7 Methods to Convert PowerPoint to Video

You might look for a tool to convert PowerPoint to video when you have a cool presentation to share on YouTube, when you need to put a business presentation on iPhone, when you are about to transfer a PPT course to another computer not compatible, yet without an effect lost - Original specials like animations, transitions, narrations, audio and video clips get fully retained.

Google collects a wealth of PowerPoint to video solutions. And I have tried and tested a bulk of 30 from the first 10 pages for the keyword “convert PowerPoint to video”, and finally summed up the top-ranked 7 among them, shown as below.

7 Best Ways to Convert PowerPoint Presentations to Video

1. Dedicated PPT to Video Conversion Software

Many third-party shareware can help convert PowerPoint presentations to video files. Take Moyea PPT to Video Converter for example. The commercial software lets you convert a PowerPoint presentation to LOSSLESS video in 100+ file formats, e.g. ASF, AVI, FLV, WMV, MPEG, MP4, MOV, 3GP, 3G2, etc.

Convert PowerPoint to Video with Moyea PPT to Video Converter

To convert a PowerPoint presentation to video with Moyea PPT to Video, do these 3 steps:

Step 1 - Install the PowerPoint to video converter and import the presentation(s) that you want to convert.

Step 2 - Select an output video format you need. You can also customize video profile parameters to be perfect fit.

Step 3 - Click "Start" to convert the presentation to video.

Pros: Most commercial PPT to Video converters are able to keep all the original PowerPoint components such as animations and sounds to an output video, making it a comfort to upload your presentation to YouTube and other social media nets like blogs, podcasts, as well as to view it on your iPod, iPhone and Blackberry.

2. Camtasia Studio

Camtasia Studio is a popular screen recorder developed by TechSmith and capable of creating quality videos out of PowerPoint presentations.

Convert PowerPoint to Video with Camtasia Studio

Here follows a simple guide on how to make video slideshow with Camtasia Studio 6.1:

a. Download and install Camtasia Studio on your local computer.

b. Open the program, and select Record PowerPoint in the Task List. MS PowerPoint prompts up.

c. Open the PowerPoint presentation to record. Set the recording options from the PowerPoint Add-in Toolbar.

d. Then click the red Record button to enter the presentation.

e. Press Click to begin recording button. When finish recording, specify a name and location and save as *.camrec file.

f. Continue to edit the recording. Select the slide size, arrange the transitions, add effects, or edit audios.

g. Produce a video in a sharable format (WMV, MOV, AVI…)

3. Adobe Captivate

Another hot video capture app for creating PowerPoint video is Adobe Captivate. Take Adobe Captive 4 for example.

Convert PowerPoint to Video with Adobe Captivate 4

I. Download and install Adobe Captivate 4 on your computer. Open the program, in the main interface, click From MS PowerPoint in the Create Project tab to select a PowerPoint file to convert.

II. Customize the new PowerPoint project by adding an audio file, redefine a slide timeline, set video quality, etc. Click OK to start converting the file to SWF.

III. Edit the slides in the left Slide Tasks panel. Once ready, click the Publish ribbon to enter the Publish interface. In the prompt up, select Media, set the media type as "Video (*. avi)" and type a title for the video project.

IV. The SWF to AVI conversion starts. Finally, you will get an AVI video based on your presentation.

Cons: Adobe Captive 4 converts a PowerPoint presentation to AVI only. If you want to convert it to other video formats, it won’t help.

4. Windows Movie Maker

Windows Movie Maker is free for Windows XP or Vista users. It lets you create a home movie out of texts and images.

Convert PowerPoint to Video with Windows Movie Maker

To make a video from PowerPoint, you need to save all the slides in your presentation as like *.jpg or *.png.

a. Go to Office (in PowerPoint 2007) or File (in PowerPoint 97-2003) - Save As - Other Formats, in the popup Save As box, select the type to either of the above graphical formats.

b. Then choose to export every slide as the specified picture format.

c. A folder containing the exported slides with the same name of the original presentation is generated. Open Windows Movie Maker, and import the separate slides to collections one by one.

d. After that, drag all the imported slide images and drop to Storyboard. If you wish, right click a slide image to add video effects for it.

e. Finally, go back to the File menu, and save the slide collection as movie file.

Cons - all the dynamic effects (like audio or video clips) in the original presentation are lost in the generated movie.

5. Microsoft Photo Story 3

Microsoft Photo Story 3 is only free available for Windows XP users. If you are a qualified user for this, then download and install Photo Story 3 for Windows on your PC.

Convert PowerPoint to Video with Microsoft Photo Story 3

Similar to that in Windows Movie Maker, you have to save each single slide to *.jpg or *.png for Photo Story 3. Then import the pictures to the program, edit it by adding a title, an effect, a narration, or background music for output video.

Once it is ready, proceed to the output type. It will be generated to a video in WMV. You can save the WMV file for playback on your computer, in Email, or for playback on a pocket PC or a Smartphone with Windows Media Player 10 Mobile.

Cons - Again, all the animated elements including audios, movie clips and transitions in the source PowerPoint presentation won’t appear in the WMV file.

6. Microsoft PowerPoint 2010

One of the most significant features in the upcoming PowerPoint 2010 is Save As Video. That is, you can build a project in PowerPoint 2010 and save it as WMV without a third-party converter.

Convert PowerPoint to Video with PowerPoint 2010 Beta

To convert your PowerPoint 2010 presentation to Video, perform the following steps:

a. Go to your PowerPoint 2010 presentation.

b. Select Office button > Share option > Create a video.

c. Set an effect for output video. Under create a video, set the output quality and the transition time between slides.

d. Click Create Video button.

You will get a video with a file extension of .wmv.

Cons: PowerPoint 2010 supports only WMV as output video format. If you want to convert a PowerPoint presentation to web-friendly FLV, MP4, it won’t work.

7. QuickTime movie for Mac PowerPoint

For Mac PowerPoint users, there is a Make Movie (QuickTime Movie) feature.

Convert PowerPoint to Video with Mac PowerPoint

Actually, the movie is a slide show that can run on any application that supports QuickTime movies. Also, note that transitions in the original presentation may play differently in the QuickTime movie, and that animations will be completely missing in the movie. You’d better re-save it with QuickTime Pro.

From PowerPoint to video, your presentation has become more accessible on Internet and on the go with such a wide selection of convenient software applications. Easy job, enjoy it!