Embedding audio/video in epub files

[KevinH]

Why would you need to manipulate the shadow DOM? What do you mean by "keys"? If you want to add subtitles, that is already supported. The epub3 test epub shows them being used.

[MicroDrie]

Originally Posted by KevinH

Why would you need to manipulate the shadow DOM? What do you mean by "keys"? If you want to add subtitles, that is already supported. The epub3 test epub shows them being used.

The word "keys" instead of button was an unfortunate choice of mine in the context of the question.

As a non-native speaker and writer, there are times when I like to turn the subtitles on or off. There is indeed a button for that automatically appears in non-full screen mode if a valid subtitle file is present.

But .... once you switch to full screen, that button for turning the subtitles on or off is unfortunately no longer displayed.
To add those, and other buttons, you must have access to the shadow DOM.

[increase]

I have a working video embeded in sigil epub3 with this code

<div style="font-size: 16px;"><p style="padding-bottom: 3px; text-align: center; line-height: 1; margin: 0px;"><video src="../Video/class_sketch.mp4" width="432" height="292" poster="../Images/social-classes.jpg" controls=""></video></p>

The video plays in an epub reader but the thumbnail image does not show on the reader, yet it displays in the sigil page

I am using sigil 0.9

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by increase

I have a working video embeded in sigil epub3 with this code

<div style="font-size: 16px;"><p style="padding-bottom: 3px; text-align: center; line-height: 1; margin: 0px;"><video src="../Video/class_sketch.mp4" width="432" height="292" poster="../Images/social-classes.jpg" controls=""></video></p>

The video plays in an epub reader but the thumbnail image does not show on the reader, yet it displays in the sigil page

I am using sigil 0.9

Sorry--what is it that you're trying to do? Embed video in an ePUB? That's worked for some years now, so...what is the part that isn't working for you?

Hitch

[DiapDealer]

I think the video is playing (in Sigil and in an epub reader), but it sounds like they're wishing that the thumbnail poster that Sigil's QtWebEngine renderer chooses to display would show up in the reader as well.

I think if you want that sort of consistency across all devices/renderers, one would need to provide their own custom player controls in the epub, no?

[increase]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Sorry--what is it that you're trying to do? Embed video in an ePUB? That's worked for some years now, so...what is the part that isn't working for you?

Hitch

It is the video thumbnail it displays on the sigil page but when I open the reader it shows blank yet the video plays ok

[increase]

How about adding an external link to an image is that possible in Sigil 0.9x

[theducks]

Originally Posted by increase

How about adding an external link to an image is that possible in Sigil 0.9x

What do you do if your device does not have network access?
I don't believe Sigil (or others) will STOP you from doing a poor choice.

(And why so OLD a version of Sigil? It has come a long way since then )

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by increase

How about adding an external link to an image is that possible in Sigil 0.9x

I don't mean to be dim, but what difference does it make if it works IN SIGIL? Sigil is an ePUB editor, not a reader. T'ain't nobody gonna read it there, right?

If the image works in ADE, Azardi, Books (f/k/a iBooks), MoonReader (or whatever), then...why does the appearance in Sigil matter?

Wouldn't it be less brain-damaging to just think of it that way and focus on the results that will actually be seen?

Hitch

[KevinH]

That thumbnail is created by the reader by loading the first frame of the video that is linked. Recent versions of Sigil are Chromium based and support lots of things that many older readers do not. Some videos types support embedded thumbnail images as well.

That said, there used to be a "poster" attribute for the video tag in html5 that forced an image placeholder. I have no idea if any ebook readers support it though, and I am not sure if even Sigil supports it as it is not a href, or src attribute but it does point to a relative image url.

ps. checked the Sigil code and the "poster" attribute on the video tag will be properly updated by Sigil if the xhtml file is renamed or moved. But I have never seen that "poster" attribute on the video tag actually used. According to the spec, if it is not present, the first frame of the video will be used once available. So that is up to the ereader itself to handle and obviously some do not.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by KevinH

That thumbnail is created by the reader by loading the first frame of the video that is linked. Recent versions of Sigil are Chromium based and support lots of things that many older readers do not. Some videos types support embedded thumbnail images as well.

That said, there used to be a "poster" attribute for the video tag in html5 that forced an image placeholder. I have no idea if any ebook readers support it though, and I am not sure if even Sigil supports it as it is not a href, or src attribute but it does point to a relative image url.

ps. checked the Sigil code and the "poster" attribute on the video tag will be properly updated by Sigil if the xhtml file is renamed or moved. But I have never seen that "poster" attribute on the video tag actually used. According to the spec, if it is not present, the first frame of the video will be used once available. So that is up to the ereader itself to handle and obviously some do not.

Warning: Lately, I think my brains are melting, so take this post with a grain of salt, yeah?

I could SWEAR that we used that "poster" attribute for the old iBooks ePUBs with multimedia. Now...I can go forth, look it up, but...that was a while ago. I'm pretty sure that's gotta be...hell. 8 years? Maybe 10? It was definitely ePUB2, I believe, too.

??? (Maybe I'm just losing my mind. It's hanging out with youse guys.)

Hitch

[KevinH]

Could be.

But technically, video tags are not allowed in epub2 according to the official spec. Both calibre and Sigil supported it under epub2 as extensions. I assume iBooks did the same. Full support for a limited set of video formats (and even using external video resources) was not added to the spec officially until epub3.

So support under epub2 is very spotty at best by many e-readers. Most real epub3 readers should now support it.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by KevinH

Could be.

But technically, video tags are not allowed in epub2 according to the official spec. Both calibre and Sigil supported it under epub2 as extensions. I assume iBooks did the same. Full support for a limited set of video formats (and even using external video resources) was not added to the spec officially until epub3.

So support under epub2 is very spotty at best by many e-readers. Most real epub3 readers should now support it.

I just checked and we are "fo sho'" using that in ePUB3. I am reasonably certain we used it in ePUB2, too, b/c at the time, that was an iBooks requirement (which was the only bloody place you could play video, anyway, in terms of the regular "retail" market, ignoring Azardi, Readium, et al.)

Lemme see...yup. As far back as 2011, you had to use a "poster" image, for iBooks. The coding (this is copied verbatim from "iBookstoreAssetGuide.pdf" 4.7, Rev.4, p. 22, 2011-07-13) was:

video src="video/H264-640x480.m4v" controls="controls"
poster="images/posterimage.jpg" width="320" height="240"/>

Yowzers, it's a miracle I can remember that. What I do recall--this was a book for a new publisher client, a formerly VERY successful, Edgar-winning trade-pubbed author, set up her own publishing house and omg, she just had to have video in her eBook, this flagship ebook for her publishing company. We screwed around with it a lot. I mean...2011, ya know?

It worked. I have video of it working (ha!) on my website, I think. Dang, that was only what, 11 years ago?

Hitch

[Hitch]

P.S.:

I'm still trying to understand why the POSTER image matters inside Sigil. I am not...I'm not criticizing the poster's query. I'm simply trying to understand it better--perhaps there's a workaround. ???

Hitch

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Hitch

P.S.:
I'm still trying to understand why the POSTER image matters inside Sigil. I am not...I'm not criticizing the poster's query. I'm simply trying to understand it better--perhaps there's a workaround. ???

Perhaps using a newer version of Sigil with the BibiReader, EpubJSReader or ReadiumReader plugins to test video playing would make this discussion more worthwhile. Comparing displaying an ePub in Sigil's preview to displaying the same epub in an ereader (app, device, whatever) makes little sense to me.