Some more new guy ????'s

[slickrick]

1. The end user must have Flash 6 Player to view the MX output, I understand that. My hospital has many different pc's with Windows 95 thru Windows XP. And specs ranging from P133 with 24 megs ram and up. How can I tell if their pc's have Flash 6, or another Flash Player, already loaded? Is there a "Plug-In" folder or something? Also, anyone know if any of the Flash Players came automatically with a particular version of Windows or IE versions?

2. Is there a way I can distribute the Flash 6 Player, rather than have each user download? I know when you go to Macromedia site, it just has you double-click, and the install is completed. But some users here cannot download. Is is legal to just either email it to the users, or have our I/S department do a script for an "Auto-Install" on bootup (i know they have done that before with other apps).

3. In the HELP File, the System Req's are listed. Is this just for the encoder (me), or is this for the user that views also? If not for the viewer, what should the min. requirements be for them?

[Jonathan_B]

Hi.
1. You can easily tell by loading a webpage with Flash content and right-clicking on the Flash movie. The Flash player version will show.
2. You can send people a projector file, which Flix Pro outputs. The projector files have both the file to be played and the player in one file. Otherwise the user needs to download and install the player. You can place a flash detection script on your webpage with the video that will redirect viewers without the Flash 6 player to the Macromedia download page. Here is more information of detection scripts:
http://www.macromedia.com/support/fl..._detection.htm
http://www.macromedia.com/support/fl...ts/version.htm
3. System requirements are for users of Flix, not viewers. Viewers need the Flash player. If they have a slow, old computer, the video may not play very well. This is the way it is with all video.
jb

[slickrick]

Adding to your answer of my #2 question:

This weekend I visited (2) different friend's pc's. Both were a little older, with dial-up modems. I checked both pc's by your right-click method, and both had just Flash 4 Player installed.

I had already uploaded an MX encoded video to a web site. I was curious to see what would happen if one of these pc's tried to bring up my MX video. It began to load the page, with a box with that Windows Picture symbol in the upper left. After about 15-20 seconds, up popped a "Windows Security Warning" window, stating that Flash 6 Player is needed to view page. Is it okay to trust site Macromedia, blah, blah, blah...

So I clicked ok, and after a couple seconds, the video began playing. No leaving this site, no bringing up Macromedia's site, no "downloading now" animation, no rebooting. This happened on both pc's. So, is it always so easy for someone to be able to install the upgrade - like this? Or does it depend on their pc? Wondering because I followed your links, and if it so easy for the user to upgrade, what would the benefits be of doing what is suggested on your links?

[Jonathan_B]

Hi.
That is how it works with IE on PCs.
It's not how it works with all browsers on all platforms (like Netscape for instance).
But since the vast majority are on IE on a PC, it may be fine for you.
FYI, Flix will also output a Flash 3-6 video that will play in any Flash player versions 3-6.
jb

[slickrick]

Interesting on the IE thing, did not know that.
So, for the others like Netscape, what happens? Does it just give an error message?
What do others do out there? For the non-IE users in particular? Do you put a link to MM's site for the Flash 6 download? And does it do the auto download without having to install and reboot?
I've read about Flash's "Deployment Kit". Should I look into that? If it matters, none of my sites will use Flash other than the flix vids, so not sure if the deployment is needed.

[Jonathan_B]

The Flash player installs differently on different browsers.
We suggest just putting in the "Flash 6 Player Required to View Video" warning message and linking that message to the Flash player download page.
That should take care of almost all issues.
Here's some more info on Flash player detection:
http://www.macromedia.com/support/fl..._detection.htm

jb