Hi. Is there any way that an mp4 or flv file, embedded on a slide in Presenter, actually play in an outside application when that slide his hit by the user? I am hoping this is not the case but need to ask the question to confirm since a client showed me a screen cap where an embedded flv file appeared to be launched in movie maker once the user hit the slide with the flv embedded in the published Articulate output. Any help is appreciated.
Thanks Brian. I am using the Articulate Flash Movie option to insert the MP4 and FLV files. A client has reported that slides having the inserted MP4 files play back properly but the slide with the FLV inserted the same way launches movie maker and then doesn't play the file. The client is running flash play 10.1 on Vista.
I'm investigating further with the client - getting them to test on different browsers meanwhile here is a link to the exact file I have sent to them for testing purposes. Perhaps you could try it to see how it behaves. The test has4 slide; an intro screen, slide 1 mp4, slide 2 flv and slide 3 swf. Each of the sample formats use the same content and were inserted into Presenter using the Flash Movie option from the Articulate menu.
Also, I presume that for this test file if the client is running flash player 9 update 3 or higher they will not need to upgrade the flash player nor will they have any playback problems related to codecs, etc. Is this correct?
Would inconsistent playback issues be related to running (testing) this module (or any module) locally instead of from a web server? I'm thinking this may be the cause....?
Yes. The client tried running locally and it triggered movie maker to launch upon hitting the second sample in the video test module then tried from the same computer/browser via the link above and it worked properly without launching movie maker. Odd. I'm also having other contacts within the client organization test this to see if it alleviates inconsistent playback issues they experienced that I originally thought had to do with the flash player version but they upgraded to 10.1 and were still having problems. Would be interesting if running from a web server resolves those as well.
Articulate folks - are there any known issues outside of hyperlinks not necessarily working properly went running web published output locally (for initial testing)?
The client tried that but it didn't alter his experience. He is using Windows 7 and tried running the link above locally on IE8 and Firefox 4. he has flash player 10.1 installed. When he reached the second sample (the FLV sample) IE opens even if when he launched the module using Firefox to start. He then sees a pop-up window asking him to open or save the FLV file. When he clicks open that's when movie maker attempts to play the file. When the same module is launched from a web server instead of locally from his computer, it works properly running the FLV file inside the module without additional prompts or errors.
Any other ideas as to why this would be happening? A lot of my clients would be conducting initial rounds of testing locally instead of involving the IT department to have the test modules placed on a web server.
Can you publish to cd and get your clients to run it via the exe file it may work differently.
I would suggest he has some strange settings on his machine, I wonder if he has set IE as his default app for flvs, and this is choosing moviemaker to play the file, caused by some strange security issue for running flash locally.
17 Replies
Hi Stephanie,
Can you tell me what method you used to insert the Flash movie into your presentation?
Thanks Brian. I am using the Articulate Flash Movie option to insert the MP4 and FLV files. A client has reported that slides having the inserted MP4 files play back properly but the slide with the FLV inserted the same way launches movie maker and then doesn't play the file. The client is running flash play 10.1 on Vista.
I have never seen it, is it one of your presentations? I wonder if the course is using webobjects
Phil
Hi Stephanie,
The only thing that I can think of is that the default application to open FLV files on their system is Movie Maker instead of the browser.
Hi Brian
My default application for flvs is some adobe media player came with the elearning suite, and I never get this issue
Phil
I'd be curious to know what browser they're using and if they can replicate the issue with another browser.
I'm investigating further with the client - getting them to test on different browsers meanwhile here is a link to the exact file I have sent to them for testing purposes. Perhaps you could try it to see how it behaves. The test has4 slide; an intro screen, slide 1 mp4, slide 2 flv and slide 3 swf. Each of the sample formats use the same content and were inserted into Presenter using the Flash Movie option from the Articulate menu.
http://www.iceltd.ca/test/launcher.html
Also, I presume that for this test file if the client is running flash player 9 update 3 or higher they will not need to upgrade the flash player nor will they have any playback problems related to codecs, etc. Is this correct?
FYI: Worked okay in my test using both FireFox 3.6.8 and IE 6 ( don't laugh :-P )
Would inconsistent playback issues be related to running (testing) this module (or any module) locally instead of from a web server? I'm thinking this may be the cause....?
I don't think that would cause what they are seeing. have they tried both approaches with the same results?
Yes. The client tried running locally and it triggered movie maker to launch upon hitting the second sample in the video test module then tried from the same computer/browser via the link above and it worked properly without launching movie maker. Odd. I'm also having other contacts within the client organization test this to see if it alleviates inconsistent playback issues they experienced that I originally thought had to do with the flash player version but they upgraded to 10.1 and were still having problems. Would be interesting if running from a web server resolves those as well.
Articulate folks - are there any known issues outside of hyperlinks not necessarily working properly went running web published output locally (for initial testing)?
You might want to check and delete, if there the following line from the "player.html" page:
If there, should be right under the opening Head statement
This can cause some odd behavior between web and locally run content.
Thanks. I can't see the line that you refer too in the post above. Can you re-post that?
odd...
saved from url=(0014)about:internet
Sorry bout that chief..
The client tried that but it didn't alter his experience. He is using Windows 7 and tried running the link above locally on IE8 and Firefox 4. he has flash player 10.1 installed. When he reached the second sample (the FLV sample) IE opens even if when he launched the module using Firefox to start. He then sees a pop-up window asking him to open or save the FLV file. When he clicks open that's when movie maker attempts to play the file. When the same module is launched from a web server instead of locally from his computer, it works properly running the FLV file inside the module without additional prompts or errors.
Any other ideas as to why this would be happening? A lot of my clients would be conducting initial rounds of testing locally instead of involving the IT department to have the test modules placed on a web server.
Thanks for any help or advice!
Stephanie
Hi Stephanie
Can you publish to cd and get your clients to run it via the exe file it may work differently.
I would suggest he has some strange settings on his machine, I wonder if he has set IE as his default app for flvs, and this is choosing moviemaker to play the file, caused by some strange security issue for running flash locally.
Phil
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