Attaching video tutorials over 1MB to threads

As some of you know I’ve been working on video tutorials like the one in this post http://www.antionline.com/showthread...hreadid=262129 . I use screen capture software and Macromedia Flash to make these tutorials. Having the visuals/screen captures helps some users understand better, but Flash can make for some big files that are over the size limit allowed for attaching (my last tutorial was about 1.6 megs). I’d like to have these Flash tutorials attached to the thread in Antionline and not just linked to my site because if my site ever goes down then these tutorial would be lost (just dead links) and useless to the community. If an admin approves of the tutorial, could they attach the SWF to the thread and thus bypass the size limit that is imposed on attachments? Thanks.

Why not zip it?

Using the little known spanning feature of ZIP files, you can break your 1.6MB file into a 1MB and 0.6MB zip file that can be combined to produce the original 1.6MB SWF file.

Unfortunately, WinZip pretty much only uses the spanning feature when writing to Floppy Disks. I don't know of any freely avaliable, reliable, and well used software that lets you manually specify where to span a file. :(


I do know that you can use the CLP "copy" to combine multiple files into a single file. Although the syntax to do so isn't avaliable to me right now. And I don't know the requirements in splitting the files to let the copy operation work successfully...

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Unfortunately, WinZip pretty much only uses the spanning feature when writing to Floppy Disks. I don't know of any freely avaliable, reliable, and well used software that lets you manually specify where to span a file.

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thats why you use winRar - you can specify volume size and have it split them up for you - when the window appears after you right click (am assuming using windows btw) 'add to archive'

below where you select compression method you'll see a drop down list for volume size

hope that helps

v_Ln

Tim said:

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Unfortunately, WinZip pretty much only uses the spanning feature when writing to Floppy Disks. I don't know of any freely avaliable, reliable, and well used software that lets you manually specify where to span a file.

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Might I suggest that you get HJsplit............it is free and supports at least 8Gb if not more. I suggest you do a google so you get the latest version, but if anyone has any problems I will gladly post with a copy attached.

I have used it for some years with total success :D

Cheers

EDIT: It is only about 185k so you send a copy along with the segments. It will split and reassemble any type of file I have ever wanted, including .zip etc.

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Originally posted here by chsh
Why not zip it?

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Since an SWF is already compressed you gain little by ZIPing it. For example, when I ZIPed the SWF linked above the files size went from 1,602,311 bytes to 1,602,276 bytes so it’s not worth just ZIPing it. Spanning it with RAR is a workable in ungainly option so I may do that if nothing better is suggested.

Hi Irongeek,

Please try HJSplit as I suggested. The reason I like it is it is portable, free and very intuitive. Zipfile applications are not quite so user friendly, and, as you rightly observe, don't do much with video type files that are already compressed about as far as they will go.

Cheers

I'll bring my support to valhallen for Winrar. In my view, Zip file are first in term of use then you have rar file in Windows World.

If you're making flash tutorials in the first place, why not just post them to your own site (if you have one) and then just post a link to the site in your post here? That'll eliminate the problem all together. Just a thought.

AJ

If you reread my starting post I say why.

s/reread/read
;)

Sorry, I should have clarified (or just written my response differently). I read your post, but I don't really understand your reasoning behind not posting it to a web site. I understand if your site goes down, they will be unavailable, but you could always either a) post them to a new site, or b) find a way to post them to AO at that point. I should have been more specific in my last post, sorry.

AJ

I've bypassed the attachment filesize check for supermods/admins, so they will be able to attach your SWF tutorials for you.

- h

Cool beans, thanks much.