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CreativeContentAU
Participating Frequently
December 26, 2016
Question

Embedding Video into InDesign

  • December 26, 2016
  • 2 replies
  • 6837 views

Using the "Media" option on an object seems very hit and miss. Some people with exactly the same browsers (Chrome or Firefox) can see the video and others cannot. SO was wondering if this technique could be employed somehow by embedding HTML5 code in InDesign such as:

<video width="356" height="200" controls poster="full/http/link/to/image/file.png" >
<source src="full/link/to/http/mp4/video/file.mp4" type="video/mp4" />
<source src="full/link/to/http/ogv/video/file.ogv" type="video/ogg" />
<source src="full/link/to/http/webm/video/file.webm" type="video/webm" />
<em>Sorry, your browser doesn't support HTML5 video.</em>
</video>

This topic has been closed for replies.

2 replies

Geоrge
Geоrge
Legend
December 26, 2016

Bob, do you have real alternative file-format as PDF? I don't think so. Your article is interesting, but pretty tired.

Lenin lived, Lenin lives, Lenin will live

PDF lived, PDF lives, PDF will live

Remember, never say you can't do something in InDesign, it's always just a question of finding the right workaround to get the job done. © David Blatner
BobLevine
Community Expert
BobLevineCommunity Expert
Community Expert
December 26, 2016

I’m going to give you the benefit of English as a second language. Interactive PDF has long outlived its usefulness for things like this.

And if you need to ask that question, you didn’t read the post.

Steve Werner
Community Expert
Steve WernerCommunity Expert
Community Expert
December 26, 2016

To refer to the quote from Keith Gilbert I gave above, PDF "still has a place in digital publishing." It's just that, because of a proliferation of different substandard PDF readers, it doesn't work well for interactivity, animation, and video unless you have a predictable audience who are willing to use a suitable PDF reader.

Steve Werner
Community Expert
Steve WernerCommunity Expert
Community Expert
December 26, 2016

Before anyone can answer, you must tell us:

What version of InDesign? What operating system? How are you outputting the video from InDesign: Flash, interactive PDF, Reflowable EPUB, Fixed Layout EPUB, Publish Online, or HTML5?

C
CreativeContentAUAuthor
Participating Frequently
December 26, 2016

Its InDesign CSS under Windows 10. The video is MP4 that will be creating (but can do other formats as necessary). The destination is an Interactive PDF (an e-magazine).

Thanks Steve

Steve Werner
Community Expert
Steve WernerCommunity Expert
Community Expert
December 26, 2016

There's no guarantee that any video will play the way you expect in a PDF unless you're viewing it in Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader on a computer (and NOT on a mobile device). PDF readers in web browsers and third-party PDF readers are all over the place in terms on whether and how they can handle video in a PDF file. It's just the way it is.

At the InDesign Conference session I went to in November, Keith Gilbert had a handout which analyzed capabilities of different kind of output from InDesign. About PDF, he wrote:

"The venerable Portable Document Format (PDF) still has a place in digital publishing. A PDF is a single file that is

easy to create and can be easily distributed in a number of ways. Most people know what to do with a PDF when they

encounter it.

"But as mobile devices have proliferated, so too have the number of different PDF “reader” apps. As a result, the on-screen

fidelity of a PDF and support for interactive features isn’t as robust as it once was. In fact interactivity, animation, and

video in PDF is so poorly supported in many mobile PDF reading apps, that unless you can dictate which PDF reader

app your audience uses, it is best to avoid including most interactivity, animation, and video in PDFs."

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