By: Michael Murphy
August 2 2007 • 9:26 AM
The InDesigner - Episode 42: Summer Movie Spectacular!
Who wants to see the home videos from my vacation? Wait! Before you run for the exits, let me rephrase that: Who wants to learn about how to add and work with videos in InDesign, create buttons to control them, and export PDFs that will play them? In this episode, you’ll learn how to put these great features to work, what limitations to be aware of, and how to turn your PDFs into rich interactive experiences by taking advantage of multimedia options in InDesign.
Download it now or watch it in your browser:
The InDesigner - Episode 42 (20:46 mins. | 38.2 MB)
Hi Michael. Just a quick thanks for another excellent episode. Packed with useful comprehensive information in a concise format.
Also extra thanks for Episode 7 - The Urge to Merge. It saved me from a heck of a lot of work. I had to create a certificate for over 1200 people that had 8 individual fields. Following you podcast it was a breeze to set up. I even added the signatures as a picture to the merge.
Please keep them coming.
Regards
Richard
Michael, thank you so much for your continued involvement in the InDesign community! I’m always “glued” to the screen when watching your podcasts. I love the information and how you present it. Thanks again.
Michael, I love your podcasts and have suffered from withdrawal symptoms waiting for this one! But it was all worth it! I was struggling with a new newsletter format to be viewed on screen and it requires me to insert a small movie clip. Thank you so much. You’ve made me see I was doing it all wrong. Your method is so easy!
Thanks!
Thanks for the great feedback, everyone. It has been far too long between episodes, and it’s nice to know that I’m missed. A new episode will be up later this month, so the “withdrawal” should subside.
If there are any topics you’re just dying to see, feel free to e-mail them to me at info@theindesigner.com.
Hello Michael,
that was a lovely and very useful episode. I have a question, can i make an invisible movie poster with an actual movie in my drive? I think that was a great idea when it pops from nothing. By the way, i’m planning a trip to Eire but i think i will not rent a car.
Thanks for your great job.
Great tutorial! I was very skeptical about why anyone would need a video in a pdf, but after watching this it seems very useful for storytelling. It adds a little personal touch to the design. Thanks for sharing. You do a great job every time.
Roden — Yes, the “invisible movie” trick works for a movie on your hard drive or on the web, and it works if you embed the movie or just link it. And have a great time in Ireland. It was the best vacation of my life, car trouble notwithstanding.
Will — I agree that there’s a limited use for movies in PDFs in this age of YouTube and other web-based video options. But if you get creative, there’s lots of potential. If you think about how small Flash “.swf” files can be, and that they are also supported by InDesign, you can embed subtle (or overt) motion graphics into PDFs to enhance the document with a very low impact on file size. So a logo, or flow chart, or header image could have animation running that is not possible in print, and that doesn’t require a web connection.
Beautiful vidcast, Michael. What I want to know though, is when will you finish the book/pdf so we can buy it?
Anne-Marie — You can find this one in the Perpetually Unfinished Projects section of your local bookstore.
I’ve been making interactive PDFs for a client of mine this year although not yet with video. I really love the interactive PDF as a format. I particularly like the idea of storing the video on the web to keep the file size down.
Great podcast, thanks alot!
Thank you so much for all the work you put into your podcasts. I can’t tell you how much I look forward to each and every episode. You are just incredibly talented and gifted.
Can I ask you, what fonts did you use in your InDesign doc on episode 42? I love the layout of your pages and the look & feel.
Thanks again and looking forward to educating myself with your podcasts on a regular basis!
Take care
-Maritza
oh one last thing, would you ever consider showcasing podcasts for illustrator and photoshop? plez????
LOL!
Maritza — The script font is Spring LP, the body copy and large quotes are Adobe Caslon Pro, and the sans-serif font used for captions, etc. is Trade Gothic Condensed. As for doing Illustrator and Photoshop podcasts…only when there are 48 hours in a day, and when I can live without sleeping or human contact.
A little help for the videocast-challenged, please. Is it Quick Time that I need to have on my computer to view this? Where do I download it from? I keep getting a “broken” icon.
Kayla — You will need QuickTime installed on your machine to view the videocasts whether you’re viewing them in the browser or subscribing to them via iTunes (iTunes requires QuickTime).
I think there is way too much on Photoshop out there but have been trying to find someone to do Illustrator Podcasts that are as good as yours. Mordy Golding and Jeff Witchel spring to immediate mind. Maybe you have colleagues who woiuld be interested?
I di the tutorial, but when I opened the PDF and tried to play the video, I got an error message..”the media requires an additional player. Quicktime 7.01 is installed on the machine. Can you help?
Thanks
Great, great, great podcast! I’ve been learning a lot with you Michael. Thank you so much.
Great vid; many thanks!
Just wondering if you have any thoughts on the pros&cons of doing all this movie inserting in Acrobat instead of InDesign? I’ve been building interactive pdfs for CD distribution for several years now (latest example in weblink), and have always chosen to add the videos in Acrobat using the Movie tool. But it looks as tho it might be more efficient (all options on fewer panels, etc.) in InDesign after all. I suppose you’d want to do it as the last step, so the file stays as small as possible until you’re ready to go out to pdf… I’ll have to try it out. Thanks again; your podcasts are first rate. I love how detailed yet streamlined they are; bravo!
I found the videocast of how to place movies in to pdf’s facinating. I went and tried it striaght away - and it works brilliantly! I want to learn how to do Flash ’swf’ files to add motion now!
Thanks again.
Hello, Great videocast.
Am I right in assuming you can only import .mov movies to your InDesign doc and play in a PDF and .avi’s and other format need to be converted to .mov’s?
Rob — If it wasn’t on that list of movie types displayed in the early part of the episode, you’ll have to convert what you have to one of those compatible formats.
Michael, many thanks for getting back to me. I’ve sent a test PDF with a linked .mov to my client and they liked it! So I’ll be doing more of these soon. They’re still very concern if their audience will have Reader 6.0 and Quicktime 6.0 installed. I wonder if you need the Quicktime for just the .mov’s or whether you need it for the .avi’s and other formats? Anyway, looks like I’m going to be making lots of rich media PDFs! Thanks again, Michael.
Great help, thank you. I now know how to do it…
Buuut, my first file .mov a short (6) slide presentation exported from iPhoto 6.0.6 gets a ” not supported file type…” window and will not play.
QT 7.5 & Reader 7.0.5
OSX 10.4.11
Turned out to be something wrong with the .psd file I was using as a button. Changed it out and all is well.
I am using this technique to add .mov of books in my catalog. Where to place the interactive movie frame? If it is at the bottom of the page with its description/picture/interactive button then it opens in the pdf half below the screen and can’t be moved. The placement seems to relate to the top of the interactive frame. If I place the frame up in the middle of the page away from the text and button then it can be started with a click in an area not related to the book. Can they be hidden or made not active as a start button? There are four-five books on each page. Makes things very confusing.
Thanks, Bill
Bill, yes, you can set movies to be hidden objects, and then make a button show them and play them. Or, note that you can also make movies play in their own window within Acrobat (using the “Floating Window” checkbox in the Movie Options dialog box), which I often find more useful in situations where there are a bunch of movies on a page.