After Effects videos won't play in PowerPoint (Mac) anymore - 'Missing Codec'

[Hugh Betcha]

I've used After Effects for a while now to export H.264 .mp4 videos, which I then place into PowerPoint.

In the last week or so, I'm getting an error when I try to play the video (in PPT), saying: "Codec Unavailable".

I haven't changed the way I do things, I've tried to export multiple videos and place in multiple PPTs - no luck.

Now I know this might be a PPT issue, but on the off chance it's an AE issue, I thought I'd post and see what the intelligent folks on the Community forum might have to say!

[ToolfarmJP]

 Would you try to render out the file by another format like *.avi if you would like use it in PowerPoint?

[Hugh Betcha]

It turns out the issue must be with Adobe – after speaking with 3 different support people about this issue, they suggested I use a 3rd party utility called ‘Handbrake’ (which I’ve noticed has been referenced on the forums as a solution to other issues). It appears to have installed, and it worked on the video files I tested – this will be a workaround for the time being.

Adobe has apparently escalated the issue to their senior technical personnel, and they said I’d be contacted in the near future on a better fix.

[AWAIS288663960ehc]

Try converting your MP4 videos to a different format like WMV or AVI using a video converter. Also, ensure you have the latest codec packs installed on your system, or consider reinstalling Adobe After Effects to ensure proper encoding.

[Hugh Betcha]

Mp4 is what I'm staying with.

I obviously downloaded Codecs and uninstalled/reinstalled AE and PPT.

Weirdly, it appears to somehow be working again though... and I have no idea what changed to fix it!