In C# or C++, when using Office (PowerPoint) APIs to convert a PPTX file to MP4, how can I preserve the animations contained in the PPTX?

Question

In C# or C++, when using Office (PowerPoint) APIs to convert a PPTX file to MP4, how can I preserve the animations contained in the PPTX?

hk chen 0

I used the following code to convert a PPT file, but the resulting MP4 file did not retain the animations from the PPTX.

code:
using Microsoft.Office.Interop.PowerPoint;

using Application = Microsoft.Office.Interop.PowerPoint.Application;

using Presentation = Microsoft.Office.Interop.PowerPoint.Presentation;

using PowerPoint = Microsoft.Office.Interop.PowerPoint;

using Office = Microsoft.Office.Core;
Application pptApp = null;

Presentation presentation = null;

pptApp = new Application();

presentation=pptApp.Presentations.Open("e:\test.pptx",WithWindow:Microsoft.Office.Core.MsoTriState.msoFalse);

presentation.CreateVideo("e:\test.mp4",

  UseTimingsAndNarrations:true,

  DefaultSlideDuration: 5,

  VertResolution: 1080,

  FramesPerSecond: 30,

  Quality: 85);

while (presentation.CreateVideoStatus == PpMediaTaskStatus.ppMediaTaskStatusInProgress)

  Thread.Sleep(1000);

2 answers

Your answer

Answer 1

Hello hk chen ,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A!

Thank you for your post. I understand that you are having issue when using Office (PowerPoint) APIs to convert a PPTX file to MP4. I truly understand how you feel. Let me assist you go through this situation.

As your description, when you use:

presentation.CreateVideo(…);

```

PowerPoint will only “play” the animations if you have actual slide‐show timings recorded (or narrations). Otherwise, it simply uses the default slide duration you passed in and “snaps” each slide to a static image at that point.

There is no magic flag in CreateVideo that says “just run all of my click animations in order and export them”—you must first give PowerPoint concrete timings for each animation. You can do that in two ways:

Record slide timings – Manually via Slide Show → Record Slide Show (or Record Narration & Timings) in the UI – Programmatically by running through the slideshow and letting PowerPoint record the timestamps

Programmatically set per‐slide durations based on the number (and/or length) of animations on each slide

Once you have timings in your presentation, use:

  @"e:\test.mp4",
    UseTimingsAndNarrations: true,   // ← important!
    DefaultSlideDuration: 5,         // used only when a slide has *no* recorded timing
    VertResolution:       1080,
    FramesPerSecond:      30,
    Quality:              85);

```

and your exported MP4 will include all of your animations.

Option 1: Record timings by running the slide show

using PowerPoint = Microsoft.Office.Interop.PowerPoint;
using Office     = Microsoft.Office.Core;
…
var app = new PowerPoint.Application();
app.Visible = Office.MsoTriState.msoTrue;
// Open with window so animations actually fire
var pres = app.Presentations.Open(
    @"e:\test.pptx",
    WithWindow: Office.MsoTriState.msoTrue);
// Tell PowerPoint to use slide timings when advancing
pres.SlideShowSettings.AdvanceMode = PowerPoint.PpSlideShowAdvanceMode.ppSlideShowUseSlideTimings;
pres.SlideShowSettings.Run();

That will force PowerPoint to walk through every click animation, record the timestamps, and then export them correctly.

Option 2: Set a time per slide based on its animations

If you know roughly how long each animation should take (or simply want “n seconds per animation plus a base duration”), you can set each slide’s transition time based on the count of its animation effects:

using PowerPoint = Microsoft.Office.Interop.PowerPoint;
using Office     = Microsoft.Office.Core;
…
var app = new PowerPoint.Application();
var pres = app.Presentations.Open(
    @"e:\test.pptx",
    WithWindow: Office.MsoTriState.msoFalse);

// For each slide, count the click‐on animations
foreach (PowerPoint.Slide slide in pres.Slides)
{
    int animCount = slide.TimeLine.MainSequence.Count;
    // Turn on “advance on time”
    slide.SlideShowTransition.AdvanceOnTime = Office.MsoTriState.msoTrue;
    // Set duration = 3 sec per animation + 3 sec base, for example
    slide.SlideShowTransition.AdvanceTime = animCount * 3 + 3;
}

// Now export using those timings
pres.CreateVideo(
    @"e:\test.mp4",
    UseTimingsAndNarrations: true,
    DefaultSlideDuration: 5,
    VertResolution: 1080,
    FramesPerSecond: 30,
    Quality: 85);
while (pres.CreateVideoStatus 
       == PowerPoint.PpMediaTaskStatus.ppMediaTaskStatusInProgress)
    System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(1000);

This approach is adapted from Onur Önder’s VBA/C# timing script, which shows how to set AdvanceTime based on the animation count.

Here is why simply calling CreateVideo with your original code didn’t work:

presentation.CreateVideo(
  @"e:\test.mp4",
  UseTimingsAndNarrations:true,
  DefaultSlideDuration:5,
  VertResolution:1080,
  FramesPerSecond:30,
  Quality:85);

– UseTimingsAndNarrations:true only uses recorded timings/narrations – If no timings exist, PowerPoint falls back to DefaultSlideDuration for every slide and never fires individual animations

By first creating real slide timings—either by recording the show or programmatically setting them—you give PowerPoint the data it needs to replay your click effects in the exported MP4.

I hope this will help with your situation. Please feel free to let me know if you have any further update.

Best Regards,

Katerina- MSFT | Microsoft Q&A Support Specialist

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Answer 2

Katerina-N 805 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hello hk chen,

Thank you for your post.

I haven't received any further update from you yet. If there is anything more that I could do for you or if anything is unclear that I can assist you with. Please do not hesitate to let me know.

Best Regards,

Katerina- MSFT | Microsoft Q&A Support Specialist

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment”.

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hk chen 0 Reputation points

2025-07-28T00:54:03.0266667+00:00

Hello Katerina,

Thank you for following up.

I have tried the suggested methods, but unfortunately they still don’t meet my needs. My goal is to convert a PPTX with animations to an MP4 purely via C# code, with the same effect as using PowerPoint’s built‑in “Export to MP4” feature (i.e., all animations and timings preserved).

Could you please advise if there is a way to achieve exactly the same result programmatically?

Best regards,
hk chen
Katerina-N 805 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-08-03T14:45:34.4333333+00:00
Hello hk chen,

Thanks for your cooperation on running above steps and for the additional details. Let me keep working on this situation with you.

As your description, to achieve exactly the same result as PowerPoint’s built-in “Export to MP4” feature with all animations and timings preserved—purely via C# code, here are few best options I suggest for you:

1. Use PowerPoint Interop with Recorded Timings

This is the closest match to the built-in export feature. However, it requires that your PPTX file already contains recorded slide timings and/or narrations.

If your presentation has these, then this code will produce a video identical to the UI export:

presentation.CreateVideo(     @"e:\test.mp4",     UseTimingsAndNarrations: true,     DefaultSlideDuration: 5,     VertResolution: 1080,     FramesPerSecond: 30,     Quality: 85);

If your PPTX does not have timings, you must simulate a slideshow run to record them programmatically (see previous message for code).

2. Use Aspose.Slides for .NET + FFmpeg

If you want full control and don’t want to rely on PowerPoint being installed, Aspose.Slides for .NET is a powerful alternative. It supports:

Reading animations and transitions

Generating frames at a specified FPS

Exporting to video using FFmpeg

Here’s a simplified workflow:

1. Install packages:

dotnet add package Aspose.Slides.NET dotnet add package FFMpegCore

2. Generate frames from animated slides:

using Aspose.Slides; using FFMpegCore; var presentation = new Presentation("e:\\test.pptx"); var frames = new List(); using (var animationsGenerator = new PresentationAnimationsGenerator(presentation)) using (var player = new PresentationPlayer(animationsGenerator, 30)) // 30 FPS {     player.FrameTick += (sender, args) =>     {         string frame = $"frame_{sender.FrameIndex:D4}.png";         args.GetFrame().Save(frame);         frames.Add(frame);     };     animationsGenerator.Run(presentation.Slides); }

3. Compile frames into MP4 using FFmpeg:

GlobalFFOptions.Configure(new FFOptions { BinaryFolder = @"c:\tools\ffmpeg\bin" }); var conversion = await FFMpegArguments     .FromImagesSequence(frames, frameRate: 30)     .OutputToFile("e:\\test.mp4")     .ProcessAsynchronously();

This method gives you pixel-perfect control over the output and works even on servers without Office installed.aspose

I am looking forward for your respond. Please feel free to let me know if the suggestion helped. Thank you so much for your times.

Best Regard,

Katerina- MSFT | Microsoft Q&A Support Specialist

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In C# or C++, when using Office (PowerPoint) APIs to convert a PPTX file to MP4, how can I preserve the animations contained in the PPTX?

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