Embedding a WMV file in a beamer presentation under Mac OS X

Question

In brief, I have created a beamer presentation that contains an embedded WMV file. Acrobat Reader, however, does not recognise the format of the file under Mac OS, and refuses to play it under Windows. Any suggestions on how to resolve this would be appreciated.

To describe the problem in more detail, I recently used the following LaTeX source to create a beamer presentation that embeds a WMV file.

\documentclass[]{beamer}

\usepackage{movie15}
\usepackage{hyperref}
\usepackage{graphicx}

\title{A Tiny Movie Example}
\author{Beamer Author}
\date{Sept 10, 2011}

\begin{document}

\begin{frame}
  \frametitle{Sample Movie Clip}
  \begin{figure}[ht]
    \includemovie[poster,text={\includegraphics[width=8cm, height=6cm]
      {bbb-splash-thumb.png}},autoplay,mouse=true]{8cm}{6cm}
      {bbb.wmv}
  \end{figure}
\end{frame}

\end{document}

While I had no problem compiling it, I did have a problem presenting it since Adobe Acrobat Reader required to download an additional media player (under Mac OS) in order to play the media file embedded in the PDF file. Under Windows, it got as far as the Windows Media screen, and stopped right there.

When I attempted to download the plug-in that would allow me to play the WMV file on the Mac, I received the following notification stating that the third-party media player required to play the selected media file in my Adobe PDF document isn't available for my system.

http://www.adobe.com/special/acrobat/nomediaplayer.html

To circumvent this problem, I ended up downloading flip4mac, thinking that it will resolve my issue. Acrobat Reader, however, did not recognize the plug-in for QuickTime that allows it to display WMV files.

When I posted a message on the forum for Adobe Reader about this, the reply that I received is as follows:

Putting it bluntly, you shouldn't be embedding WMVs in PDF files anymore -
it's called "legacy media" and it's been discontinued for security reasons.
You can't author it in Acrobat X, and playback is disabled in all current
versions of Acrobat and Adobe Reader unless the user changes their security
options. Authors should be using Rich Media annotations, which embed FLV or
H.264 video and play cross-platform via an internal copy of Flash Player.

The weblink fired by Reader when it encounters legacy media for which the OS has
no registered handler understands that you're on a Mac - and as there are no
primary players for WMV files on OS X, that's what it tells you. Adobe does not
link to third-party add-ons for other software, and even with those installed it
will continue to complain unless the add-on has changed the file type
associations, so that WMV files +automatically+ open in Quicktime.

As I have no idea about Rich Media annotations, or H.264 video for that matter, can somebody please provide me with an example of how this is done under beamer?

Answer 1

I would simply convert the WMV content to any other stuff that Adobe likes (or change my pdf reader to something else and call external viewer during presentation such as VLC portable which virtually plays everything except those ridiculous ones).

Two out of gazillion possible software for multimedia conversion are Miro (which is based on ffmpeg) and ffmpeg if you know your way around.

Addendum : My off-topic personal wish: I hope Quicktime, Real Player, WMV and other super-annoying formats and media players of the cartel-wannabe companies get forgotten soon such that we can obtain cross-platform peace as the original poster obtained simply choosing a mainstream media container.

Answer 2

There are four apps u can use for WMVs:

1. VLC/MPlayer OSX, play most WMVs, quick response, VLC has some masks when seeking
2. QT+flip4mac, play most WMVs, slow response
3. Windows media player for Mac (ppc, old), play all, slow, not UB
4. Macgo Free Mac Media Player, play most .wmvs on Mac, clear interface, quick response

Notice, there are some WMVs (Not DRM protected) can't be played properly in VLC/Mplayer/QT+flip4mac