MegaZine3 Version 2 > Setup Support (MZ3 / HTML / ...)

Videos not playing on local PC

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Hans Nücke:
I want to share some results regarding video support on a local PC in a MZ3 book, since many could run into similar problems.
These tests had been performed on a Windows7, 64 bit system, with a .f4v video of about 50 MB and a book with 26 pages with images (besides the spreadpage with the video).

First finding:
Different browsers show different behavior! And different versions of your browser and FLASH might also operate differently.
At the end most effects are related to the global security and sandboxing mechanisms of FLASH.

Second finding:
It also depends where your video files are located: in respect to the location of the megazine3 software (in the same path or in a parallel path).
And also of the location of the complete folder: if on your local drive, a network drive or on an external server.

Here the results of actual and up to date browsers and Flash versions (as of Oct 12, 2010), in different configurations.
-    different storage locations:
      a) local disk drive, b) NAS (network storage) and c) external server (internet)
-    different relative locations of the video file:
      a) in the same path as the megazine software and b) in a parallel path.

Here a simplified directory structure to explain local and parallel paths:
Base folder    /megazine/data/video.f4v  (position in same path as MZ3 SW)
                    /book/data/video.f4v         (position of video file in a parallel path)


              Same path                       parallel path
              Local    NAS    Server        local    NAS    Server
IE9 (beta)    +       +         +               +       +          +
Chrome       +       +         +               -        +          +
Firefox        +        +         +               -        +          +
Opera          -        +         +               -        -           +
Safari          -        +         +               -        -           +

One effect surprised: although IE9 (beta) worked always (!), it took significantly longer before the video showed up, compared to e.g. Chrome:

                  local    NAS    Server        local    NAS    Server
                  background image            video
IE9 (beta)      5s      12s      17s            11s     40s       20s
Chrome         5s        6s      11s              7s       7s       13s

In all cases the cache was cleared before the measurement was made. The internet connection was very fast; at measured 85 MB/s.

If in doubt you should upload the files to your server and test it over the internet. With all browsers, directory structures and video formats this was successfull and working in all cases.
Side remark: Only if files are located on different domains, you have to care about the cross domain issues; not a topic here.

Alternatively using a local server like XAMPP or WAMP will be a good choice.

Hopefully this saves you some time getting your videos work and not chasing phantoms ;-)

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