embedding wmv in pdf - mac users can't view file

Legacy media embeds the original file and relies on the user having an external program capable of playing back the format in question, so for something like WMV you are going to have obvious problems on non-Windows systems.

You'll need to convert the video into Flash Video (FLV) so you can use the Add Video tool in Acrobat 9 to embed platform-independent data (NOT in legacy mode). Also, if your Mac users are opening the PDFs in OS-X Preview, they won't see anything as it doesn't support video. They need to use Adobe Reader 9 or later.


To convert the WMV to FLV using the tools supplied with Acrobat you'd need Acrobat 9 Pro Extended, or an upgrade to the new Acrobat X Suite (which includes Adobe Media Encoder) - though there are masses of video converter programs out there from other vendors, many of which come with free trials.

Thank you so much! This is very helpful! One more question. I do have Adobe Media Converter, but when I try to convert the wmv to flv using it the output option that looks appropriate is flv/f4v and then acrobat doesn't seem to recognize the file because it is f4v. Am I missing something, or should I just download another converter?

For Acrobat 9 you should use one of the "FLV" presets. Although there is limited support for H.264 footage in Acrobat 9, it does not recognize the "F4V" file extension. Acrobat X does.

There's a workaround if you only have an F4V video in that you can rename the file with an "M4V" extension to force Acrobat 9 to load it, but faking a file extension is not the best idea if you're going to use it elsewhere.

lawr9575 : Mac users needs QuickTime player + Perian or VLC player (alone) to see .wmv files.
In both cases Mac users must install Perian or VLC, they aren't included in MAC OS X.

So, Uvsar gives you the more reliable answer.

Thank you for your feedback. I replaced the .wmv files with .flv files and now some Mac users say it works great while others tell me that there is no image where the video should be and nothing happens when they click on the area. When I embed the .flv I am placing over a graphic that is identical to the "poster" created when I add the .flv file. They've assured me they've downloaded the latest version of Reader. Why would it be blank and work for some Mac users but not others? Thank you so much for your help; I'm pretty confused with this one.