HTML Embed tag with Autoplay not working with MP4 file

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HTML Embed tag with Autoplay not working with MP4 file

Hi,

I've added this embed tag for my MP4 movie:
<embed src="myMovie.mp4" width="502" height="309" autoplay="true" scale="tofit">

It's about 40 Mb big - so I obviously want to start playing as soon as possible so viewers will not wait for a long download. Problem is - it seems to ignore the Autoplay tag - resulting in waiting for a long time seeing the QT logo, and then starts when it's all downloaded.
Is that because it's an MP4 and not MOV?
Do I have the tag wrong?

Alternatively - is there any way to add a progress bar to show the download progress (aside from doing it through Flash)?

Thanks.

Windows XP Pro

Posted on Nov 4, 2008 1:56 AM

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Answer 1

Nov 4, 2008 4:22 AM in response to hummus72

The "embed" tag code is long dead and not even recognized by some browsers so you should update your page code:
http://developer.apple.com/internet/ieembedprep.html
A second issue is that your file may have lost its "fast start" properties. A simple fix is to just use "Save As" in QuickTime Pro. This will put your current file inside a .mov container.

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Answer 2

hummus72 Author

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Nov 5, 2008 3:22 AM in response to QuickTimeKirk

Thanks,

While it might be outdated - the "embed" tag worked on both IE and Firefox. I've tried this new code and for some reason it only works in IE, but not in Firefox. I don't know whether I should revert back to the "embed" tag or figure out what would make the new code universal to both browsers.

Regarding the file itself - I've closed in in a container of MOV in QTPro - and will soon upload it and check it. However, I've tried to re-export that MOV again with the "fast start" check marked - and it bounced the size up from 40 Mb to 267 Mb! I'm still trying different methods of compression - but not seeing good size/quality results. The original came out of Prism Video.

Thanks.

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Answer 3

Nov 5, 2008 3:33 AM in response to hummus72

Open the 40 Mb file in Quicktime. Under the menu...file...SAVE AS. Don't re-export the video...SAVE AS.

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Answer 4

hummus72 Author

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Nov 5, 2008 3:40 AM in response to David M Brewer

I have. That is what I'm busy uploading now to the site. I will test it shortly.
The reason I re-exported was to try and retrieve the "fast start" option. I wasn't sure that "save as" would automatically re-add that.
My upload is taking forever so I'm still waiting to see if that alone (the save-as) - worked.

Thanks.

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Answer 5

hummus72 Author

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Nov 5, 2008 5:22 AM in response to hummus72

Great! it works now.
Seems like simply containing the MP4 in a MOV fixed the streaming issue.
However, regarding the code - I did revert back to EMBED since that's the only thing that worked with both browsers. Moreover, IE - even though it played the QT movie - only showed a small cropped square version of it (maybe 200x200) with the JS code (with and without adding parameters for size). Embed simply works - so I don't know why not to use it.

Thanks.

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Answer 6

Nov 5, 2008 7:20 AM in response to hummus72

The "embed" tag will not trigger the QuickTime browser plug-in using Internet Explorer.
A "virgin" PC (one without QuickTime Player) will not get any instructions, will not be re-directed to the QuickTime download page and will not display your file.
Dimensions (height and width) are required as part of the newer javascript page code. Dimensions will only be scaled if the "aspect" values are changed (e.g. "scale" or "tofit").
Try the newer code and leave embed out of your page code.

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Answer 7

hummus72 Author

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Nov 6, 2008 12:22 AM in response to QuickTimeKirk

But - putting dimensions aside - why didn't the JS code work with Firefox? I just got a blank page and didn't even see any 'transferring' info on the status bar. That is the main reason why I've put 'embed' back in - because I didn't want to lose the Firefox users.

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