accessed July 8, 2005

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