I've found that alt + p will pause the video and I can map that when "b" is pressed in PowerPoint, it triggers alt + p and the remotes pauses the video in PowerPoint. The only problem is that I can't use "b" when typing in PowerPoint.
Can anyone think of a workaround or a better solution?
What about having a group for Powerpoint that is normally NOT active?
I have several secondary groups for apps where I use 1-key hotkeys when I'm working at certain tasks but DON'T want these active at other times.
I give the activation hotkey for the group something like Cmd-F1, because that's a good muscle-memory key for my left hand and very fast to flip.
So. You toggle your special-case group ON before giving your presentation, and toggle it OFF afterward.
Here's my 1-key Group for Safari:
I flip it on when I need it and flip it off when I don't.
I really need to implement a timer or an app-context-change trigger to flip it off if I forget. It's very annoying to start typing in Safari and have unexpected things happen – but at least I know why when certain things go haywire.