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Inspiring
October 1, 2017
Question

PDF resizes my movie file

  • October 1, 2017
  • 2 replies
  • 367 views

I'm working on a presentation in InDesign that is formatted to 1920 x 1080. The first page of the presentation is an MP4 movie file, which is also at 1920 x 1080. When I export the file as a PDF it opens to the movie but replays it squared up with black on either side. Type and image are, of course, squashed and too narrow. I've tried overcompensating the sizing in InDesign but the result is the same. The preso is due tomorrow, so any help would be appreciated.

Macbook Pro

InDesign CC 12.1.0.56

Acrobat Pro DC

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2 replies

Bill Silbert
Community Expert
Community Expert
October 1, 2017

I've tried to duplicate your problem with an MP4 which I know to be 1920 x 1080 with a 16:9 aspect ratio and my resulting Interactive pdf played fine. I had my Media Panel set to Play on Page Load and it worked perfectly. I'm including the first two tabs of my Export to Interactive PDF dialog so that you can compare your settings.

What is happening to you sounds like the way a 16:9 video will play if it is forced to a 4:3 aspect ratio. Have you checked the video on another device to make sure that its aspect ratio is actually constructed correctly? If it is not then I suggest using a video converter to correct it. I can recommend the Aimersoft Video Converter for this task.

lghtstrmAuthor
Inspiring
October 1, 2017

Yep, those were my settings, too and the mp4 was indeed at 1920 x 1080, as mentioned above, I was flailing around trying other formats and when I encoded the video as a .mov  the problem went away. Thanks.

BobLevine
Community Expert
Community Expert
October 1, 2017

PDFs do not have resolution! FWIW, I would never use InDesign and PDF to produce this type of “presentation.”

If you can control the output and the viewing experience, fixed layout epub would be a far superior choice.

lghtstrmAuthor
Inspiring
October 1, 2017

Thanks but the client requires a PDF. For some reason when I encoded the video as a .mov  the problem went away. Thanks.