Help me pdf in PC!! Please…?

April 1, 2009 1:51 PM

Acrobat+video filter: Anybody out there ever built a rich-media pdf on a Mac that PC users could view WITHOUT QuickTime?

I've tried doing this a variety of ways but so far all my test files have failed on the PCs I have access to. (Embedding .avi video is NOT working; what else to try? Don't want to use Flash because Flash videos can't be closed without exiting the page; incredible!)

Alternatively, anybody know of a rich-media pdf expert/workman that might take a call, do some one-on-one consulting, actually answer an email? Don't mind paying for info (this is definitely work-related!), but not yet willing to fork over $175 to ask Adobe.

Thanks!
(MacPro, Leopard, CS4, Acrobat 9)

posted by dpcoffin to computers & internet (10 comments total)

Why is the avi not playing? What codec are you using?

Avi is one of the few formats that will play across platforms.
posted by royalsong at 2:57 PM on April 1

Good question; maybe it was just the fault of the PC I was testing (a slick new machine, but at the local library). The video opened fine, but there was no content, just a message about not finding the "vids:DX50 decompressor"…? OR maybe it was my file: I created the .avi by converting a .wmv file in Visual Hub. The .wmv came from DVKitchen, from a FCP self-contained export. Let me know if I'm not answering sensibly!

Thanks
posted by dpcoffin at 3:17 PM on April 1

…ahh. The codec DVKitchen uses is DivX 5.0, so that must be the missing decomp. Any suggestions on other codecs to try?
posted by dpcoffin at 3:49 PM on April 1

Pretty much any PC can play mpeg2 or mpeg1. FWIW, AVI is a container, not a format.
posted by wongcorgi at 4:35 PM on April 1

You're pretty limited if you want video that is guaranteed to play on any PC without additional codecs installed; doubly so if you want something that's guaranteed to play on both Mac & PC.

To be honest, I can't think of any codecs that are both cross-platform and part of the default install on both Windows & OS X - except maybe MPEG-1? MPEG-2 is out because it won't play on OS X (except contained in a DVD .vob) without the Quicktime MPEG-2 Playback component (at additional cost).
posted by Pinback at 5:05 PM on April 1

Don't need a cross-platform codec; I've got room (delivering on DVD-ROM) for both a Mac and a PC rendition; just looking for the most fool-proof PC option. So, is MPEG-2 the consensus?
posted by dpcoffin at 5:11 PM on April 1

If you wanted a fool-proof pc option that doesn't need to be mac compatible.. then make the video a wmv.

That's sort of Windows version of mov. It's a format native to the windows media player.

If not, then yeah mpeg2 is what you want.
posted by royalsong at 6:02 PM on April 1

MPEG-2 it is then; Acrobat can't load .wmv…

Thanks, folks!
posted by dpcoffin at 6:29 PM on April 1

"So, is MPEG-2 the consensus?"

Depends... If you're targetting NT, Win2k (and, IIRC, XP), I don't think they can play MPEG-2 either without additional codecs (that usually come along with bundled DVD player software, which is why it often seems like they're included in the OS). I think they can play MPEG-1 out of the box.

It might be worth taking at trip back to the library and looking in device manager to see what codecs are installed there.
posted by Pinback at 6:49 PM on April 1

Thanks for all the suggestions, folks.

So, after a LOT of dicking around trying to get an MPEG-1 or 2 file that looked good, had a reasonable bitrate, included the audio, was deinterlaced AND had the right pixel shape, I gave in and paid for an answer at justanswer.com. For future ref, here's how THAT went:

What video formats/codecs can I create on my Mac that PC users can see without using QuickTime? I need to put these in a pdf file, too.
 
Optional Information: 
OS: Mac OS X; Browser: Other

Already Tried: 
I've embedded a bunch of video clips in a large pdf file, each in two renditions: .mov and .avi, intending to allow non-Mac users to watch without QuickTime. The .avi didn't work on my test PC because it didn't have DivX, which is what my compression software uses to create the .avi files; I don't want to force PC users to download anything. I also tried .wmv, but acrobat can't open these to embed them. I could include these loose in a folder, but it's not an ideal solution. I don't want to use Flash for various reasons, but if that's the best choice, I could, either in a legacy format, or using Acrobat 9 Pro (not Extended).

dpcoffin

Hi dpcoffin. Thank you for asking your question on JustAnswer.
 
Divx or Xvid (.avi's) will work.

http://www.xvidmovies.com/mac/
 
http://www.divx.com/en/products/software/mac/divx
 
I would stick with Xvid, it's free, to encode with Divx, you'd have to pay for the pro kit...
Putting them in a pdf, however, is a little trickier. You may also use use Mpeg-1, they take up more room than Xvid or Divx though....
Here's one article on putting moves into PDFs:
 
http://www.planetpdf.com/creative/article.asp?ContentID=6192
 
You might want to convert them to an SWF before inserting them into the PDF that's the way most Adobe people do it.....
 
http://labnol.blogspot.com/2006/06/how-to-embed-sounds-flash-movies-in.html
 
Let me know if you need more help....

Your Reply
April 2 2009 at 9:47 AM (4 minutes and 39 seconds later)
         

Xvid .avi's don't require the PC user to download anything? Thanks, I'll go read up on these and see how I do:)

dpcoffin

Nope, xvid is generic enough to play on anything, even an xbox !
Although check and see if there is just a generic avi type you can export before trying anything else... AVIs as a general rule are pretty generic. The only thing you have to think about is compression (bitrate) to keep the files smaller.
 

OK, I guess that's plenty to get going with. Many thanks; led me to lots of good links.

dpcoffin



(4 hours and 16 minutes and 58 seconds later)
         

Well, back to the drawing board on this I'm afraid. I tested an .avi that was compressed using Xvid codec on two recent PCs running Vista and it wouldn't play without downloading the Xvid codec. Once I downloaded that, the file played back at double or triple (maybe even 4x) speed with no audio. I guess I'll try swf, or just make having QuickTime a requirement. Sigh.

dpcoffin

Try MPEG-1 format.



I can't believe there's not a more current way to do this! Mpeg-4 playback is built in to the Vista/Windows Media Player; I checked the default codecs, but maybe 2x and XP machines are different? I think I'm going to try .swf, and if THAT doesn't do it; just insist on QUICKTIME, which I KNOW works.

dpcoffin


There are settings inside xvid you can tweak, failing that, it all depends on how universal you want it when a windows user looks at a video in windows media player, it automatically downloads the codec in 99% of the cases.
And if quicktime is what you are used to anyway, and is easier for you to edit, rest ssured that 99% of pcs have that codec installed as well, lots of websites demand it.
Or use flv, thats what youtube uses.
 

I guess the whole thing gets complicated by the fact that these need to be in a pdf, which apparently uses WMP to play non-Flash media on a PC (QT on a Mac), but it sure didn't download or offer to download the missing Xvid codec. I tried .swf; Acrobat won't load that as "legacy" media. It does OK with .flv, so that's my next thing to test; too bad I have to drive 35 min. into town to access a PC for each test! OR maybe I'll just give in and require QUICKTIME; as you say, lots of folks have it already and the others mostly won't mind getting it. I know there's a bit of a hate-QUICKTIME backlash going around, which is what I've been trying to step around…

Thanks again.




What they need are standards, it all the same inside, the formats are just how they are "wrapped". You could always try wmv.... But maybe sticking with flv or swf is the way to go since adobe owns them as well as pdf, I'm sure they make it easier to impot their own formats as opposed to apple's or microsoft's.....
 

Acrobat won't let Mac users select .wmvs when embedding video! Grrr.

dpcoffin


That made me laugh, sorry, the way these companies screw with each other like that is just crazy, I'm sure the windows version won't allow quicktime files...
I would convert them to flv or swf.....
Since it's adobe's house, it might be easier to play by their rules.....


Well, I just checked with my publisher and we decided the easiest thing will be to just require QuickTime, easiest way for me anyway, whew… I'm building up to a nice rant on a few forums:)

Thanks again; learned a bunch!

dpcoffin



No charge for ranting, everyone's doing it !!!!
Good luck!
posted by dpcoffin at 2:16 PM on April 2