Help

Digital Video

Digital video on our website is now found in three formats: YouTube (Flash) Video, Windows Media Video (WMV), and Moving Picture Experts Group Level 4 (MP4).

YouTube Video

YouTube Video requires you to have Flash Player 9 or later installed. You can download the latest player for free from adobe.com. If a page contains YouTube Video and you already have Flash Player 9 or later, all you need to do is click the "Play" button to start the video.

Note: Clicking outside the Play button on a YouTube video may open a new browser tab or window and take you away from our website to YouTube.com to view the video. Once the video completes, simply close the new window/tab to return to united-church.ca. Alternatively, you can visit the United Church’s YouTube Channel to find more of our videos.

Some of our pages that contain YouTube video also offer a downloadable option in WMV or MP4 format. This is usually found as a link below the YouTube window.

Windows Media Video (WMV)

We require version 9 or later of Windows Media Player to view our clips, but for best results we recommend using the latest version. A Windows version of the player can be downloaded for free from microsoft.com*. Mac users can also download Flip4Mac from microsoft.com* to play WMV content.

Motion Picture Experts Group Level 4 (MP4)

MP4 files can be downloaded for playing later on your computer, or on another computer, and are ideal for projection.  MP4 files can be played natively in the latest versions of Firefox, or Chrome, or in a variety of media players on different systems including the free Apple QuickTime, and popular open source VLC Media Player. They can also be played in Windows Media Player on Windows 7 or later. These files are also recommended for users on slower connections to avoid choppy/slow video playback.

Video Troubleshooting

The video clip is "choppy" or takes too long to start playing

• For Flash Video: Wait a minute while the file downloads. Once the progress bar is full, the video should play without interruption.
• For WMV or MP4: Right click (control click on Mac) on the video link and save the clip to your local computer. If the clip doesn't start playing automatically once it downloads, double click the file to launch your media player. This should eliminate the "choppiness" and allow you to view the entire video uninterrupted.

I want to download a clip for later viewing

• The MP4 or WMV format will allow you to download a video and watch it again later. To do this simply right click (control click on Mac) on the "Download this video" link and save the clip to your local computer. You can also copy WMV or MP4 files to a CD/DVD or flash key to show to your congregation when a high-speed internet connection is not available.

I get an "ActiveX" warning. Why?

• Internet Video uses ActiveX to play in some Web browsers. If you are asked to allow ActiveX, select "yes," and your video should play.

Top

Digital Audio

Digital audio comes in many formats. Our site uses the most common, known as MP3.
Many media players can play MP3 files, including Apple Computer's iTunes and Microsoft's Windows Media Player. The latest version of these players can be downloaded for free from their respective websites (see microsoft.com* and apple.com*). MP3 files can also be transferred to Digital Music players such as iPod or Zune.

Audio Troubleshooting

The sound is choppy or doesn't start to play

Because we currently do not have the ability to properly "stream" audio from our website, we recommend you save the file to your local drive before attempting to play it. To do this:

• Right click (control click on Mac) on the audio link and save the clip to your local computer. If the file doesn't start playing automatically once it downloads, double click the file to launch your media player. This should eliminate the "choppiness" and allow you to listen to the entire clip uninterrupted.