[Psml] RESOLVED: Two VISTA compatibility issues for the VHF/DSC Seminar

[Eugene Molteni]

Frank,
It also worked using Roxio Media Creator, Sound Editor, saving the file with
a different name and reloading into PPT 2007.
Gene

-----Original Message-----
From: Frank Kemp [mailto:fkemp at optonline.net] 
Sent: Wednesday, November 19, 2008 7:39 PM
To: Dave Daniels; ppp780 at aol.com; Robert J. Sweet; R/C Eugene Molteni, SN;
'michael turner'; United States Power Squadrons Mailing List; Peter Adler
Subject: RESOLVED: Two VISTA compatibility issues for the VHF/DSC Seminar

The two problems previously reported with VISTA and "Using VHF & VHF/DSC 
Marine Radio" Seminar have been resolved.

Many thanks for the suggestions received from Squadron colleagues - and 
the team spirit shown in helping a colleague out.
It was a real pleasure seeing the PSML light up with suggestions - and 
the encouragement it gave in our efforts.
Thank you.

Below is a recap of the problem and the solution - lets hope that you 
will be able to power-through these issues if they hit you as well.

Best regards, from
Frank Kemp
Darien Sail & Power Squadron
Darien   CT     D/2
====
1. The student CD  would not load.
Solution:  the replacement exe file that arrived as a .dat file  REALLY 
DID WORK !   It needed to be renamed from a   .dat to an .exe
But - never mis-under-estimate the folly of a new VISTA user - - - - I 
had renamed it to ......     DigitalSelectiveCalling.ext.dat    see the 
mistake?    The file remained a   .dat   even though it "appeared" to 
have been renamed as an  .exe       My folly.    Renaming the file on an 
XP machine and THEN transferring it to the Vista machine - made all the 
difference.   Case closed.

2. The  .wav  files  that are referenced on slides 27 and 30 int he 
Seminar would not play.
This one is a little more complex - but it fell into place thanks to the 
efforts of our Darien colleague, Peter Adler.   Peter has written a very 
complete explanation of how he did it - but it boils down to this: 
Power Point 2007 would not play the .wav  files from the seminar 
materials that were distributed, and which ran successfully on XP and PP 
2003.    So what Peter did was:   converted them to another format, and 
then converted them BACK AGAIN to Windows Media Player - AND THEN 
re-linked them.  N As a result, PP 2007, using WMP, recognized and 
properly played the sound.   Case closed.     See Peter's literate 
description of this process below.

In short, folks, we are looking forward to a fine  VHF Seminar tomorrow 
evening - confident that we have all the technology working for us. 
Thanks again, all.
===

Sounds in the USPS VHF radio Powerpoint presentation do not play in 
Powerpoint 2007 running in Vista Home Premium (64).

There appear to be two issues:

1. Windows Media Player 11 (in Vista) will not play the wav files that 
accompany the USPS VHF Powerpoint presentation.

2. Powerpoint 2007 insists on using WMP to play wav files, even if 
another application, e.g., Winamp, is set as the default player for wav 
files.

Solution to both problems (the following *requires* that all of the 
sound effect wav files be located in the same folder where the ppt 
presentation itself is located):

1. Convert the VHF wav files to another audio format.  I used MediaCoder 
from http://mediacoder.sourceforge.net/start/welcome.htm?p=19824&buiAt 
td=4026
I converted all of the VHF wav files (arbitrarily) to MPEG-4 files using 
MediaCoder's "Nero" encoder.

2. Convert the files back to wav format. I used MediaCoder's "Waveform" 
encoder.

At this point, Windows Media Player is able to play these wav files. I 
suspect the problem is some sort of DRM or other security measure that 
is being dropped when the files are converted and re-converted.

3. Now all of the wav files have to be re-linked in Powerpoint 2007.

a. Open the presentation file in PP 2007 and go to the slide where the 
sounds are.  Click "Animations > Custom Animations."

b. In the slide, select the text that goes with the first sound. One of 
the "events" in the Custom Animation panel will also be selected.

c. In the Custom Animation panel, either right click the event or click 
the drop down arrow; then select "Effect Options." In the box that 
opens, you should see the wav file for the sound effect listed under 
"Enhancements."

d. Click the drop-down arrow and (at the bottom of the list) select 
"Other sound."

e. Browse to the folder where the re-converted wav files are located and 
select the appropriate file (even though it has the same name as the 
file that was already selected). Click OK.

f. Repeat as necessary for additional sound effects.

4. Don't forget to save the Powerpoint file when you're done.






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Frank B. Kemp                       e-mail        fkemp at optonline.net
20 Seagate Road                     phone         (203) 656 1129
Darien, CT 06820-5625
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