PowerPoint allows you to play a video from any point within the video and end at any later point. You need to configure the timings to get the desired effect.

In PowerPoint, do the following:

1. After inserting the video, ensure that you click Automatically button when asked how do you wish to play the movie:
   
   
   
2. Select the movie shape that you inserted on the slide.
   
   
3. In PowerPoint 2007, select Animations tab, click Custom Animations button.
   In PowerPoint 2003/2002, right-click the selected shape and select Custom Animation... menu item.
   
   
4. In the Custom Animations pane, select the play animation dropdown box and select Effect Options... menu item. The play animation for a video looks like the right arrow head:
   
   
5. Select From time in the Start playing section and enter the time when you want to start your video in that box.
   
   
6. Click OK button.

This will make PowerPoint start the video at the time when you want instead of the beginning.

For making the video stop at a later point in time, do the following

1. In the Custom Animations pane, select the pause animation dropdown box of the video and select Timing... menu item. The pause animation for a video is like two vertical bars:
    
2. Select With Previous in the Start box.
    
3. Put the number of seconds you want the video to play in the Delay box.
    
4. Click OK button.

This will make PowerPoint play the video for that many number of seconds and then pause the video.

Related Tips:

• How do I play a video from the middle?
• How do I setup PowerPoint to play different sections of a video?

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