You’ve spent all that time and effort creating a beautiful self-running presentation that rivals Martin Scorsese’s best efforts. Your masterpiece is now ready for a full HD release, unfortunately the export to video option in PowerPoint doesn’t quite cut the mustard. How can we get the sparkling HD our video presentation demands?

I like to think of myself as a modest man; a strikingly handsome man with a rapier sharp wit, strong quadriceps, and a chiseled jawline but modest nonetheless. However, even I, possessed as I am with a heaving sackful of modesty have, at times, succumbed to moments of self-satisfaction and pride.

I’m sure you can empathise. Most of you, I dare say, are familiar with that post-Powerpoint glow – the last coat of polish has been added to that big presentation, when the combined emphasis effects and motion paths seem to sing together in a harmonious visual chorus, now is the time when you can take a step back and appreciate your work.

But something’s wrong. When you export it as a video it just doesn’t look right, it looks… dumpy. You need to export this presentation not just as video but as a sparkling HD video. Now, I don’t have the slightest clue what HD means but I know that the Blu-Ray version of ‘Police Academy 6 – City Under Siege’ is the definitive version of what is arguably my generation’s ‘Citizen Kane’. Just try looking at the glorious gurning grid Steve Guttenberg in full HD without breaking down in tears, can’t be done.

But how does one go about applying this magic to a presentation? Well, there do exist programs built for this sole purpose (Moyea PPT is one such example) which is fine, but what if I were to tell you that I came across a method of going beyond the default export settings using nothing but PowerPoint, and a little VB code? [Note, PowerPoint 2016 or later can now simply export in HD or even 4K without the need for this trick.]

Here’s how it’s done

(This example assumes the presentation format is in 16:9 – Which it should be).

The code

Here’s are two VBA macros for exporting your masterpiece as a video with 100% quality in HD1080p and UHD 4K formats:


Sub ExportAsVideoHD()
  With ActivePresentation
    If .CreateVideoStatus <> ppMediaTaskStatusInProgress Then
      .CreateVideo FileName:=Environ("USERPROFILE") & "\Desktop\myVideoHD.mp4", _
                   UseTimingsAndNarrations:=True, _
                   FramesPerSecond:=30, _
                   VertResolution:=1080, _
                   Quality:=100
    Else
      MsgBox "There is another conversion to video in progress.", vbInformation + vbOKOnly, "BrightCarbon VBA Macro"
    End If
  End With
End Sub

Sub ExportAsVideoUHD()
  With ActivePresentation
    If .CreateVideoStatus <> ppMediaTaskStatusInProgress Then
      .CreateVideo FileName:=Environ("USERPROFILE") & "\Desktop\myVideoUHD.mp4", _
                   UseTimingsAndNarrations:=True, _
                   FramesPerSecond:=60, _
                   VertResolution:=2160, _
                   Quality:=100
    Else
      MsgBox "There is another conversion to video in progress.", vbInformation + vbOKOnly, "BrightCarbon VBA Macro"
    End If
  End With
End Sub

To use the macro, check out our VBA code article.

That’s all there is too it, once you have set up this VB Macro it can be used for any other PowerPoint projects that are open.

So there you have it, an appropriately grandiose resolution for your presentations. Hell, If ‘Troll 2‘ –  can receive a BluRay release, why can’t you?

Got something extra you’d like PowerPoint to do?

Check out our PowerPoint automation service which provides you with a custom solution to your specific needs.

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Written by

Tom White

Senior design consultant;
Brand guardian

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  1. Image of Simon Morton Simon Morton says:

    Great work, guys… Impressive stuff!

  2. Image of Jakob Jakob says:

    CampCarbon must be a blast, what with the handsome new folks and all. Congrats to the team!

  3. Image of Randalthor09 Randalthor09 says:

    This is an awesome time saver. I make youtube videos, and currently have to record the screen in to camtasia. Now I can just export my presentation.
    Check out my latest : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSNjjJqf3QM
    Book marking this page for sure.
    Thanks man.

  4. Image of Peter Roe Peter Roe says:

    This does NOT work for me. When I copy in the code and then press run, an error box comes up saying ‘Compile error: Syntax error’. I copied in the text exactly how it is on this page. Any ideas?

    Peter

  5. Image of Peter Roe Peter Roe says:

    Got it! It was a simple question of indenting everything AFTER the first line.

  6. Image of AO AO says:

    Saved my life. Thanks!

  7. Image of Colin Parnell Colin Parnell says:

    Really wanted this to work but it fails on my PC with Office 2013. I get an error – compile error syntax error and the words highlighted are “Else: msgbox…

  8. Image of Tom White Tom White says:

    Hi Colin, it seems we had a few problems with the way the formatting on the code displayed, but everything should work fine now. Please try copying/pasting the code into PowerPoint 2013’s VB editor as shown in the video and let me know how you get on.

  9. Image of Jack Li Jack Li says:

    Brilliant! It solved my problem after tried various screen recorder!

    Thanks!

  10. Image of Marine Marine says:

    Hi ! I’ve tried to use it for PPT on my Mac and it couldn’t really work since I had the error “Method or profile not found”. Then I have the Sub MkVideo() highlighted in yellow.

    Is it only for Windows ?

    Thanks !

    • Image of says:

      Hi Marine – this solution is based on Visual Basic code which only works in a Windows environment I’m afraid! If you can use someone else’s PC and export from there then it would work.

  11. Image of Emily Emily says:

    Thank you so much!! This was so easy and makes such a difference for me.

  12. Image of Cihan Cihan says:

    This code assumes that the presentation will be in 16:9.
    What change do I need to make to export the video in 2000 by 1500 (which is 4:3)?

    • Image of says:

      Hi Cihan, sorry for the delayed reply!

      You just need to change 1080 to 1500 on this line:

      VertResolution:=1080, _

      Let us know if that works for you!

  13. Image of Felix Lohrer Felix Lohrer says:

    Thank you for sharing this code snipped. I tried in PPT 2010. It starts writing the file and it proceeds. As soon the file is ready, it vanishes / is deleted.

    • Image of Ingrid Mengdehl Ingrid Mengdehl says:

      Hi Felix,

      Have you tried changing the path?
      So, instead of
      ActivePresentation.CreateVideo FileName:=Environ(“USERPROFILE”) & “\Desktop\test.wmv”, _
      Try:
      ActivePresentation.CreateVideo FileName:=Environ(“USERPROFILE”) & “\Documents\test.wmv”, _
      (This will save the video in your Documents folder).
      Let us know if it works!

  14. Image of Kimm Kimm says:

    I see in the Visual Basics code that it includes timing and narrations, but is there an opportunity to include other audio? I’ve got a music track playing over my slides and it’s excluded when I export. Audio would make this tool that much better.

    • Image of Ingrid Mengdehl Ingrid Mengdehl says:

      Hi Kimm,
      Sadly, there is no option to include audio. However, if you have PowerPoint 2016, you can now export HD (or even 4K) videos without having to use this little bit of code. Just head to File > Export > Create a video, and select the HD option there.
      Hope this helps!

  15. Image of JensT4 JensT4 says:

    does it also work for Powerpoint 2010?

  16. Image of JensT4 JensT4 says:

    I try to run the macro but with PowerPoint 2010 I receive the following message:

    Method ‘CreateVideo’ of object ‘_Presentation’ failed.

    Which reference is missing? Help needed…

    Best regards

    • Image of Ingrid Mengdehl Ingrid Mengdehl says:

      Hi JensT4,

      Have you checked whether your presentation is in Protected mode? It can usually cause this problem.
      Let us know!

  17. Image of Mike Taylor Mike Taylor says:

    Is this macro technique no longer needed if you’re running PowerPoint 365 which now has an HD option built-in for creating videos?

    • Image of Mike Taylor Mike Taylor says:

      Sorry..never mind. Just saw the answer above. 8-/

      • Image of Joby Blume Joby Blume says:

        Sort of hiding in the comments there though Mike. Thanks for the question – I’ve tweaked the article to make it clearer that 365 makes the above unnecessary.

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A big and sincere thanks for all of your superb help and effort in preparing such fantastic material and for all your excellent coaching tips. Look forward to working with you again soon.

Greg Tufnall Siemens