I've been wrestling with this most of the day and so far I think it was "operator error" on my part, but long before I got to the Power Point part.

The videos I'm trying to use are ones I shot with a Sony Handycam. (B-17 flight I took) I downloaded them to my computer with the Sony PMB software. When it downloads the videos it creates 3 files for each one. An .mpg file that is the video, a .MOFF file and a .MODD file. Each has the same file name, just a different extension. The file name is the YYYYMMDD and extra numbers that are either generated by the camera or the PMB software. The .MODD file is 1 kb and the .MOFF vary but none more than 300 kb. Not exactly sure what they do but apparently carry some information that Power Point needs for them. The basic .mpg video plays with Windows Media Player, Real Player, and Quick Time....just not Power Point.

Where I think I went astray was I renamed the .mpg files to reflect their content, but used Windows Explorer, not the PMB software. Hence the .mpg file became "disconnected" with the .MOFF and .MODD file. Apparently Power Point doesn't like that.

I tested my theory by using other Handycam files, ones that were not renamed and it worked just fine. I also renamed the videos using PMB and it created not only an .mpg file with the new name, but a .MOFF and .MODD file too. The PMB "renamed" videos work just fine with Power Point too.

Also I went back, opened PMB and renamed the original files again. PMB created a .MOFF file for each one, but no .MODD file. Even then, they would still not work with Power Point.

I still had the original .MODD and .MOFF files from the ones I renamed using Windows Explorer but there was no way I could "reconnect" them with the renamed .mpg files. I thought if I put the original file name back on them, then use PMB to rename them, I might be able to use them in Power Point.

I also tried converting the non PMB renamed files to .wmv, .mp4 and .rp but that had no effect....they still would not work with Power Point.

I did discover that if I convert them to .wmv (using Windows Live Movie Maker) and the convert those to .m4v (iPod) using Real Player converter, the videos would then work with Power Point! A really time consuming process and a pain in the butt! Butt....they did work!

What I learned out of all this was to use the PMB software to rename the files when I use it to download them from the camera. Interestingly enough though, Power Point doesn't seem to care about the .MODD, and .MOFF file because the PND renamed .mpg video was not in the same folder that I used to insert it in a Power Point slide. Go figure on that one!

I have done some digging around and there are folks who say it is better to download the files from the camera directly via Windows Explorer, and that the .mpg fine type is pretty quirky when it comes to working in other platforms, especially if it comes from a SONY Handycam.

I know this is a long and drawn out reply, but it was a long and drawn out process that led to getting my videos in a Power Point presentation!