Embedding .AVI, .MPG, or .WMV files?

[veejay00]

Hello all:

I need to make some HTML files with embedded video in the .AVI, .MPG, or .WMV format.

Is there a way to do this using Flare (in conjunction with other products or using Flare alone)?

Thanks for any help.

Vicki Meagher

[forfear]

in Flare 6 its very possible.

In previous version of Flare it is, but you may need to poke around a bit. Have you tried?

[RamonS]

The easiest way is to insert the video file the same way you insert a picture. The disadvantage here is that there will be no player controls unless the player that gets picked by the system happens to have that.
Which output do you use? WebHelp? CHM?

[veejay00]

Thanks for the comments.

No, I haven't tried to do this yet.

I'm using Version 5 of Flare.

I'll be using webhelp output.

Vicki Meagher

[RamonS]

Insert the video file as if it is a picture and run the usual tests on the QA systems. If it passes the tests, works out for you, and makes the BA happy your job is done. If you need player controls you need to look for other solutions.
In case that Flash is an option you can take a look at Jeroen Wijering's FlashVideo player. FlashVideo has excellent quality while keeping file sizes small. That is the video format that YouTube uses. It is just another option and being based on Flash comes with other issues. If you want to try it get the FlashVideo encoder from RivaVX, it is freeware and easy to use.
That said, there are plenty of video player scripts around. Insert the applicable JavaScript into your WebHelp project and try a few options. I haven't looked too deeply into any of these because FlashVideo did the trick for me and it works well for the projects I used it in.

[veejay00]

I tried inserting the file as if it's a picture and got this message: unsupported media

I proceeded anyway and then brought up the webhelp and it's perpetually loading the file.

I don't think there's a way to do this in Flare V5, which is what I'm using.

Which makes Flare not a very useful tool for creating webhelp that uses .AVI, .MPG, or .WMV files.

If anyone has any suggestions, please send them.

Vicki Meagher

[veejay00]

Okay, I found a solution, which is actually pretty simple.

I put my video files into the HTML folder (with all my HTML files).

Then I use Insert: Hyperlink and then choose File in Current Folder and pick the video file.

And it's inserted as a hyperlink and goes into the correct output file (with all the HTML files) and comes up fine when I bring up the webhelp project and click on the link.

Vicki Meagher

[RamonS]

Good that you found a solution. Keep in mind that video files tend to be rather large. You may want to choose a format/compression that reduces the size as much as possible while not requiring any special decoders on the client side.

[hranga81]

Hi,
I am facing a similar problem with .wmv file. I tried the suggestions provided here; yet, when I click on the link, it prompts me to save it. Is it the regular behavior? Because, I want the movie to play as soon as I click on it? Any suggestions?

[RamonS]

Hi,
I am facing a similar problem with .wmv file. I tried the suggestions provided here; yet, when I click on the link, it prompts me to save it. Is it the regular behavior? Because, I want the movie to play as soon as I click on it? Any suggestions?

My guess is you get the save prompt because the browser does not have any default application associated with a .wmv file. Which browser are you using?