How To Solve Problems Playing MacroMedia Flash Videos - Ensign Training Videos

Q: Why won't Camtasia Studio videos play (includes Ensign Training Videos) on my computer?
There are 4 possible reasons.  They are listed in the order of their probability of fixing the problem.
Thank you Al_gorithm!
 
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A1:  Direct X needs to be upgraded
 
It is very possible that if the Direct X is out of date, Flash files won't play.
Here's the link to Microsoft's Direct X download site. 
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A2: Uninstall and Reinstall MacroMedia Flash Player
 
How to fix almost all Flash Player issues

A version of Adobe Flash Player is pre-installed with most popular Internet browsers. Sometimes, problems with a Flash Player that's already installed can prevent your upgrading to the latest player. You can resolve almost all difficulties by taking the following steps:

  1. Check System Requirements to ensure your configuration is supported.
  2. Make sure you have the latest version of your Internet browser. Installing a new browser can often repair issues with browser installations, and newer browsers may also offer improved security.
  3. Uninstall Flash Player (see How to remove Flash Player from your computer above).
  4. Restart your computer.
  5. Download and install the Flash Player from the Flash Player Download Center.

If you still have problems, move on to Trouble with Windows Installation or Trouble with Macintosh Installation.

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A3: Your browser needs to have the permissions set to allow the downloading and running of Active X controls. (MacroMedia's Support Site: http://www.adobe.com/support/flashplayer/)  Security level: Your Internet Explorer security level may be set to High or a custom level which does not allow viewing of ActiveX controls.  To view your Security level, from within Internet Explorer, choose Tools>Internet Options, and in the Security tab, choose Internet.

Though your browser security settings should be chosen by you or your system administrator, the 'Medium: Default Level' will allow you to view Flash content. For any Custom Level, ensure that both "Download Signed ActiveX controls" and "Run ActiveX controls and plug-ins" are not Disabled. (Enable or Prompt will work).  ---------------------------------
 
A4: You need the correct CODEC. The following is the explanation of this problem and has links imbedded to download CODEC's.
 
 
Although Camtasia Studio can produce videos using any standard Windows codec, by default it uses the supplied TechSmith TSCC codec. While Camtasia Studio can use other codecs that are installed with the standard installation of Windows such as Microsoft Video 1 or RLE, TSCC will, in most cases, produce  smaller files.  More importantly, TSCC is lossless, meaning that it produces 100% perfect quality videos.  TSCC compressed videos may be edited and recompressed without any video quality degradation.

For the video authors:

You may select a codec in Camtasia Recorder: Tools > Options > AVI. Uncheck Auto Configure and press the Video Setup button. You can also convert existing TSCC compressed video in Camtasia editor to use a different codec or to another video file format.

When you produce a video using any particular codec, that codec must be installed on any workstation that is going to view the videos.  Much like a zipped file.  You must have some program to unzip the file before you can use it.

The file TSCC.EXE, that is located in the directory that Camtasia is installed in, is the installation program for the TSCC codec. It's also available at our Web site http://www.techsmith.com/download/studiodefault.asp for download.

You may freely distribute TSCC.EXE. Simply have your users run TSCC.EXE and it will install the TSCC codec on their system. This only needs to be done once.  TSCC.EXE may be run in silent mode using the /s command line switch.

Note: For Windows NT/2000/XP users must have administrator rights to install codecs.

Camtasia Studio also includes an ActiveX control that may be embedded in a Web page to automate the download and installation of the TSCC codec for IE users. It will not work for Netscape. The HTML syntax for embedding the control in a Web page is detailed in the file TSCCINST.TXT located in the Camtasia installation directory.

Another option is to use the Camtasia Player, CAMPLAY.EXE that is located in the directory that Camtasia is installed in. The Player has internal support for playing TSCC compressed videos.  Therefore, if you use the Camtasia Player the TSCC codec does not need to be installed.  You may freely distribute the Camtasia Player with your Camtasia produced content.

Another option is to use the Pack and Show feature in the Camtasia editor.  File>Pack and Show. Pack and Show produces an EXE that can include both your video and the Camtasia Player.

Alternatively you could produce the video using another codec such as Microsoft Video 1 that is included with Windows, or produce another video file format such as WMV that is supported by Media Player.