TIP 127: Adding Movies to a Document
In Acrobat 7 Professional you can add a movie to any document from within the program by embedding the movie or linking to it. An embedded movie is integrated into the PDF document itself, while a linked movie simply has a programmed link from the PDF document to the original movie, stored in its original location.
Play to Your Audience
When working with multimedia in a project, you have to take your audience into account. If you're targeting the cutting-edge design crowd, you can safely work with the latest and greatest in terms of media formats. This group is likely to have the most recent version of the media player, and they're also more likely to have a high-bandwidth Internet connection. On the other hand, if you are designing for a much more generic audience, you shouldn't assume that they have, for example, the latest Flash player and design material specifically for that player. Some functionality requires Flash 7, but a simple animated logo, for instance, doesn't. If you want to cater to a wide audience, add renditionsthat's coming up in Tip 128. |
If you want to use actions to control the movie (described in the following tip), the movie must be embedded. The movie formats and other options you can use vary depending on whether you choose Acrobat 6 or Acrobat 5 compatibility. This tip shows how to work with Acrobat 6compatible settings. Follow these steps to add a movie:
1. | Choose the Movie Tool from the Advanced Editing toolbar, or you can select it by choosing Tools > Advanced Editing > Movie Tool. | 2. | Double-click the document page where you want the upper left of the movie to be placed, or drag a marquee. Regardless of the method you use, the inserted movie can be easily placed on the page. The Add Movie dialog opens (Figure 127a).
Figure 127a. Select the Acrobat version compatibility option and then choose settings in the Add Movie dialog.
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| 3. | Click Acrobat 6 (and Later) Compatible Media to access all the available options.
More Tips for Working with Movies
Movies can add a lot of interest to a document. Here are some more tips: If you see an alert dialog telling you that no media handler is available when you try to insert a movie, it means you are missing the required media players. Install the player (such as Windows Media or QuickTime) and try again. If you have designed a graphic background for the movie, consider creating a custom poster image as well, like that shown in Figure 127b, to complete the look.
Figure 127b. A movie added to a PDF document can use a frame of the movie or another image as a poster image.
Be very aware of file sizes when embedding movies into a PDF document. A movie can add to a PDF file's size dramatically depending on the movie's frame rate and frame size. If you want to embed media clips, use renditions (see the following tip), use a different file as a poster, or use a range of content, you must choose the Acrobat 6compatible option in the Add Movie dialog.
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| 4. | Click Browse/Choose to locate the movie and select it. The file's location displays in the dialog. When you select a file, Acrobat assigns a content type automatically that determines the player needed to view the movie. You can click the Content Type pull-down menu and select a different formatbut be careful because you may have difficulties playing the movie. | 5. | Deselect either of the additional options (which are active by default) if you wish. Embed content in document includes the movie file in the PDF document; Snap to content proportions maintains the movie's size when it plays.
Tip If the Embed content in document option isn't selected, the movie is linked to the document instead. | 6. | Choose a poster option; a poster is a placeholder image that is seen on the PDF document when the movie isn't playing: Use no poster shows the movie's background document. Retrieve poster from movie uses the movie's first frame as a static image. Create poster from file allows you to use a different image for a poster. Click Browse/Choose to open a dialog to select the image, then click Select; the file's location is listed on the dialog.
| 7. | Click OK to close the dialog and insert the movie. As shown in Figure 127b, my sample movie uses another PDF document as its poster image. The movie is framed with a dashed line to show you its location on the document page. When the Movie Tool is active, you see the handles on the border as well.
Embed or Not?
First, think about what you plan to do with your document. If it is intended for distribution, then embedding is usually simpler since there's only one file to keep track of. If the document is playing on your own system, then linking may be better as the PDF document is smaller. However, if you move the linked movie, the link is broken and the movie won't play in the PDF document. |
Note You can customize the appearance of the movie on the documentthat's coming up in the next tip. | 8. | Click the Hand Tool, and then click the movie on the screen to play it. |
Adding a sound file to the movie is a very similar process. Choose the Sound Tool from the Advanced Editing Toolbar and click the document where you want to place the file. For the most part, you leave the sound file invisible, unless you want to use a poster to identify a sound button. The Add Sound dialog opens and offers the same options as those shown for the Add Movie dialog, with the exception of the Snap to content proportions setting, which doesn't apply to a sound file. Choose your settings. Then click OK to close the dialog.
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