what is the difference between .mp4 and .wmv ?

Oct 11, 2017

Hi,

Hope you can help, we are not allowed to save training films to our internal shared drive in the format of .mp4, however our IT team have advised that we are allowed to use the format .wmv

1). Does Articulate and LMS work the same with .wmv format?

2). Is there any issue or downside of using the .wmv format in articulate or LMS?

Many thanks

Louise

4 Replies
Jake Hurt

Hi Louise,

Essentially, wmv files are more Microsoft specific file types whereas mp4 is a more general use file type. That's a really simplified way of putting it.

I have had success using wmv files in Storyline, but with less functionality and control around them compared to mp4. It's hard to make a sweeping generalisation because it also comes down to the codecs and such that the videos were created with.

Suffice to say, if you can use mp4 it would be better - if not, just publish the videos in a test package and give it a test on an LMS and see what happens!

Before working with a new client we tend to provide them a test package containing all kinds of different media anyway so we can see the behaviours.

Phew, sorry for the long winded answer, but its not quite a yes/no question I'm afraid.

Thanks

Jake

Brian Allen

In the end, if you're inserting your videos into Storyline, Articulate will encode/re-encode the videos to an MP4 video format, with the exception of FLV or SWF videos. See the chart at the link below, wmv video would fall into the "All other file types" category.

https://articulate.com/support/article/how-videos-are-encoded-in-storyline

The good news is that even if you start with a less than desirable video format like wmv, Storyline will convert it to a mobile-friendly MP4 format.

The bad news is that all of your videos in Storyline courses are going to be MP4 videos, which you said are not allowed by your IT team. My advice: Don't tell them and they probably won't know the difference :)

Brian Allen
Jake Hurt

Or alternatively get them to not block mp4s at all!

MP4 video may not be blocked, I would personally give it a try and see if it worked or not.

Bottom line is if you're using Storyline and inserting wmv videos, they will be converted to MP4, so any video content in Storyline will be MP4, no way around it unless you're able to embed video from a windows media streaming server.

If the published Storyline content is tested on a web server or LMS and the MP4 videos do not play back, then it is likely that the MP4 mime type needs to be enabled on the server, as outlined in this support article - https://articulate.com/support/article/mp4-videos-require-a-mime-type-on-your-server-to-play-properly

This discussion is closed. You can start a new discussion or contact Articulate Support.