How to use a video as the background of a slide in Microsoft PowerPoint

Use video to add a little movement behind your text in Microsoft PowerPoint slides.

It’s amazing how much you can achieve in Microsoft PowerPoint with just a video and a bit of text. For example, you might know how to use PowerPoint’s Merge Shapes option to create transparent text. What you may not realize is that you can insert a video as a background to create a moving background behind that transparent text. It is an easy technique to implement when considering the effect of the result. In this tutorial, I will show you how to use video to create a moving background.

I’m using Microsoft 365 desktop on 64-bit Windows 10 systems, but you can use earlier versions through PowerPoint 2007. However, PowerPoint for the web will not support this technique. For your convenience, you can download the demonstration .pptx file.

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How to prepare your PowerPoint slides

This PowerPoint technique is extremely simple, like “wow!” the effect it produces. However, whenever reviewing a PowerPoint slide, I prefer to work from a simple outline. Like writing, it keeps me on track, and if something doesn’t work as expected, I get an idea to fix the problem.

Thanks to Microsoft PowerPoint’s sharp Merge Shapes feature, this technique requires only a small amount of setup:

1. Insert a video as the background of the slide and test some settings.
2. Create a second slide and add a rectangle the same size as the slide and choose a complementary color for the video in the first slide.
3. Enter a text box containing your message.
4. Use PowerPoint’s Merge Shapes to “cut out” the text, so you can see the slide’s background through the transparent text.
5. Move the rectangle from the second slide to the first, covering the video.

It just sounds complicated. Believe me, it’s one of the easier effects you’ll use because it requires no transitions, no animations – just a video, a rectangle and a text box – to create the page. projection is displayed in Picture A. You can’t see the moving water in the picture, but if you download the demonstration files, you can run the program yourself to get the full effect.

Picture A

How to insert video into Microsoft PowerPoint

We’ll start by inserting the video onto a blank slide. To avoid any copyright issues, we will use the video from Microsoft PowerPoint’s stock image, as follows:

1. Insert a blank slide.
2. Click the Insert tab, and then click Picture in the Pictures group. Select Vault from the drop-down menu.
3. Click the Video tab and then enter the country.
4. Find the water image you want – I used the image shown in Figure BUT – select it, and then click Insert.
5. Expand the image to the full size of the slide.

Figure BUT

PowerPoint does a great job of predicting your requirements when choosing video settings, but there are a few you should check out:

1. With the video selected, click the Contextual Playback tab.
2. Set the Volume to Mute, if necessary.
3. Set Start to Automatic, if necessary.
4. Check for Loop Until Stop, if necessary.

These settings automatically start the video when you select a slide. Also, if the video includes any audio, it will play silently and continue to play until you click the slide. You may make other choices when applying this to your own work.

Now it’s time to add text that represents your message.

How to Create Slide Text in PowerPoint

Once the video is inserted and playing, it’s time to add your message. My best advice is:

• Keep text messages simple.
• Use a fat font.

To get started, add a new blank slide. You’ll then delete this slide, but it’s easier to work on a blank slide than on top of a water video. To add a text effect, do the following:

1. Add a rectangle to the blank slide and expand it to fill the entire slide.
2. Click the Format Contextual Shape tab.
3. In the Shape Styles group, click Shape Fill and choose an additional color for the video. I chose dark blue.
4. Click the Insert tab, insert a text box, and enter the following text: It’s pool time!
5. Stretch the text box from the left margin to the right, then click Center in the Font group on the Home tab to center the message.
6. Double-click inside the text box and press Ctrl + A to select all the text.
7. With the text selected, click the Home tab and specify the following font and size using the Font and Font Size controls in the Font group: Arial Black, 96.
8. Select the rectangle and the text box by holding down the Shift key and clicking both.
9. Click the Format Contextual Shape tab.
10. In the Insert Shape group, click the Merge Shapes option and select Subtract from the drop-down menu (Figure C).

SIZE

At this point, we have two slides and it’s time to combine them by dragging the background image and text box onto the video slide. Just select the rectangle and merged text, press Ctrl + C, then move to the video slide and press Ctrl + V. Position the rectangular slide so that it fits snugly on the video slide (Picture A).

Play the program by pressing F5. Because the video starts instantly, you don’t have to do anything to see the water ripple gently in the sunlight via the notification, It’s time for the pool!

I hope you agree that this simple technique is easy to implement, especially considering its impact!