Adding Video to Slideshows – Mag+ Designd Support

As of version 5.3 of mag+, you can add items such as Jump Links, Web Links, Popups, and Videos to Slideshows. It involves using the Object States panel in InDesign and adding the interactive element to an individual Object State. This article will show you how to add a Video to an Enhanced Slideshow.

Before You Begin

Make sure you have installed version 5.3 or later of the mag+ InDesign Plugin.
Make sure you have installed version 5.3 or later of the mag+ Reviewer app.
Make sure you have built a version 5.3 version of your app and have it available in the appropriate app store prior to publishing Issues with Enhanced Slideshows.

Additional Information

To see what objects are specifically supported on Slideshows, please read the article "Creating Slideshows in InDesign."

How to Add a Video to a Slideshow

1. In InDesign, create each slide in your slideshow.

Note: Slides can be images, text frames, or objects that are grouped. In the example below, there is one image frame (Label 1) and a grouped object (Label 2) that consists of an image frame and text frame. They are shown together in the screenshot, but they will be placed on top of each other by the end of the example.

2. Open the Object States panel by going to Window > Interactive > Object States.

3. Select the image box and the grouped object and then click the "Convert to multi-state object" button at the bottom of the Object States panel.

 Note: This creates two states (or slides) for the slideshow.

4. Click on each state and move the frames so that they are on top of each other.

5. Select the state which shows the grouped object in the Object States panel.

6. Now go to the Mag+ Object Panel and click on the "Movie" button.

7. A Media Area and a Clickable Area (also called a Hotspot) will be created.

Note: In the screenshot below, the Media Area (green frame) and Clickable Area (blue frame) have been moved slightly in order to show them more clearly. When you do this, they will be right on top of each other. You can use the Layers panel to hide them in order to move/resize them.

The Media Area frame and the Clickable Area frame will default to cover the entire state.

8. In the Mag+ Object panel, set the options as specified below.

Mag+ Object Panel Settings

Content Type: Inline Movie
Source Type: File (Click the "File" button to navigate to a video file on your machine)

Note: Other settings such as "Pop-Up Movie" and "Full Screen Movie" are supported, as well as playing a video from a URL. The Auto-Start setting of "In View" is not supported, however, for videos that are part of a slideshow. To learn more about other video options, please read the article "Adding Video and Audio to Your Layout."

9. (Optional) Resize the Clickable Area to cover the part of your Object State that the user will tap to start the video.

Note: To show the blue Clickable Area frame, you will either need to move the green Media Area frame or hide the Media Area layer. If you hide the Media Area layer, you must make it visible prior to reviewing your layout or exporting it, otherwise Mag+ will return an error.

10. Now select the whole Multi-State Object by clicking on it once.

Note: When you select a Multi-State Object, you will see a thick dashed line around the object; this tells you that you have selected the entire object and not just one state. To select the whole Multi-State Object, you may need to hide the Clickable Area and Media Area layers. If you hide these layers, be sure to make them visible again prior to reviewing your layout or exporting it, otherwise Mag+ will return an error.

11. In the Mag+ Object Panel, the "Object Type" pulldown menu should read "Slideshow."

Note: You can choose different options as to how the slideshow behaves. You can read more about slideshow settings by reading the article "Creating Slideshows in InDesign."

12. Now go to the Mag+ Verticals panel and click on "Fast Review" to preview your Slideshow.

13. On your review device, you can now swipe through the slideshow and tap on the second slide to start and stop your video.

Note: If you swipe back to the first slide, your video will pause. If you swipe forward to the second slide again, your video will remain paused. You tap the area where your Clickable Area frame was drawn in order to start the video again.

Additional Information

Following the above steps, with minor modifications, also allows you to add Audio start/stop Links, Web links, Jump links, and Popups. For more information, consult the following articles:

To learn how to add Popups, read the article "Adding Popups to Slideshows."
To learn how to add Web Links and Jump Links, read the article "Adding Links to Slideshows."