Film files in impress

Why is it not possible to insert videos in mp4 - format in the Impress presentations?
Is not the mp3 and mp4 file format very common ?

b

The most fundamental difference between MP3 and MP4 is the type of data they store. MP3 files can only be used for audio, whereas MP4 files can store audio, video, still images, subtitles, and text. In technical terms, MP3 is an “audio coding” format while MP4 is a “digital multimedia container” format.

Note that the MP4 format is a “container”. It can include videos with various formats. I see AVC commonly used and Impress handles those just fine.

You might be running into problems due to the availability of correct CODECS on your system. I have successfully used the set of CODECS available from K-Lite (Download K-Lite Codec Pack).

Hi,
Thanks a lot for the answer and the information.
But the thing is that I, like many other persons that are making presentations, do not know wery much about programming or how to mange complex computer functions.
The fact is that I do not know what a CODEC is, and if I find one I do not know where to put it.
I’ll be glad if you could illuminate me on this.
B

A codec is a compression standard. … A format is a file container that holds one or more codecs – video, audio, or even data. The container format contains information about the video, audio, and data tracks that it holds. CODEC is the acronym for coder/decoder. CODECS operate silently in the background on your computer and are accessed by media players.

HI again,
To make my situation more clear I give you some more information.
I have downloaded a youtube video using WinX and want to use it in an impress presentation.
But when I try to insert the file in the film option, I get the info that LibreOffice does not support the file format.
What can I do ?

PS

If I download the “Basic Codec pack” that you link to, how would that influence my laptop?

b

Adding a set of CODECS to your computer should be basically invisible and while not foolproof should not affect anything except your ability to play videos.

I am not familiar with WinX but you might want to check the parameters being used for the download. I suspect that 4k or 8k videos may not be compatible with Impress. Do the videos you download play using an independent player on your computer?

I use a program called ClipGrab and the video player VLC quite successfully.

Hi John,
Thank you very much for the info.
I downloaded the ClipGrab that you mention and it functions very well. I downloaded and converted the video to a WMV file and it goes well with Impress.

I would like to cut the video I use, and make it shorter… can you suggest any “cutting” program that is easy to handle ?

b

For full feature video editing I use the Cyberlink PowerDirector software which runs about $100 +.
However for simple format conversions and interval selection the freeware HandBrake is an excellent choice. It has lots of options and takes a bit of high learning curve to learn - but works well.

Thanks for the info …

I found OpenShot Video Editor an Open source program that seems to function well.

b