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Q: iBook video playback problem in ePub exported from Pages 09

iBook video playback problem in ePub exported from Pages 09

 

 

I've added several videos (5) to my Pages 09 document that I'm using to export an ePub for an iBook.  I've adjusted each to show a unique poster frame using the Inspector.  After export and sync to my iPad and iPhone, the video placeholders with their poster frames display fine.  However, when I tap any of the videos to play, they all play the content of the first video.

 

 

For example, these are the five videos in the order they appear throughout the book (Pages document):

 

 

1.) How to shoot

2.) How to change a lens

3.) How to import image files into Aperture

4.) How to apply image adjustments to a photo

5.) How to apply brush adjustments to a photo

 

 

Each of these look like the correct video because the poster frame shows the correct content.  But when I tap to any of the five, the video that plays is the first, How To Shoot.

 

 

I've tried different methods of adding the videos (dragging, using the Media panel, using Insert from the menu), different video file types (.m4v - which I used in my multitouch textbook with iBooks Author), .mov), different dimensions on the pages, spreading the videos out over several chapters (to avoid any size limits as there are with images), using poster frames and not using poster frames, etc.  Nothing seems to work.

 

 

What's more frustrating is I've spent the better part of the day searching to web, only to find I seem to be the only one experiencing this problem.

 

 

I didn't know if anyone else has experienced this problem - and if so, what they did to correct it.  I've posted this message in the iWork > Pages forum, as well - didn't know which was most appropriate, so I was hoping to get input from both groups.

 

 

Thanks for any help.

 

 

MacBook Pro 2009

OS X 10.7.4

Pages 09 4.2 from Apple App Store

iBooks 2 (2.1.1)

iOS 5.1.1 (iPhone 4, iPad 2)

Pages 09 - OS X, Mac OS X (10.7.4)

Posted on Jul 31, 2012 1:13 PM

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Q: iBook video playback problem in ePub exported from Pages 09

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  • by markofromsomers,

    markofromsomers markofromsomers Nov 11, 2012 9:44 AM in response to BGBetz
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 11, 2012 9:44 AM in response to BGBetz

    You still need to make indiviual chapters for videos. I have not tried the combination of video and text in the same chapter.

  • by PhilRead,

    PhilRead PhilRead Nov 14, 2012 7:17 AM in response to BGBetz
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 14, 2012 7:17 AM in response to BGBetz

    An update from Apple is past due. When exporting to ePub from a Pages 4.2 document that contains multiple videos - only the first video plays (because it's the only video that's exported). This is completely unexceptable, considering it worked in 4.1 and there's no way to roll back to 4.1 after upgrading to 4.2.

     

    Apple?

  • by PhilRead,

    PhilRead PhilRead Nov 14, 2012 7:37 AM in response to BGBetz
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 14, 2012 7:37 AM in response to BGBetz

    I can confirm that if you create a new Pages document and imbed video files and export to ePub - the video files will play as expected. But if you save the Pages document and export to ePub - only the first video is exported (even though the video markers seems to indicate that all the videos exported). If this has to do with the how OSX is handing the ability saves a current version while maintaining the ability to roll back to previous file versions than more than Pages is broken.

  • by julianporter5,

    julianporter5 julianporter5 Nov 14, 2012 7:42 AM in response to PhilRead
    Level 1 (27 points)
    Nov 14, 2012 7:42 AM in response to PhilRead

    I Asked apple to update me on my problem report. I asked for an update but after they called and

    I asked them to forward the question to someone in the team dealing with the problem, I did not receive a call or email.

    Went into apple store in London today and was told that problem report

    Appeared to be closed! I have asked for another call.

     

    Come on Apple this is causing some of us a lot of delays getting books published.

  • by julianporter5,

    julianporter5 julianporter5 Nov 14, 2012 7:46 AM in response to PhilRead
    Level 1 (27 points)
    Nov 14, 2012 7:46 AM in response to PhilRead

    Is it possible to insert the videos into the ePub directly using Sigil or similar?

  • by PhilRead,

    PhilRead PhilRead Nov 14, 2012 8:19 AM in response to BGBetz
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 14, 2012 8:19 AM in response to BGBetz

    I just tested again by adding 5 MOV files to a clean Pages document (over 200MB of video).

     

    1. Open Pages
    2. Select "Blank" template
    3. Drag 5 videos to first page
    4. Select Inline (not Floating)
    5. Export to ePub
    6. Success - the resulting file size is 96MB in size

     

    However:

     

    When I saved the document and exported to ePub it failed. Only the first movie plays.

    When I saved, closed pages, reopened the docuement and exported to ePub it failed. Only the first movie plays.

    When I saved, closed, reopened, duplicated and exported to exported to ePub it failed. Only the first movie plays.

     

    Is it possible that saving the document is corrupting the file?

  • by julianporter5,

    julianporter5 julianporter5 Nov 14, 2012 10:26 AM in response to PhilRead
    Level 1 (27 points)
    Nov 14, 2012 10:26 AM in response to PhilRead

    I'm sure I can find a copy of my book which used to work when exported to ePub with Pages 4.1, which has never been saved by the new version of pages. Certainly i have files like this on my time machine backup. However my MAC died yesterday and is being repaired, so it might take a few days before I can check this.

    My belief is that this problem surfaced when I took a file, I had never saved with the new version of Pages, opened it and exported it to ePub. This then produced the problem. if my memory is correct andnit prodcued the problem without saving it, it would not support your theory about corruption happening during the save.

    If you take the saved file, remove the videos, put them back in again and export it without saving, does the problem still occur? If not it would give me a way forward.

  • by eliasjohn1,

    eliasjohn1 eliasjohn1 Nov 15, 2012 1:26 PM in response to BGBetz
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Nov 15, 2012 1:26 PM in response to BGBetz

    Still no resolution on my project, just wanted to chime in about the process I used to try to get it to work based on some of the postings here. 

     

    1. I first experienced this original issue when exporting, i.e. the reason we are all here (video content from first video playing in the place of all additional videos) from a saved Pages file with text and video embedded throughout (meaning, videos aren't in separate chapters, they are interspersed throughout the book, inline).  In other words, the same thing that has been affecting all of you based on your descriptions also is how it played out for me.  This was after a recent software update of Pages '09 

     

    2.  I tried a recommendation from this thread and moved everything to a new document, without saving.  Re-exported, still doesn't work correctly.  What I did specifically was to first delete all the videos out of my saved file, then I copied and pasted all the remaining text into a new/blank document, then I dragged all new instances of videos (inline) into this new file.  Did not save it, exported, still failed.  Maybe I didn't exactly replicate what the recommendation was, I'm not sure why it didn't work. 

     

    As I posted in an earlier post, I decided to move forward using ibooks author (I hired a freelancer for pretty cheap) and that has been a cool experience.  I'm still hoping for a fix for this for future projects, though. 

  • by PhilRead,

    PhilRead PhilRead Nov 15, 2012 6:33 PM in response to BGBetz
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 15, 2012 6:33 PM in response to BGBetz

    I decided to convert everthing to iBooks format via iBooks Author as well - and exporting was successful.

     

    Unfortunately the books you create in iBook Author are only viewable on the iPad - not the iPhone: https://www.macworld.com/article/1164895/hands_on_ibooks_author_effortless_to_us e_but_ipad_only.html

     

    An ePub exported from Pages will sync with all iOS devices. Another frustrating and seemingly random decision by Apple. And of course you may not sell your iBook without going through Apple as it's "free" and not available for purchase.

     

    So the purchased tool (Pages) is broken while the free tool (IBook Author) doesn't work.

  • by julianporter5,

    julianporter5 julianporter5 Nov 15, 2012 11:44 PM in response to PhilRead
    Level 1 (27 points)
    Nov 15, 2012 11:44 PM in response to PhilRead

    I already have the book in iBooks Author, i published it for free and asked for donations for charity, but despite getting downloads, I got no donations, so to increase the number of potential customers, I decided to make it available on the iPhone. Hence the need to convert to ePub format. Hopefully in due course this should also be easier to convert for the kindle Fire.

    I know it's not for my eyesight to strain looking at the iPhone, but surely Apple, this should be my choice.

  • by BGBetz,

    BGBetz BGBetz Nov 16, 2012 9:37 AM in response to julianporter5
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 16, 2012 9:37 AM in response to julianporter5

    I wasn't - the first time.

     

    I was using .m4v videos from the iBooks Author counterpart (iBA is very picky about video).  When I duplicated and exported (without saving), I encountered the same problem.

     

    However, I re-exported my .m4v files using Quicktime to .mov (720 as the export option), then I opened my existing Pages file with the existing videos, deleted the existing videos, duplicated, inserted the new .mov videos, then exported to ePub - and it worked.

     

    Hope this helps.  The real kudos go to markofromsomers.

  • by julianporter5,

    julianporter5 julianporter5 Nov 20, 2012 4:08 AM in response to BGBetz
    Level 1 (27 points)
    Nov 20, 2012 4:08 AM in response to BGBetz

    I can confirm what BGBetz says above. It's important to get the format correct. I also tried 480p and that just caused Pages to crash when trying to export. At least I have a way to export my book and publish it now. :-)

  • by julianporter5,

    julianporter5 julianporter5 Dec 15, 2012 11:39 PM in response to julianporter5
    Level 1 (27 points)
    Dec 15, 2012 11:39 PM in response to julianporter5

    I still think the problem is there in Pages 4.3. Would anyone else like t confirm that?

  • by BGBetz,

    BGBetz BGBetz Dec 24, 2012 8:25 AM in response to julianporter5
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 24, 2012 8:25 AM in response to julianporter5

    Out of town now, but will have to modify an existing iBA book for standard iOS release with Pages when I get back.  Will let you know what I find then.

     

    Until then - happy holidays to everyone!

  • by hamletcat2003,

    hamletcat2003 hamletcat2003 Feb 3, 2013 6:48 AM in response to BGBetz
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 3, 2013 6:48 AM in response to BGBetz

    Just to say I'm having exactly the same problem too. Has anyone had any success? When is apple going to update pages?

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