Why you should avoid video in PDF (and which formats to use instead)

[@npcgirlll]

So helpful!! You described all my problems I had with displaying PDF interactive in browser in this video :)

[@Ajarproductions]

Glad to be helpful. 🙂 ^JP

[@314pepepip]

Great video! Is it possible to publish online and still have the interactive features like fill out a text field and send?

[@Ajarproductions]

Thanks! :-) Submittable forms require server-side code, so we recommend using something like Google Forms to take care of that. Here's a video showing how to do so: kzbin.info/www/bejne/i5incpprormKb7M

[@xiomaragonzalez3360]

This was so helpful. I am currently taking a typography class and was working on an interactive pdf project and just could not get the video to play. This video made so much sense and will definitely show this video to my classmates if they have any trouble. thank you!

[@Ajarproductions]

So glad it was helpful! 🙂

[@nishagreer8117]

You mentioned in5 like it was free. It's quite expensive. Especially if you're a single person trying to publish a single project. This video feels more like an ad for an Ajar Productions product than helpful information.

[@Ajarproductions]

If you want a free option, you can use the other two mentioned in the video: Fixed Layout Epub or Publish Online. Both come with InDesign. As I think you can see from the features hinted at in the video, in5 is quite extensive and powerful. It has 10+ years of development based on customer feedback. There's no way we could offer something like that for free. If you have a project where you consider hiring a developer, in5 would be considerably less costly...otherwise definitely check out the free options mentioned. 🙂

[@AMConcepcion]

this was great. Are there any solutions you know of where the viewer can see the video play without an internet connection?

[@Ajarproductions]

It depends on the situation. An app/Web App can go offline. The entire package can be downloaded as a zip. If you're distributing within a company, I would highly recommend a Sales Enablement App: ajar.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/26000038817-how-do-i-privately-distribute-apps-to-my-salespeople-

[@tutorialmasterbrasil]

The controllers killed Flash because it was simply too good. They don't want a truly advanced web; on the contrary, they want a less secure web using more bureaucratic technologies. So they keep the web this way for the upcoming arrival of the black swan. Even today, the web is technologically more bureaucratic and less secure, and Flash solved both of these issues in one go. That's the reason Flash was eliminated and the same reason why no tool similar to Flash has really emerged since then. The best tool for interactive design, animation, and multimedia for the web ever created, still...

[@Ajarproductions]

Flash was an amazing tool. Adobe turned it into Adobe Animate from which you can still create sophisticated interactivity for the web--just without the Flash Player. We even recommend using it to publish OAM files that can be used in conjunction with in5: ajar.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/26000034833-adding-animation-from-tumult-hype-or-adobe-animate-to-an-indesign-in5-project ^MF

[@sandraschultz3104]

Thanks for all of this! so you can do settings in MEDIA panel in 2023 version like LOOP and play on open - but the sound off doesn't seem to work for me. ANd the yellow warning appears. bummer.

[@Ajarproductions]

What file format are you exporting to?

[@MaxPhotoGraphic]

Very useful, may you tell me how may I embeed ..."free"... a .mp4 video so the file has no internet connection and export it as a .pdf? Thanks ;) Max

[@Ajarproductions]

You can't. Not reliably anyway. The reasons are explained in the video. ^JP

[@JeremyBowman-f9l]

I haven’t quite given up on this just yet, as animations embedded in PDFs still work SOMETIMES, even where Flash Player is absent. I’ve been working on a book with 17 short animations. When they are made H.264-compliant using the Adobe Media Encoder, the files are large, but they all work on my old iMac (2013, Catalina), and my client says they work on his Windows PC. When I make them H.264-compliant using QuickTime, the files are smaller, but 4 of them still do what they’re supposed to do in a PDF on my iMac. What intrigues me is the fact that ANY of them work. - And how do they differ from the ones that don’t work?

[@Ajarproductions]

Yes, there are certain circumstances where videos will work on the same machine that made the PDF, but would you ever send something that was that unreliable to a client? How does that make you look as the creator? The point of the video isn't that video in PDF *never* works, it's that it does not work consistently or reliably...so we recommend against using it.

[@JeremyBowman-f9l]

I completely agree. @@Ajarproductions

[@saragasiorek4619]

Hello. Can you please explain how to uninstall your exension? The usual methods don't work. Thank you.

[@Ajarproductions]

Here are instructions for uninstalling in5: ajar.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/26000047885-how-to-uninstall-in5 ^MF

[@justfaith_studios]

is there a way to export it to PDF and not HTML?

[@Ajarproductions]

No. That's kind of the whole point of the video. PDF doesn't support the necessary features.

[@mhondoroinc1768]

@@Ajarproductions yah but it doesnt really solve the problem. We want to send pdfs with video not links. we want to send files through different devices and not links. Is there another solution thats not epub?

[@Ajarproductions]

@@mhondoroinc1768 Short answer: no. Videos are too large to send as attachments. They need to be online. PDF/epub are not online formats. Therefore, they are not good video delivery mechanisms.

[@liraelism]

Ah this is great! There is just something I do not get - Can you help me with this problem? It is been saved to my local storage: file///... ; how can I get it now on my wordpress-site so that everyone can enter it and not just from my computer? And where are the videos beeing safed? Thank you! Please mind - I am not able to install a widged on wp due to my limited service. What other way would there be?

[@Ajarproductions]

Yes, the files need to be uploaded. There are several ways to do that, but for WordPress, we have a very easy plugin that you can use: kzbin.info/www/bejne/p17CgJSIfNV-nNE 🙂 If you can't install a plugin, you will need to upload the files to a server and embed that content with an tag.

[@shellyb.5402]

Can the files be packaged (assets folder and index.html file) and sent to the client for them to host on their own server? My client will not want me to host the files.

[@Ajarproductions]

Yes, great question. You can always zip up the files and pass them off to someone else to upload. Here's an article to help with that: ajar.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/26000033384-sharing-zipped-html-files-via-email

[@lilasjoumaa3732]

I can't find the interactive wedg on Windows😢

[@Ajarproductions]

You can find the interactive widgets under the in5 menu (in5 > Interactive Widgets > Video). in5 is a plugin for InDesign. If you don't have the in5 menu, then you can download the demo version (ajarproductions.com/pages/products/in5/download.php) to give in5 a try. Be aware there are some limitations in demo mode (ajar.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/26000031186-what-are-the-limitations-of-in5-in-demo-mode-). ^MF

[@FelipeArango-j3y]

Any recommendation to embed .gif files in PDF?

[@Ajarproductions]

They're not supported.

[@crbrs0]

Why not create the animation as MP4 and embed it using Acrobat?

[@Ajarproductions]

MP4 is not supported well in PDF, either. Watch the video ;-)

[@phamvanthuc7664]

help me! my foxit reader software has this error " Please install the required version of Flash Payer to view the Fash content in this PDF file" i come from Vietnam 😄

[@Ajarproductions]

That sounds like an error you might get with a PDF that has video. It used to be Flash Player based. I would avoid using PDF for this at all and use an HTML-based format instead.

[@jjrr3173]

When I add a video in an indesign pdf file it doesn't even work. In the pdf file the video isn't playing only the audio. Do you know how I can fix that?

[@Ajarproductions]

Did you watch the video or read the title? 😜 It's all about how video does NOT work in PDF. The answer is to export to a different format (one that is HTML-based).

[@jjrr3173]

@@Ajarproductions I watched just 1 or 2 min from te video and yes I read the title😂 But I noticed I did the same steps as you but the result is different. You actually had a video that was playing in the pdf and I didn't. Probably hohuld have watched the whole video but I didn't have the time to watch it all till the end😶

[@Ajarproductions]

@@jjrr3173 Yeah, you can get it playing (maybe) in Acrobat, but it's a pain. You can trust that a client will be able to open it. So the bottom line is...don't use video in PDF. If you want video, use one of the HTML-based formats described in the remainder of the video.

[@christianojordano]

Is this Acrobat DC, i dont see publish online...

[@Ajarproductions]

Publish Online does not appear in Acrobat, it appears in InDesign.

[@arthurnh9130]

thank you so much, this was the only helpful video i could find 👍

[@Ajarproductions]

I'm so glad it was helpful! :) ^MF

[@nanda8475]

Very good content! Thank youuuuu

[@stefancargoski5871]

My video still wont play although its mp4 H264, I've tried MOV & AVI as well, and nothing plays. Any suggestions why this is happening?

[@Ajarproductions]

Are you trying to put the video in a PDF?

[@exogendesign4582]

best way to do this stuff is creating powerpoint. Or you can probably convert them in .gif problem is if the video is too long the gif will be enormous.

[@Ajarproductions]

@@exogendesign4582 Historically, Powerpoint video has not been very good at moving across platforms. PPT video works on both Mac and Windows individually (usually with different formats & codecs)...but switching between the two can cause problems. Also, GIF only supports 256 colors across all frames, which can make video look terrible. Video inside of HTML is a better solution because it is flexible and cross-platform.

[@the1socialmediadivafloyd470]

WOW... THANK YOU

[@Ajarproductions]

You're welcome! 🙂

[@ermoka]

I love you!!!!

[@Ajarproductions]

❤😃

[@socratesarvanitakis8547]

There was nothing wrong with the Flash Player. You are pathetic in trying to justify its withdrawal. Not everyone wants to publish PDFs on line. Shame on Adobe.

[@Ajarproductions]

Dude, you're attacking the messenger. I loved the Flash Player. My career was centered around it. I was frustrated with Adobe too. Now that it's gone though, I'm trying to help people deal with the real options that are actually available and can help them in their work. ^JP