Video in engage interaction will not play automatically from web-link only
May 10, 2022
I have several engage interactions that use mp4 videos that are on my hard drive and I also have copies on amazon web services.
When I use the (Accordion for example) engage interaction, if I load the .mp4 videos from my hard drive, they play automatically as soon as the student clicks on the accordion tab -- that's what I want to have happen.
However the file-size of the .intr file is gigantic -- over half a Gb per interaction.
To get around this I publish web links and embed them in engage using the "video from website" rather than the "video from file" option which leaves me with a bloated .intr file.
But when I insert the video from the web, it will not play automatically and since the student will be using small mobile devices at times I don't want to force them to hunt and peck for the tiny play button in the interaction.
11 Replies
Hi Jim,
When using the 'Insert Video from Website' option, normally an embed code for the video is involved. For your web links, do you have the option to enable the 'autoplay' feature similar to the one available for Youtube embed links? Here's a reference link so you can get a visual reference of how autoplay is appended to the Youtube URL to enable autoplay.
If uploading your videos to Youtube is an option for you, I'd recommend getting the embed code from Youtube and adding the autoplay option in the embed URL so your videos will automatically play.
Hope this helps!
Hi Joe, thanks for taking the time to respond. I did include that. I'm not sure it's done right but seems okay.
<embed type="video/webm" src="https://dgmasters.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/DGMasters_0_1_5_IATA.mp4" width="800" height="450" autoplay=true>
It seems like that should work? But I just wonder if there's any code in the browser that engage opens up to thwart autoplaying videos as some services do.
Videos that are inserted (but are huge) play just fine automatically. Same with Rise (I think) just not engage.
Hi Jim,
I'm not very familiar with HTML, but it looks like the autoplay attribute is not available for the embed tag.
Would you mind sharing a link to one video that plays automatically in Engage 360? I'd like to compare a video that automatically plays with one that doesn't to try to figure out what's happening. Thank you!
Here's an example of an engaged interaction with inserted videos versus one of these sticky notes is embedded video that's the fourth sticky to the right everything else is inserted from a local hard drive and then packaged into the engaged interaction but when I link to a website like AWS you have to click on the play button manually
https://360.articulate.com/review/content/f5a280ca-4360-4164-976c-d946e8be0d99/review
Thanks again it would be great to work this out but I'm afraid there is no solution that Google Chrome is going to allow for some reason Google Chrome has no problem playing the articulate video when it's been inserted into the interaction I don't know why they would be a difference anyway click on the fourth sticky at the top right you'll see that all the others play automatically
Joe (or anyone) can I get your help with one more thing on this?
I decided if it was a choice between a bloated file with inserted videos versus a slim file with embedded video links that don't autoplay, I chose the latter. I spent hours rebuilding this now my file has all embedded links and when I display them on chrome, all I have to do is click the play button.... not what I wanted but not the end of the world.
NOW THERE'S ANOTHER PROBLEM and that is when I tried to play the engage file on a mobile device I get audio-only no video.
Try looking at this on a mobile device -- no video (for me at least) https://tdgstoryline.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/ERG_2020+-+Engage+output/interaction.html any ideas?
Help! This is driving me nuts. I have articulate 360 and using Engage.
Hi Jim,
Thanks for sharing your course link. I tried viewing it on my mobile phone, and I can confirm that the videos did not load for me.
Since embedding videos from a file server is not one of the suggested methods for adding videos in Engage 360, I'd recommend reaching out to our support team so they can determine how best to display your videos in your interactions.
We'll be glad to take a look at your project file and continue troubleshooting this issue over a support case with you!
What do you mean "embedding videos is not one of the suggested methods?"
Inserting the videos from an mp4 file isn't an option -- I have some interactions with 9 tabs each with a video. If the videos are 30 Mb each then that's 270 Mb for that one interaction. Some powerpoint files will have 6 or more interactions, so that's nearly a Gb.
So I don't understand when you say it's not an option -- if it's not an option why did you include the help link on how to do it? Add Videos in Engage 360 - E-Learning Heroes (articulate.com)
I must be misunderstanding something. Surely I can't be the only one trying to embed the code for a non-youtube video (I do not want to host the video on youtube). Please lt me know. thanks Joe
I have attached the .intr file
Hi Jim,
Apologies for the confusion. I meant that embedding non-Youtube videos is not a listed option in our article for adding videos in Engage 360. You probably already noticed that the embed code from Youtube uses the <iframe> tag, while the videos in your project make use of the <embed> tag which does not have an autoplay attribute.
Since embedded videos from Youtube with the autoplay attribute enabled work, I recommend reaching out to our support team here for further assistance. We can continue troubleshooting your issue there.
What's actually happened is this the engage interactions play just fine using an Apple mobile device when the engage interaction is published on articulate review however when the engage interaction is incorporated into a PowerPoint it no longer plays. Any idea why that would be? Engage interaction framework is there but the video doesn't show up
Hi Jim!
I opened a support case on your behalf so our team can investigate further. Be on the lookout for an email from us shortly!
Feel free to reach out with additional information and questions in the case.
Ok thank you.
Jim