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Problem with Specifying a URL in Movie Options

Oct 20, 2008 6:09 AM

Hi,

I am using ID CS3. I have created an interactive presentation in InDesign. I am trying to specify a URL to link a video to our web server using the Movie Options dialog box. I keep getting an error message of either "Download failed because URL could not be verified" or "Download failed due to a QuickTime error". I have checked and re-checked the URL... it is correct. The movie will play if I type the path into a browser. The file I am trying to link to is a .mov file. Could that be the problem? I don't know what else to try.

My end goal is to upload my InDesign Presentation file as a PDF file to the web and have a movie play from within it.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Cathy
1358 Views   18 Replies   Latest reply: Steve Werner, Mar 4, 2013 5:46 PM
 
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  • Peter Spier
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    1. Peter Spier,
    Oct 21, 2008 4:29 AM   in reply to (Cathy_Auclair)
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    >I am trying to link to is a .mov file. Could that be the problem?

    Yes.
    From the help files:
    >You can add QuickTime, AVI, MPEG, and SWF movies
     
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    2. (Kenneth_Benson),
    Oct 21, 2008 5:19 AM   in reply to Peter Spier
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    Not that I know anything about movies, but aren't .mov files Quicktime
    files?

    --
    Kenneth Benson
    Pegasus Type, Inc.
    www.pegtype.com
     
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  • Peter Spier
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    3. Peter Spier,
    Oct 21, 2008 5:49 AM   in reply to (Cathy_Auclair)
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    You're right, but I seem to recall having had the same problem a couple of weeks ago. Hmmm...
     
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    4. (Cathy_Auclair),
    Oct 21, 2008 5:58 AM   in reply to (Cathy_Auclair)
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    Yes, quicktime is .mov, that is why I don't understand why it's not working... it works locally when linked to my computer, but not when I upload and post to our online server.
    It can't seem to locate the URL.

    I tried directly linking it in Acrobat as well using it's movie tool, but that gave me errors too. I've tried different files thinking that it may be the file, but I can't get any .mov's to work.
     
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  • Peter Spier
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    5. Peter Spier,
    Oct 21, 2008 6:22 AM   in reply to (Cathy_Auclair)
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    Are you linking to the server location in the ID document? I know there are path issues. You need to have the movie on the server first, then link to that.

    Peter
     
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    6. (Kenneth_Benson),
    Oct 21, 2008 6:35 AM   in reply to (Cathy_Auclair)
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    Cathy, the error "Download failed because URL could not be verified"
    sounds like a problem with Quicktime. I know nothing about Quicktime,
    but it sounds like Acrobat is accessing the movie but QT won't play it
    (or download it completely).

    If I were you I would want to verify this by trying two things:

    1) Try inserting the link to the QT file directly in Acrobat.

    2) Try inserting a link to a different movie player, maybe an .mpg.

    If the QT link made directly in Acrobat works, then the problem is with
    making the link in Indesign. If the .mpg link made in Indesign works,
    then the problem is with Quicktime and you'd need to find a Quicktime
    forum and ask about this error there.

    --
    Kenneth Benson
    Pegasus Type, Inc.
    www.pegtype.com
     
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    7. (Kenneth_Benson),
    Oct 21, 2008 6:54 AM   in reply to (Kenneth_Benson)
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    > 2) Try inserting a link to a different movie player, maybe an .mpg.

    BTW, I'm assuming you have your system set up to use Windows Media
    Player to play mpegs. The idea here is that if you suspect Quicktime as
    being the problem, try a different player. Then when you know QT is the
    problem you can focus on QT.

    --
    Kenneth Benson
    Pegasus Type, Inc.
    www.pegtype.com
     
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    8. (Cathy_Auclair),
    Oct 21, 2008 9:11 AM   in reply to (Cathy_Auclair)
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    Hi,

    Yes, the files are uploaded to the server first before I tried to link them in InDesign.

    I think it "may" be a Quicktime issue. I uninstalled and reinstalled the lastest Quicktime version hoping that would solve the problem, but no luck.

    Results so far:

    InDesign:
    .mpg failed due to Quicktime error
    .avi placed and linked fine, but wouldn't show in Acrobat... could only hear the sound.
    .mov same error as before "Download failed because URL could not be verified

    Acrobat:
    .mpg and .avi both insert and link, but no image... just sound plays.
    .mov gives same error as before "Cannot create the movie annotation because the movie could not be loaded. This can occur if the file cannot be found or the URL is unreachable (make sure proxy server settings are correct).
    I don't know what a proxy server is, but I don't think we use one here...

    Troubleshooting goes on...
     
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    9. (Kenneth_Benson),
    Oct 21, 2008 10:56 AM   in reply to (Cathy_Auclair)
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    > InDesign: .mpg failed due to Quicktime error

    That's because you have Quicktime configured to open mpegs. For test
    purposes, this is really no different than linking to the .mov file.

    > .avi placed and linked fine, but wouldn't show in Acrobat... could only hear the sound.

    But the sound played through Windows Media Player, right? Try the .avi
    locally, without any linking. This symptom (sound but no picture) only
    means you don't have the proper video codec installed. Install the right
    codec and you'll get picture along with sound. This says to me that the
    problem is with Quicktime.

    Note that I'm not suggesting there's something wrong with your QT
    installation, only that QT is blocking playback or download for some
    reason, probably because some kinds of video files can carry a virus
    payload. I don't even have QT installed here. Does it have some kind of
    blocking mechanism in preferences? Can you "allow" it to access remote
    files?

    --
    Kenneth Benson
    Pegasus Type, Inc.
    www.pegtype.com
     
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    10. (Cathy_Auclair),
    Oct 21, 2008 11:11 AM   in reply to (Cathy_Auclair)
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    Hi Kenneth,

    Thanks for the feedback.

    Yes the video plays fine in WMP, Real Player and Quicktime, just not in Acrobat.
    Not sure what a video codec is or where to locate the right one.

    I just discovered also that upon placing a .swf file in InDesign I get the same error message of "failed due to Quicktime error". So, I will have to look into it being on the QT side.

    I appreciate your help.

    Cathy
     
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    11. (Kenneth_Benson),
    Oct 21, 2008 12:07 PM   in reply to (Cathy_Auclair)
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    The .avi plays with video in WMP? Or the .mov plays in WMP?

    None of these are playing *in* Acrobat. They're playing *through*
    Acrobat. The difference is important. Acrobat's job is to simply pass on
    the request to the media player. It looks like it's doing that, but the
    media player (Quicktime) is not allowing playback.

    What makes this really difficult is that (I think) you want to make this
    work for anyone's machine, but media players are definitely not
    universal. For instance, I don't have Quicktime. If I opened your
    Acrobat file and clicked on the .mov link, Windows Media Player would
    try to play it.

    A codec is a COmpressor DECompressor, a little piece of a program that
    you must have installed on your computer to allow that particular type
    of video or audio to play. Audio Video Interleave (.avi) files can be
    created using any number of hundreds of different codecs. Your .avi
    plays sound only because you have the right audio codec but not the
    right video codec. Usually WMP makes a big show of trying to find the
    codec when it doesn't have it installed.

    --
    Kenneth Benson
    Pegasus Type, Inc.
    www.pegtype.com
     
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  • Peter Spier
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    12. Peter Spier,
    Oct 21, 2008 12:30 PM   in reply to (Cathy_Auclair)
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    Kathy,

    I remember some discussion on the Mac side regarding problems with QuickTime and PDFs, though I think it was related to Safari. Try downgrading your QuickTime installation to 7.0 or 7.1 and see if that makes a difference.

    Peter
     
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    13. (Cathy_Auclair),
    Oct 22, 2008 4:29 AM   in reply to (Cathy_Auclair)
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    Thanks for everyone's help and response on this... I am better understanding everything now.

    I've never had to do this before, so thank you for all for your patience.

    What would be the best method to make sure that everyone that opens the PDF can view the movie... should I make the .mov file a .swf file thru Flash, then link the video to a .swf file instead?
     
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    14. (Kenneth_Benson),
    Oct 22, 2008 5:08 AM   in reply to (Cathy_Auclair)
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    > What would be the best method to make sure that everyone that opens the PDF can view the movie...

    I'm not sure if there is a best method. Viewing a .swf means you have to
    have Flash installed. On the other hand, there is only one kind of .swf
    file, and no real codec options, and anyone who has watched YouTube has
    Flash installed (I think that's the way it works).

    For that matter, viewing any video means you have to have some sort of
    media player installed, and the three big ones (Windows Media Player,
    Quicktime, and Realplayer) all have the annoying habit of associating
    themselves with every extension when you install them, so whether your
    .mov is going to be opened by WMP or QT depends on the order in which
    you installed them. You can have a file with a .mov extension that opens
    and plays just fine with Windows Media Player, but since you installed
    Quicktime, Quicktime (which won't play the .mov file) now owns the .mov
    extension and so QT loads and fails when you click on the .mov hyperlink.

    I think I would go with Flash, just because you're going to get fewer
    people telling you they can't view the video.

    --
    Kenneth Benson
    Pegasus Type, Inc.
    www.pegtype.com
     
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  • Don - TFE, Inc
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    15. Don - TFE, Inc,
    Mar 1, 2009 9:35 AM   in reply to (Cathy_Auclair)
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    Any luck in fixing this issue Cathy?
    I have the same problem...
    I originally had a QT MOV file embedded in my newsletter and wanted to decrease download size so I figured I would link to it on my server, but I get the "Download Failed because URL could not be Verified" message.
    I get this message in both CS3 & CS4 ID. I have verified the link in the browser and the QT MOV file plays fine if I embed it.
    Any idea why it won't work?

    TIA,
    Don
     
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  • CombatSportsInternational
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    16. CombatSportsInternational,
    Feb 12, 2010 12:33 PM   in reply to Don - TFE, Inc
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    I am also having the same problem.  Any ideas?


     
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  • hunterstudio123
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    17. hunterstudio123,
    Mar 4, 2013 5:25 PM   in reply to CombatSportsInternational
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    I am also having this problem... Any solutions? I've wasted 10 hours of a project on just this!!!

     
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  • Steve Werner
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    18. Steve Werner,
    Mar 4, 2013 5:46 PM   in reply to hunterstudio123
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    The problem is probably that either file isn't encoded correctly, and the server isn't set up correctly.

     

    Here is a portion from an article I wrote for InDesign Magazine. This portion was drawn from the InDesign Help file. Notice that a QuickTime .mov file is NOT supported for streaming in InDesign CS5/5.5/6.

     

    Streaming video files reside on a Web server or on a Flash Media Server or Flash Streaming Service. Streaming video files must be in a Flash video format or H.264-encoded. To set up your document for streaming video, start by creating an empty frame or select a video you want to replace. Choose Video from URL from the Media panel menu. Specify the URL and click OK. Note that the URL must point to a file that ends in the appropriate file extension; for example, http://www.fakeURL.com/videos/Intro_Video.f4v for a file on a web server. Use rtmp:// in the URL for a video on the Flash

    Media Server or Flash Streaming Service.

     
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