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MP4 video in Captivate 9 project doesn't play in RH2015 responsive HTML5 ouput

Explorer ,
May 08, 2017 May 08, 2017

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Hello,

I imported a Captivate 9 project that includes an MP4 video (created using Camtasia) into my help project in Robohelp 2015 and generated a responsive HTML5 output. The Captivate project plays in the output, but the video does not appear and does not play. The video plays just fine when I publish and play the Captivate project locally. At first, I just created the Captivate project in a folder on my desktop and imported it into my Robohelp project, and when that didn't work, I tried the following:

  1. In my Robohelp project, (using Windows Explorer), I put a copy of the MP4 in the following folder:
    1. Implementation and quick start guides
  2. I created a responsive project in Captivate with, among other content, the aforementioned MP4 video, inserted into one of the slides. (Video > Insert >browsed to the Robohelp folder where the video resides).
  3. From Robohelp, I imported the Captivate project into the same folder in which the MP4 resides. (see screen shot below)
  4. When I generate responsive HTML5 output, the Captivate project works just fine in the output, except the video doesn’t show & doesn’t play.

Any help you can give is appreciated!

Dawn

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LEGEND ,
May 08, 2017 May 08, 2017

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Hmmmm, I'm honestly surprised that the Captivate plays at all. This is because your screen shot is what I might expect to see if you are adding Word content, not Captivate. You will notice that if you click the Insert tab, that is where you see the Captivate icon. So you normally begin by clicking that icon. Then you point to the index.htm file for Captivate.

exp2.png

What is your RoboHelp output type? WebHelp? Responsive HTML 5? Something else? Whether this will work properly kind of depends on your RoboHelp output type.

Cheers... Rick

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Explorer ,
May 09, 2017 May 09, 2017

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Thanks for your response, Rick.

I tried your suggestion, and it didn't work. I think the method of importing Captivate you described is for Captivate demos (see screen shot). However, my Captivate project was created as a responsive project, not a demo. My output for the Robohelp project is responsive HTML5. I think using Document > Adobe Captivate Project is the right way to import the entire project--which, again, plays in the responsive HTML5 output just fine, except for the MP4 video that I inserted in one of the slides.

After some more googling, I found the following article (Crazy about Captivate: Lessons Learned: Video and Resolution in Adobe Captivate) about reducing the resolution for videos that are inserted into Captivate projects. I saved a copy of my video out at the recommeded resolution: 854 x 480 (which is too blurry to be of any use, anyway, because of the size of objects in the video), and discovered that the problem is that the video is buffering (still buffering even at the reduced resolution). I didn't see that it was buffering before, because the play time of the slide on which the video was inserted was only 3 seconds. I increased the slide play time to longer than the video play time, and then I could see that the video is indeed buffering. When I insert the MP4 file into a Robohelp topic, it plays just fine. So I think i'm going to wait until our IT guy can push the latest responsive HTML5 help file output to the server and grab the link to that topic and insert it into the captivate project. Clunky!

Anyway, hope this helps anyone else with the same issue.

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LEGEND ,
May 09, 2017 May 09, 2017

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Hmmm, sounds like you may have sorted it.

I'm pleased with this post as it taught this ole dog yet one new trick.

Prior to this thread, I was blissfully unaware that RoboHelp offered this ability via the Document Import function. At first, I thought perhaps it was something introduced with RoboHelp 2017 Release. But I just checked and see that it existed in the 2015 Release as well. I presently don't have access to RoboHelp 11, but I plan on seeing if it existed there as well.

So here's the deal on that. It seems that regardless of whether you use the Document Import function or the method I outlined earlier, the end result is that RoboHelp adds files to the project. For the SWF version, you just see the SWF added and for the HTML 5 version you end up with a file in baggage named identical to what you named it during that process but it's all compressed together into a single file bearing a .CPZ file extension. Additionally, a topic is created that is named identical to what you supplied on the dialog.

tmp.png

Sooo, in Captivate, I know that when an external video is added into the mix, it always exists as a separate file that is loaded when needed. Hence your seeing the buffering as the wait progresses for the video to load up.

My initial thought on why you weren't seeing the video was that perhaps you were unaware the video was always a separate object and perhaps the answer would involve adding it to RoboHelp's baggage files area. But it appears perhaps this isn't the case.

So apologies that I was unaware of this ability to import, but I personally learned from this experience, so thanks for that!

Now you did mention something about the slide in Captivate where the video is supposed to play being timed for only three seconds. And in Captivate, when you add a video, there is actually an option where the slide is supposed to remain paused until the video has completed playing. So if you are the Captivate author, were you aware of that option?

tmp2.png

Assuming you were and the option is enabled, I'd then have to say there is an issue with Captivate. But if not, perhaps this option is the answer to the issue?

Cheers... Rick

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LEGEND ,
May 09, 2017 May 09, 2017

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Annnnd after posting that I see you have used a bit of a different import than what I was thinking. Instead of pointing at a Captivate output, you have pointed at a Captivate Project.

Sorry about that. I do believe it still ends up working in a similar fashion to what I explained earlier.

Cheers... Rick

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Community Expert ,
May 09, 2017 May 09, 2017

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@Rick - RH11 - File > Import > Adobe Captivate Demo & Adobe Captivate Project - yup, both there ;>)

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LEGEND ,
May 09, 2017 May 09, 2017

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Thanks Jeff! Wondering how I managed to miss that?

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Explorer ,
May 09, 2017 May 09, 2017

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No worries! Always appreciate your help. I always know I can count on you and Peter to answer these posts when I'm in a bind. Have a great day!

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