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Adding Video, Audio, and Embedded HTML Resources in DITA Topics

You can insert references to media resources (such as videos, audio clips, or embedded HTML frames) in your DITA topics. The media resources can be played directly in Author mode and in all HTML5-based outputs. There is a toolbar button () that allows you to insert and configure a reference to the media resource. You can also drag media files from your system explorer or the Project Explorer view and drop them into your documents (or copy and paste them).

Table 1. Supported Media Types
Media Description Type Supported Size Properties
mp3 Moving Picture Experts Group Layer-3 Audio audio Width
wav Windows Wave audio Width
pcm Pulse Code Modulation audio Width
m4a Moving Picture Experts Group Layer-4 Audio audio Width
aif Audio Interchange Format audio Width
mp4 Moving Picture Experts Group Layer-4 Video video Width & Height
m4v Itunes Video File video Width & Height
avi Audio Video Interleaved video Width & Height
embedded video (such as YouTube, Vimeo, or Vidyard) Embedded Iframe Code iframe Width & Height

Adding a Media Resource

To insert a media resource in a DITA document, use the following procedure:

  1. Place the cursor at the location where you want the media resource.
  2. Select the Insert Media Resource action from the toolbar. The Insert Media dialog box appears.
    Note: You can also drag media files from your system explorer or the Project Explorer view and drop them into your documents (or copy and paste them). Note that this method will bypass the Insert Media dialog box, so if you need to adjust the size you will need to adjust the @width or @height attributes manually.
    Figure 1. Insert Media Dialog Box

  3. Configure the options in this dialog box and click Insert.

    The Insert Media dialog box includes the following options:
    Location
    Use this option to specify a URL for the media resource as the value of a @data attribute inside the <object> element. You can type the URL of the resource you want to insert or use browsing actions in the Browse drop-down menu (there is also a history drop-down).
    Key
    Use this option to insert the selected key as the value of a @datakeyref attribute inside the <object> element. All keys that are presented in the dialog box are gathered from the root map of the current DITA map. You can use the Choose Key Reference button to open the Choose Key dialog box that presents the list of keys available in the selected root map.
    Note: If your defined keys are not listed in this dialog box, it is most likely trying to gather keys from the wrong root map. You can change the root map by using the Change Root Map link in the Choose Key dialog box or change it in the Context option in the toolbar of the DITA Maps Manager.
    Type
    Oxygen XML Author Eclipse plugin detects and automatically selects the media type based upon the specified resource in the URL field. You can manually change the type, but keep in mind that in the publishing stage the object element is converted to an HTML5 element based upon the type selected here. You can choose between: audio, video, or iframe.
    Size
    Use this section to configure the Width and Height of the frame for the media resource. Specifying a value in these options inserts a @width and @height attribute, respectively. For audio clips, only the Width can be adjusted.

Result in Author Mode: A reference to the specified video, audio, or embedded HTML frame is inserted in an <object> element and it is rendered in Author mode so that it can be played directly from there.

Attention:
  • On Ubuntu 17.10, if you receive an error when trying to play videos in Author mode, you need to install the libavformat57 library.
Result in Output: In the publishing stage, the <object> element is converted to an HTML5 element so that it can be rendered properly and played in all HTML5-based outputs.
  • Videos - The <object> element is converted to an HTML5 <video> element.
  • Audio Clips - The <object> element is converted to an HTML5 <audio> element.
  • Embedded HTML Frames - The <object> element is converted to an HTML5 <iframe> element.
Tip: There is an even faster way of inserting an embedded video (such as a YouTube, Vimeo, or Vidyard). If you copy the embed code from the source (for example, you can right-click on a YouTube video and select Copy embed code), you can then paste the contents of the clipboard in the URL field and the Type will automatically be set on iframe, while the Width and Height will be populated according to the detected size, and an allowfullscreen parameter will automatically be added (set the value of this parameter to true to allow videos to play in full screen mode once the document is converted to XHTML output).

Inserting Media in HTML Outputs That Do Not Support Embedded Media

For certain types of HTML output (for example, CHM) that do not support embedded media (such as videos or audio files), Oxygen XML Author Eclipse plugin provides a parameter that can be set in the transformation scenario to present the media object as a plain link in the output.

This can be achieved by following these steps:
  1. Edit the DITA transformation scenario for the output type that does not support embedded objects (for example, DITA Map CHM).
  2. Go to the Parameters tab and click the New button to add a new parameter.
  3. For the Name, enter: com.oxygenxml.xhtml.linkToMediaResources.
  4. For the Value, enter: true.
  5. Click OK and run the transformation.

Result: The media object will appear in the output as a plain link instead of an embedded object.

Resources

For more information, see the following video demonstration: