mp4 video file in structured xml in structured Framemaker 2017

[xandyB]

Hi there,

i am unable to embed an .mp4 video file into a structured Framemaker document.

For some reason FM ignores the files completely, even though the import has been done via

• import file - once as copied into document - once with link to source
• then set poster image
• save
• then save as .pdf
• then publish as Responsive HTML 5

Once I managed to create a .pdf file where at least one video worked, but not the other one, but with publishing it was hopeless...

The imported files even disappear from the saved .xml.

Support was as "helpful" as usual... So could anyone please help me fix this?

Cheers

[Stefan Gentz]

Hi,

there are many flavors of mp4. Maybe the special flavor you have is not compatible ...

Can you import the sample mp4 shipped with FrameMaker and try with this one?

You can find the file "SpaceTravel.mp4" here:

C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe FrameMaker 2019\Samples\UserGuide(Arabic,English,Hebrew)\English\media

[xandyB]

Hi there,

thanks for the quick reply.

I do not think its the flavor of the .mp4 data itself.

I have managed to get them in now (not embedding them, just referencing them, as the embedding into the document does not seem to work), however I can not control the way they behave on the web-helps or .pdf.

The conversion seems to ignore the posters and if trying to set poster out of movie frame, it does not work to get the video running there in the process.

What I have achieved is to get a black movie frame (since the movie was not playing) to be the placeholder for the DIB.

Both now gets generated just fine for the .pdf (even though the poster is not nice and the same for each).

For the responsive HTML 5 help its another issue.

It ignores the DIB file alltogether, just puts broken image tag placeholders in.

Nothing can be done, only when right-clicking on it and then 'open image in a new tab' displays the video in a separate tab.

This is not really intended that way.

There must be a publish-setting for this to work

So there  must be a way to set the behavior.

Do you know how to properly set this? I could not find any information on this in particular.

Cheers.

[xandyB]

I have encountered another Problem:

The created PDF-content is not accessible for all platforms - meaning, if no flash player is installed, the videos cannot be viewed.

This is unacceptable for providing documentation for users with video tutorials to guide them.

I really get the feeling that most valuable features of FM are being dumped and not supported any further.

Asking the dear support team has not gotten me any further than two standard questions like - which FM version I got and if the problem occurs on all browsers and this glorious result within 45 minutes! YAY!

So back to the start again: HOW do I manage to produce USABLE multimedia content in FM, creating PDFs and Responsive HTML 5 Helps?

[xandyB]

BTW i have tried to publish the sample guide with the embedded video, as it comes from the sample folder, with FM2017 and it does not publish it correctly either.

[Amitoj]

Thanks for sharing the details. Let us look into this and get back. Can you share details on XML schema you are using - is it DITA or S1000D or a custom schema ?

thanks

[xandyB]

Thanks.

The schema is DITA 1.3

However, I have tried unstructured as well - as I tried the sample Guide - resulting in the same problem.

[xandyB]

I have found a workaround after upgrading to 2019:

Generate HTML output from an unstructured .fm file with the standard inserted media.

Generate the rest of the structured dita output including one concept with title and paragraph tags as placeholders.

After having both outputs, copy the content of the .fm-generated file into the placeholder concept and add the asset folder to the structured help.

Adjust the paths and it works.

Unfortunately the embedding into PDF is still not optimal, since it still requires Flash, which is not supported by all customer systems AND produces a very large file. So that version we voted against.

Still both solutions do not cover the ACTUAL function FrameMaker SHOULD provide as it claims.