iWork '09: The Missing Manual

Adding Movies and Sound

Movies in a spreadsheet? Hey, if accountants can play a starring role at the movie awards, then surely you can award movies a starring role in your accounting.

Video might be useful in a product list, for example, to show a walk-around view of one or more listed gizmos, and a “screencast” movie demonstrating how to use a complex spreadsheet could be a useful training aid. And in the case of the science faculty’s expansion proposal, what could be better than an audio interview with superhero Captain Sargasso about how an aquatic studies program will secure Megaville’s future.

Adding movies or sound clips to your spreadsheet works just like adding a picture. Click the Media button to open the Media Browser and choose either the Audio or Movies tab. The Audio pane displays your iTunes and Garageband libraries and playlists; the Movies tab shows your videos from iMovie, iTunes, iPhoto, and Photo Booth, as well as files and folders from your Mac’s Movies directory. Make a selection and drag it into to the sheet canvas, or choose Insert → Choose and select the file to add. You can also drag a file from the Finder.

Double-click the audio icon or movie image to play the clip, and do the same to stop it. The QuickTime Inspector also offers Play, Pause, Fast-Forward, and Rewind buttons you can use to control playback. The inspector also offers options to limit the clip to a certain passage and how to loop its playback. See Adding Sound and Video for all the details.