Video help - basics

[Pixelysian]

Hi folks

I have a document in InDesign. I have been successfully saving it out as a PDF and importing it into a third party app (Flowpaper) to create a smooth page flip presentation.

Client would like me to change one of the photos for a video they have (just waiting to receive it find out what format it's in). Because embedding video is a whole new basket to me, I had a play with a .mov and .flv which I placed. (The test video was taken on my mobile (.mov) but I converted to .flv after reading up). However, neither played in InDesign Media Preview or in PDF.

I have had a look online for answers / straightforward help but there is so much, and most of it technical which isn't what I need. Do any of you know of a foolproof 'how to' method of inserting a video into an InDesign file and exporting it as a movie in an online PDF environment - as clear and concise as possible please! It may also be beneficial to know if there's a certain way I should be setting up the InDesign file to aid success.

Thanks

[Derek Cross]

PDFs would be dodgy.

Have a look at Publish Online and in5.

[Pixelysian]

Thanks for your response Derek.

However, in order to get this presentation out in 24h, PDFs are all we have to work with! I believe it is possible to have both, just not sure 'how'.

M

[Derek Cross]

Good luck, but don't hold your breath!

Sometimes we have to educate our customers as to what can and can't be done.

[BobLevine]

After "reading up" you should have seen that FLV is on the verge of being completely worthless. Won't work on mobile, won't work on desktop without flash player installed and is as close to EOL as any format could be.

MP4 might work but you haven't told us anything about the format it's destined for after PDF.

FWIW, I would have said no as soon the request was made.

[Justin Putney]

mp4 with h.264 encoding is currently the gold standard and has the widest reach in browsers.

InDesign will import it, but playing video in a PDF relies on the Flash Player (which is a goner).

[Derek Cross]

Justin, you'll see I recommended in5!

[Justin Putney]

Appreciate that, Derek. 🙂

[ApolloGT]

so after all these upgrades to cloud version and indesign still exporting to pdf interactive and it still relying on flash player to show the h.264 video? so disappointing.