Adobe InDesign * Movies and sounds

Add movies and sound files to documents
Resize movie objects, posters, or frames
Relink legacy media files

Add movies and sound files to documents

Movies and sound clips you add to a document can be played when the document is exported to Adobe PDF or SWF, or when you export the document to XML and repurpose the tags.

You can import video files in Flash Video format (.FLV and .F4V), H.264-encoded files (such as MP4), and SWF files. You can import audio files in MP3 format. Media file types such as QuickTime (.MOV), AVI, and MPEG are supported in exported interactive PDF files but not in exported SWF or FLA files. We recommend that you use file formats such as FLV, F4V, SWF, MP4, and MP3 to take full advantage of the rich media support offered in Acrobat 9, Adobe Reader 9, and Adobe Flash Player 10 or later.

Keep track of the media files you add to an InDesign document during the production cycle. If you move a linked media clip after adding it to the document, use the Links panel to relink it. If you send the InDesign document to another person, include any media files you add.

Add a movie or a sound file

Choose File > Place, and then double-click the movie or sound file. Click where you want the movie to appear. (If you drag to create the media frame, the movie boundary may appear cropped or skewed.)

When you place a movie or sound file, a media object appears in a frame. This media object links to the media file. You can resize the media object to determine the size of the play area.

If the center point of the movie appears outside the page, the movie is not exported.
Use the Media panel (choose Window > Interactive > Media) to preview a media file and to change settings.
Export the document to Adobe PDF or SWF format.

If you export to Adobe PDF, choose the Adobe PDF (Interactive) option, not Adobe PDF (Print). See Create interactive documents for PDF.

Change movie settings

Use the Media panel to change movie settings.

Select the movie object in the document.
In the Media panel, do any of the following:

Play On Page Load

Play the movie when someone turns to the page on which the movie is located. If other page items are set to play on page load, use the Timing panel to determine the order.
Loop

Play the movie repeatedly. If the source file is a Flash Video format, looping works only in exported SWF files, not PDF files.
Poster

Specify the type of image that you want to appear in the play area. See Poster options.
Controller

If the movie file is a Flash Video (FLV or F4V) file or an H.264-encoded file, you can specify prefabricated controller skins that let users pause, start, and stop the movie using a variety of methods. If you select Show Controller On Rollover, the controls appear when the mouse pointer hovers over the media object. Use the Preview panel to preview the selected controller skin.
If the movie file is a legacy file (such as .AVI or .MPEG), you can choose None or Show Controller, which displays a basic controller that lets users pause, start, and stop the movie.

SWF files you place may have their own controller skins. Use the Preview panel to test the controller options.

Navigation Points

To create a navigation point, advance the video to a specific frame, and then click the plus sign icon. Navigation points are useful when you want to play a video at a different starting point. When you create a button that plays a video, you can use the Play From Navigation Point option to play the video starting at any navigation point you add.

Change sound settings

Use the Media panel to change sound settings.

Select the sound object in the document.
In the Media panel, do any of the following:

Play On Page Load

Play the sound file when someone turns to the page on which the sound object is located. If other page items are set to play on page load, use the Timing panel to determine the order.
Stop On Page Turn

Stop playing the MP3 sound file when someone turns to a different page. If the audio file is a non-MP3 file, this option is dimmed.
Loop

Play the MP3 sound repeatedly. If the source file is a non-MP3 file, this option is dimmed.
Poster

Specify the type of image that you want to appear in the play area. See Poster options.

Poster options

A poster is the image that represents a media clip. Each movie or sound can appear with or without a poster. If the poster in InDesign is larger than the movie, the poster is clipped to the size of the movie in the exported PDF or SWF file. Specify any of the following types of poster images in the Media panel:

None: Shows no poster for the movie or sound clip. This option is useful if you want the movie or sound clip to not be visible on the page. For example, you may want the media to be played only when you turn the page, or you may want a more complex design beneath the movie to show instead of the poster.
Standard: Displays a generic movie or sound poster that isn’t based on the contents of the file.
To use a different standard poster, save an image as StandardMoviePoster.jpg or StandardSoundPoster.jpg, and replace the existing file of the same name. This file is located in the Presets/Multimedia folder in the application folder.
From Current Frame: Select this option to use the current frame displayed in the preview area of the Media panel. To select a different frame, advanced the preview slider and click the icon to the right of the Poster menu. This option is not available with legacy movie formats such as AVI and MPEG.
Choose Image: Lets you select an image to use as the poster. Double-click the image you want to use. You can select bitmap graphics, not vector graphics, for posters.
[From Video]: This option is selected for converted CS4 documents that have media clips set to a specific frame.

Change media settings for interactive PDF files

Choose PDF Options from the Media panel menu.
Specify the following options, and click OK.

Description

Type a description that appears if the media file cannot be played in Acrobat. This description also acts as alternative text for visually impaired users.
Play Video In Floating Window

Play the movie in a separate window. If you select this option, specify the size ratio and position on the screen. Increasing the size of the floating window may reduce image quality. The floating window scale is based on the size of the original movie, not the size of the scaled movie in the document layout. This option is not available for SWF files or audio files.

Place a video file from a URL

Place a video file from a valid URL to play the streaming video in the exported PDF or SWF file. The video must be a valid Flash Video file (FLV or F4V) or H.264-encoded file (such as MP4).

Select an empty frame or a video object containing a video you want to replace.
Choose Video From URL from the Media panel menu.
Specify the URL and click OK.

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Resize movie objects, posters, or frames

When you add a movie to the InDesign document, the movie object and poster appear in a frame. When you export to PDF, the movie object’s boundary determines the size of the movie in the PDF document, not the frame size or poster size.

For best results, keep the poster size and dimension the same as the movie. If you apply a clipping path or resize the image, the exported PDF document may not include these changes.

Movies are displayed in the topmost layer of the PDF document. If you overlay a movie with another object in InDesign, that object appears beneath the movie in the exported PDF.

If you want the PDF document to include a play area with feathering or other effects that may not export well when applied to a poster, consider using a placed image for the play area, and then place a movie (without a poster) on top of the placed image.

Resizing movie object

A.: Poster
B.: Movie object
C.: Frame

Do any of the following:

To resize the movie object, poster, and frame, use the Scale tool and drag one of the corner handles (hold down Shift to maintain proportions).
To resize only the frame, use the Selection tool to drag a corner handle.
To resize the poster or media object, use the Direct Selection tool to select the poster. Switch to the Selection tool, and then drag a corner handle.

You can also use the Fitting commands (Object > Fitting) to resize a poster within a frame.

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Relink legacy media files

The FLV and F4V video formats and MP3 audio formats work best in InDesign for exporting interactive documents. While video formats such as MOV, AVI, and MPG can be exported to PDF, they cannot be exported to Flash-based formats such as SWF.

Use Adobe Media Encoder to convert video files to FLV, F4V, or MP4 format. Adobe Media Encoder does not convert audio file formats to MP3, but you can use an application such as Apple iTunes to do so.

Open Adobe Media Encoder, add the video files you want to convert, and convert them to FLV or F4V format.

For more information, see Adobe Media Encoder Help.
Do any of the following actions:
- Place the media file in an InDesign document. See Add movies and sound files to documents.
- If the video files have already been placed in an InDesign document, use the Links panel to relink the files to their new versions. See Update, restore, and replace links.