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Help
I know this looks like a lot to read. Sorry, I like to explain what's going
on, not just tell you the fix. And you should only need to read it once - once
you get one clip to play properly, nearly all the rest should play properly.
If the following information doesn't address your problem, please
ask.
Questions
Answers
- What do the words in the Links column
mean?
- Generally speaking, there are three kinds of links:
- download links (AVI,FLV, IPOD, SendSpacePro, etc.)
open a new tab/window to a SendSpace download page with a link to the actual
file you can download and play on your computer.
- screencaps links open a new tab/window to a PhotoBucket gallery with
screencaps from the file (and possibly the rest of the program)
- more details links move you to another page on this site with
additional information about the program. The clip and screencap links
should be repeated on the details page (unless I forgot to copy them
over).
You may also see links to pages on other sites. These usually open
a new tab/window containing the page. A few links will open a popup window
with an embedded video clip, if that is allowed by the video provider.
For downloadable files, the link text either displays the file type or a
host name. For newer files, the link text displays
file type. If you hover your mouse over
the link, a tooltip should display info about the screen resolution. For older
files, the link text displays the hosting service, which at this time is
SendSpacePro.
- What format are the downloadable files?
- Audio-Video clips can be stored on your computer in many different
formats, such as AVI, MOV, FLV, MP4, or MP3. When multiple formats are listed
for one clip, you don't need to download
all of them, just pick whichever format plays best on your computer.
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Since Sep 2008, I almost always supply three types of files and
occasionally a fourth:
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- AVI - AVI files can be played by a number of different video players. Two
commonly used programs on Windows are Windows Media Player and Real Player, as
they usually come with a new computer. But many other programs are available.
A couple free players people have told me they use to play my clips are
VLC Player and
MPlayer.
My AVI files are almost all encoded with the DivX video codec and MP3
audio codec.
- FLV - These are Flash videos, like you might save from YouTube. You may
need to download and install a FLV player to watch these clips. Google "free
FLV player Windows" or "free FLV player mac" - there are lots of choices. On
Windows, I have used players from Applian and Riva.
- IPOD - These are H264/AAC MP4 files which are compatible
with video iPods. You should also be able to play these in most recent media players
for Windows or Mac O/S.
- MP3 - These are audio-only files which should play using
most any media player for Windows or Mac O/S.
Older clips (the ones with "SendSpacePro" as the link text) are AVIs
encoded with DivX/MP3 unless otherwise noted.
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- You may also find MOV files amongst the older clips. These are usually played using Apple QuickTime, which comes with
Apple's computers and can be
downloaded
for Windows.
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- If you are not able to play any of the offered file types, please
contact me so I can adjust the file types offered
or the way certain file types are generated.
- Nothing happens when I click on a download or screencaps link. Why?
- The downloads and screencaps are hosted on different servers than this
site's pages. It's possible those servers are temporarily unavailable.
Downloads are hosted at
www.sendspace.com and screencaps are hosted at
www.photobucket.com.
If you are able to connect to SendSpace and/or PhotoBucket, but the links
still aren't doing anything, please
contact me with the specific file you are trying
to download (program name, date, format) so I can check it out.
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- The download link gives me a text or HTML file instead of the file I want.
Why?
- This is usually due to a temporary problem on the SendSpace servers.
Sometimes if you open up the text or HTML file, it will contain an error
message to help troubleshoot the problem.
Wait a few minutes and try again. If the problem continues, please
contact me with the specific file you are trying
to download (program name, date, format) so I can check it out.
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- Why don't I see any video or only see swirling colors?
- This usually indicates
you're missing the video codec needed for the file. Unless otherwise noted, AVI clips are encoded using the
DivX codec, which is available for recent Windows and Mac operating systems.
Download and install the
DivX codec and you should be able to see the video. Alternatively, use a
player such as
VLC Player that has
built-in support for DivX.
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- Why don't I hear any sound?
- As with video problems, this is usually a codec problem. Unless otherwise
noted, AVI clips are encoded using MP3, which most people should be able to
play. However, some of the clips in other formats use other audio codecs, such
as MPEG2 or AAC. Most recent audio-video player software supports these codecs;
let me know what file you're having trouble with
(program name, date, format) and what player you're using (e.g. Windows Media Player 9, etc.) and I'll try
to find a compatible codec for you.
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- Why can't I see the screencaps?
- All of my screencaps are stored at PhotoBucket. Check that your browser or
Internet firewall (e.g. Norton Internet Security) is not blocking the images.
If you have a way to add a server to an "exception" or "white" list to let
images through, my server is s7.photobucket.com.
- How do I use a SendSpacePro link?
- The SendSpacePro links should be good forever (unless I forget to pay my
bill, or there's a server problem...).
The links open up a separate tab/window at SendSpace.com, where you should see a link labeled "Click to Download."
Right
(control) clicking that link should let you "Save Target (Link) As" to save
the file to your computer.
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- Please do not post the SendSpacePro or download links anywhere. I pay for every
download through these links. The least people can do is visit my site :)
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- The popup videos don't work for me. How can I watch them?
- First, the links for the popup windows use JavaScript, so if you don't
have JavaScript enabled, you won't get the popup window -or- the embedded
video. You'll need to enable JavaScript in your browser to see the window.
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- Second, the popup window may be blocked by some popup blockers. It's not
blocked by *my* popup blocker, but if you aren't seeing a popup window and are
sure JavaScript is enabled - try disabling your popup blocker for my site. I
don't show any ads, so this shouldn't cause any problems.
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- Third, the embedded videos are from a variety of sites and use a variety
of different video formats - most are Flash video, but some aren't. If you get
the popup window, but the video doesn't display - try visiting the site named
in the link and see if you can play videos there (e.g. if the video is on
hulu.com, go to hulu.com and try to play any video). The specific sites may
have some troubleshooting tips to try if their videos don't play. If those
don't help, let me know what video you're trying to look at and I'll try to
help.
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- Fourth, the content may be restricted to viewers in particular countries.
You ought to get an error message in this case. Contact me and maybe I can
help :)
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- Finally, the video may no longer be available, might be temporarily
unavailable, or I could have messed up the link - let me know what video
you're having trouble with and I'll try to get it sorted for you.
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