Using FlashBack

In a previous post, I introduced FlashBack — a PowerPoint add-in that rewinds (and replays) Flash movies in PowerPoint slides.

Here’s a step-by-step tutorial on using the add-in:

1. First download FlashBack from here… Next you’ll want to install the add-in. Here are detailed step-by-step instructions…
2. Once you install FlashBack, you’ll find a new option in the Tools menu within the PowerPoint interface (see Figure 1).

   
   Figure 1: FlashBack shows in the Tools menu in PowerPoint.

3. Now place a Flash movie inside PowerPoint, or open a presentation that has an inserted Flash movie that needs the rewinding.
4. Now choose Tools | FlashBack | Initialize FlashBack (refer to Figure 1 above).
5. This brings up the Initialize FlashBack dialog box that you can see in Figure 2.

   
   Figure 1: FlashBack options.

6. Choose one or both of the options provided:

   Rewind and play the movie: If you want to just rewind the movie, leave this option unchecked. More often than not, you’ll want to leave this checked. Remember, all your Flash movies in all presentations you play get rewound automatically as long as FlashBack is installed. If you don’t want that behavior to happen, you’ll have to disable FlashBack altogether. Instructions on how you can disable FlashBack can be found here…

   Eliminate ‘residual’ image flashing: The last frame in a Flash movie may provide a flicker when it is rewound. This flicker or flashing may happen when you revisit the slide that contains the Flash movie. If you want a solution for this behavior, check this option.

7. Click the Initialize button to get back to PowerPoint.

Remember that FlashBack is a machine specific solution, not a presentation specific one. If you want a presentation specific solution, you’ll have to use the manual VBA route…

If you use the VBA route, you must first disable FlashBack…