Embedding Movies in a Flipchart

[sbeck]

Does anyone know if it's possible to embed a movie so that it plays within the flipchart rather than opening in Windows Media Player? Do I have to convert it to QT?
Thanks for any help.

[markrobinson]

Quicktime/MOV, MPEG, AVI can all be embedded.

If you use FLASH you can also convert your movies to Flash which also embeds.

WMV files will appear in a pop-up Media Player.

[sbeck]

Thanks for the response, but when I try to embed .wmv file, I can hear the sound, but only see the flying Windows on the Studio pop-up. I'm doing a presentation and hate to keep going back and forth to Windows Media Player.

[Dug]

Try the codec solution I mentioned here: http://www.Prometheanplanet.com/com...read.php?t=2975 (showthread.php?t=2975)

[Dug]

Sorry, the link in my post above didn't work, so below I've copied a poat I originaaly posted:


"I solved a similar problem by installing the 'ensharpen decoder' codec which you can download from here:
http://www.techsmith.com/codecs/ensharpen/default.asp
Follow the link that says 'free download for mac or windows'.
Good luck."

[mreinig]

I found just inserting link to the file (media player of other) works best - - you can play it and pick right back up where you left off on the flipchart.

[sbeck]

Thanks for the suggestions - I will try the Codec solution. The problem may be that I will be using a laptop provided at the conference, but I will request they download it as well.
The problem with just putting the link, is that you have to keep going back and forth to the flipchart - I would like to have a similar affect like you can get in Power Point where the movie just starts playing on the Power Point slide.

[sbeck]

Tried the Codec, but apparently now I have to convert my .wmv files to QT. I wish this process wasn't so convoluted!!

[leslieramsey]

You can embed most video files with Activstudio Version 3. With this version, you just right click on any flipchart page and then select Insert/Video Placeholder...then enter the name of the movie file you want to play on that page. It is way cool! There are some problems with WMV files, unfortunately. I couldn't get the picture of the video to show so that others would know that there is a movie on the page...I was able to see the action arrow, though. Does anyone know how to fix this problem?

[markrobinson]

MPEG, MOV (Quicktime), and AVI video files can be embedded into a flipchart page.

WMV video files currently require Windows Media Player and will appear in a popup window if added to a page.

[dentje]

I think there are some remaining issues with AVIs. I have had no problems with QT or MPG files, but AVIs are very temperamental in AP.

I think it's a complicated issue of codecs. AVIs are merely a wrapper for various formats of video+audio, and sometime the mixture can be bewildering.

But, even if I have the right codecs, I still often have problems. For example, an avi which plays on windows media player will not play within AP3. To get them to play I have to use a link and call the external player.

When you use a link, it appears to get full access to all the codecs on a machine, but not when it is in a placeholder. Is a placeheld video handled exclusively by quicktime, and does quicktime use external or internal codecs? That might be a reason.

There is no way that you can reliably say that you support AVI, nor can we expect you to, because it is so complicated - and there are plenty of weird combinations out there. But looking at how codecs are accessed from within a placeheld video might help to sort out the problem.

Dennis

[rexboggs5]

Note that there are plenty of video converter programs out there. Some are free, but avoid those. Typical cost is about $50 US.

So you can convert all of your videos to say mp3s. I must say I haven't used these with AS3 yet, but I think that this might solve many of the problems.

Cheers

Rex

[dentje]

Hi,

Yup, I have some converters and they work with variable results, but they can take a bit of time. I'm of the opinion that the less steps involved in creating a lesson, the better.

The thing that I can't quite figire out is why there is a difference between the embedded movie and the external movie player when it comes to avi files.

Dennis

[sbeck]

I posted the original problem and after talking with the Promethean support people, they feel the issue is using WMP 11. They indicated that AS has an issue with any version over WMP 10.