FAQ

Questions about FrameFree Studio:

  1. Why can't I export an AVI file with my preferred video encoder (codec), even though I can see the video encoder as a choice in the "Export Movies" menu?
  2. Why is FrameFree Movie playback stuttered or jerky?
  3. Why am I getting "Not enough memory", "File loading error" or "Out of memory, please set smaller buffer size" error messages?
  4. Why am I getting a "Waiting for loading" message during movie playback?
  5. What is "buffer size"?
  6. What is an appropriate buffer size?
  7. How can I compress my FrameFree files to be smaller?
  8. How can I crop the background from my image(s) and create a movie which changes only in the background scene or layer?
  9. What kind of audio formats can FFS output?
  10. Why won't the sound track display?
  11. How can I copy a map from one cell to another?
  12. How can I add a hint point to an existing hint point group?
  13. Why am I having trouble installing or registering my software?
  14. What are the system requirements for FFS?
  15. Which image formats does FrameFree Studio support?

Questions about FrameFree Web Player:

  1. How do I install FrameFree Web Player?
  2. What are the system requirements for FFWP?
  3. Movie playback is choppy. How can I adjust it to be smoother?
  4. How do I change the Rendering Mode?
  5. What can I do if the browser freezes or won't react appropriately while the movie is playing?
  6. What are the menus available in FFWP if I right-click on a movie?
  7. Why won't a movie play smoothly on the first play, but it plays well the second and later times?
  8. How do I uninstall FFWP?
  9. Why is the browser not responding when I select "Settings" from the right-click option menu?

FFS

  1. Why can't I export an AVI file with my preferred video encoder (codec), even though I can see the video encoder as a choice in the "Export Movies" menu?

    Although FFS displays all available encoders from the DirectShow Filter set which is installed on PC, it doesn't mean that all codecs are supported for FFS. Some unsupported encoders might cause a conversion error or will not export the movie correctly. Please select another codec that works.

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  2. Why is FrameFree Movie playback stuttered or jerky?

    We provide two options that you can use to improve playback performance.

    1. Use Movie Previewer.
      Preload puts the entire movie into memory before it is played; Cache movie data is in memory after it has played. However, too much data in a small memory space may cause poor performance or unpredictable results. This option is useful for small files. You may adjust Memory ("Output Size") options to improve playback performance.

      To adjust Memory options for a track:
      1. Option > Global Setting.
      2. Adjust Output Size value.
    2. Use FrameFree Player
      FrameFree Studio can generate a temporary FM3 file for playback. The FM3 file will get saved to disk, and then FrameFree Player will stream the movie from the harddrive. If you have difficulty using Movie Previewer, please use the FrameFree Player option. FrameFree Player is better suited for playback if your movie contains many keyframes and you don't have enough RAM to hold them all in memory.

      To set the default player:
      1. Option > Preview Setting > External Previewer

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  3. Why am I getting "Not enough memory", "File loading error" or "Out of memory, please set smaller buffer size" error messages?

    To correct this problem, please reduce the buffer size of the player.

    To adjust the buffer size:

    1. Option > Setting

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  4. Why am I getting a "Waiting for loading" message during movie playback?

    FrameFree Player plays movies by streaming them. Before a movie will start playing, enough of it most be loaded into memory to fill the buffer size. If the buffer ever falls to empty during playback, then playback will temporarily pause to load more data until the buffer is full again. After the first playback the movie is cached, allowing better performance. Increase the buffer size for better performance if you are experiencing this problem.

    To adjust buffer size:

    1. In the menu, go to: Option > Settings > Rendering Type

      Note: This might not resolve problems due to to other factors, such as limitation of your PC's performance or size of the movie.

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  5. What is "buffer size"?

    Buffer size is the amount of memory allocated to the buffer. Buffers play a significant role in assuring the quality of digital media as computers and network devices compress, encode, distribute, decompress, and render large amounts of data, very quickly, in real time. In general when describing the size of a buffer, we usually think in terms of FrameFree Movie storage space. FFS buffer is 128MB, minimum of 32 key frames by default settings. You may modify the default buffer size by choosing Settings from the Option menu in FFS. FrameFree Player will also automatically increase the buffer size if data fills the buffer.

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  6. What is an appropriate buffer size?

    The optimal value of the buffer size depends on the computer specification and size of the FrameFree Movie. When playing FrameFree movie content, the buffers are constantly changing; new data is continuously being added to the buffer in real time. If the buffer ever falls to empty during playback, then playback will temporarily pause to load more data until the buffer is full again. You may avoid temporary pauses by increasing the buffer size in FrameFree Studio. If pauses caused by the size of the movie or due to limited system hardware resources, we suggest changing the "Rendering Type" to improve performance.

    See Waiting for loading for more details.

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  7. How can I compress my FrameFree file to be smaller?

    You can specify the size of the video display area using the scale property found under File > Export FFM > FFM Setting.

    To make the file size smaller but keep the same screen size:

    1. Open the sample flie: Start > All Programs > FrameFree4 > FrameFree4(Sample2)
    2. In the menu, go to: Option > Global Setting > Ouput Size, and set the width (W) to 320 and the height (H) to 240. Click OK to save the setting.
    3. Next, go to: File > Export FFM > FFM Setting > Scale > Use Setting
    4. Set the setting to 200
    5. Click 'Export FFM' and type in file name.
    6. Play (double-click) the exported FFM and you will see that the 320x240 movie is played back at double-size due to the scale setting being 200%.

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  8. How can I crop the background from my image(s) and create a movie which changes only in the background scene or layer?

    1. Start FrameFree Studio.
    2. Go to [Option] - [Global Setting]
    3. Set the working image size (Ex: 320x240)
    4. Please make sure that there is check mark on [Fit to Frame Size]
    5. Drag and drop the image that you want to use as the background to the timeline on the background (bottom) layer.
    6. Click on the picture cell and select [Edit Cropping] from the sub-menu.
    7. Please enter the same value in W: and H: columns as you used in Step 3.
    8. Select the area where you want to crop in the picture cell and press [Apply] when it is done.
    9. Select the picture cell where you want the cropped image to be applied to.
    10. Press [After] from "Insert New Cell" from the menu.
    11. Press [Apply] to complete the insertion.
    You may find other examples and tips in the FrameFree Tutorial, along with sample images, audio, and sample project files.
    > FFS Tutorial

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  9. What kind of audio formats can FFS output?

    The audio track is exported in a different format depending on if you choose to output FFM or AVI.

    The audio track exported with FFM is available only in Ogg Vorbis encoding. Vorbis' audio quality is not best measured in kilobits per second, but on a "quality" scale from Highest, High, Middle, Low or Lowest. This change in terminology was brought about by a tuning of the variable-bitrate algorithm that produces better sound quality for a given average bitrate, but which does not adhere as strictly to that average as a target. Lower settings give a smaller filesize and higher compression rate.

    The audio track exported with AVI supports any encoder from the Audio Codec list. This list will vary depending on what you have installed on your PC. Choosing higher-quality audio will result in longer encoding times.

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  10. Why won't the sound track display?

    If sound track window is missing then the sound track window might be minimized. Please click on the green triangle located on the sound track panel on the left of the screen.

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  11. How can I copy a map from one cell to another?

    You may find explicit examples about this and more in the FrameFree Tutorial, along with sample images, audio, and sample project files.
    > FFS Tutorial

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  12. How can I add a hint point to an existing hint point group?

    You may find explicit examples about this and more in the FrameFree Tutorial, along with sample images, audio, and sample project files.
    > FFS Tutorial

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  13. Why am I having trouble installing or registering my software?

    Before you install FrameFree Studio, please make sure that your computer meets the system requirements, and check for correct user privileges. You must be logged on as an administrator or have the necessary install privileges available to install applications.

    After installing the FrameFree Studio and opening the software for the first time (or when your previous license has been expired), a registration screen will prompt you to register your software. Please enter the license (Example, ABCD1234-ABCD1234-ABCD1234-ABCD1234) and click "Register". If the license is valid, a "Registered Successfully." message will appear. Click "OK" to close the message window and "Finish" to close the registration window and continue launching FrameFree Studio.

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  14. What are the system requirements for FFS?

    System requirements for FFS4:

    • PC with 3 gigahertz or higher processor clock speed recommended
    • 2 GHz minimum required (single or dual processor system)*
    • Intel Pentium/Celeron family, or AMD K6/Athlon/Duron family, or compatible processor recommended.
    • 2GB (gigabytes) of RAM or higher recommended (1GB minimum supported; may limit performance and some features)
    • 50GB of available hard disk space.
    • Super XGA (1024 x 768) or higher resolution monitor with 32Bit full color.*
    • Sound card: VGA card
      * nVidia GeForce 2, GeForce 4mx, or better
      * OR ATI Radeon 8500, 9250, or better

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  15. Which image formats does FrameFree Studio support?

    BMP, PNG, JPEG and TIFF can be import to FFS. Note: CMYK-JPEG files and Lab color data in the TIFF image files are not supported.

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FFWP

  1. How do I install FrameFree Web Player?

    Go to the Download page, and choose the FFWP type that you want to install. Detailed instructions for installation are included on the download page for each version.

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  2. What are the system requirements for FFWP?

    Windows Minimum:

    • Windows 2000, XP or 2003
    • DirectX 9.0c or above for Windows 2000
    • Internet Explorer 6.0 or above

    Hardware Minimum:
    • 1GHz Intel Pentium III processor or equivalent
    • 512MB Memory or more
    • VGA Card supported OpenGL Graphics Accelerator (for HardWare rendering)
    • Sound Card

    Macintosh Minimum Requirements:
    • Mac OSX V10.4.5 or above
    • 512MB Memory
    • 1.25Ghz G4 or above

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  3. Movie playback is choppy. How can I adjust it to be smoother?

    Please try the following:

    1. Change the Rendering Mode in FrameFree Player
      If use of OpenGL of your graphic video card is exceptionally fast, please select "Hardware Rendering" mode. (Hardware rendering of FrameFree Web Player requires true 32 bit full color mode. The effects look best when displayed with the True Color (32 bit) setting.) If movie playback is still not smooth, then try setting the Rendering Mode to "Software High" or "Software Low".

      See How do I change the Rendering Mode?
    2. Adjust your monitor settings Information about the number of bits used for each color, the way the bits are translated into an RGB value for display, and the way the bits are stored in memory. If you set it to less than 32bit color mode, memory will allocate the information for 32bit and translated it into your screen which is not set to display 32-bit color, might cause the some delay of displaying the image soomthly.
      1. Right-click on the Windows Desktop.
      2. Select the Properties menu.
      3. Select the Settings tab.
      4. Select "True Color (32 bit)" from the Color Quality dropdown.
      5. Click OK on the Display Properties window.

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  4. How do I change the Rendering Mode?

    1. Move your cursor over any FrameFree movie, right-click, then select "Options" from the menu.
    2. Select the Rendering Mode from the pull down menu that you want (Hardware, Software High, Software Low).
    3. Click "OK" to close the menu.

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  5. What can I do if the browser freezes or won't react appropriately while the movie is playing?

    Please try the following.

    1. Check your Rendering Mode, and set it to "Software High" if it is not already.

      See How do I change the Rendering Mode?
    2. Please update your graphics card driver.

      Before you upgrade your Graphics card driver, you need to know which graphics card is installed in your computer. You can use a simple diagnostic program called dxdiag to determine your computer's hardware, operating system, and graphics card.

      To use the dxdiag program:
      1. Select "Start"
      2. Choose "Run."
      3. Type "dxdiag" in the box and click "OK."
      4. Click "Yes" to the prompt, and the program will begin running.
      5. Select the "Display" tab and the Name listed under the "Device" section is the name of your graphics card.)
      If you have a laptop, we suggest visiting the laptop manufacturer's website (Dell, Toshiba, Sony, etc.) to get the most recent driver.

      If you are using a desktop computer you would need to visit the graphics card manufacturer's website to download the latest driver.

      Listed below are a few common graphics cards and links to download their drivers:

      3DLabs - http://www.3dlabs.com/support/drivers/
      ATI - http://ati.amd.com/support/driver.html
      Elsa - http://www.elsa.com/EN/Support/driver_gladiac.asp
      Intel - http://support.intel.com/support/graphics
      Matrox - http://www.matrox.com/mga/support/drivers/latest/home.cfm
      Nvidia - http://www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp
      S3 - http://www.s3graphics.com/drivers.jsp
      SIS - http://www.sis.com/support/support_prodid.htm

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  6. What are the menus available in FFWP if I right-click on a movie?

    1. Options setting
      • Disk Cache Size:
        The size of the reserved disk cache. When a FrameFree® movie is displayed, a special file is saved for speedy viewing of the FrameFree Media next time.
      • Mem Cache Size:
        The size of the reserved memory cache. Cache memory size is automatically specified at installation.
      • Clear cache:
        Clears the cache.
      • Rendering:
        This option is automatically set to the appropriate mode during FrameFree Web Player installation based on the configuration of your system. If you would like to change the setting, select the desired mode from the pull-down list.

        Rendering Options:
        • Software (low quality) - recommended for low-end machines
        • Software (high quality) - recommended for intermediate machines with no on-board GPU
        • Hardware (high quality) - recommended for high-end machines with OpenGL and an on-board video accelerator
      • Proxy:
        Proxy is a server that acts as an intermediary between a corporate LAN and the Internet, protecting the LAN. FrameFree Web Player can be configured to work with various proxy servers. Each network is configured differently, thus there is no default Proxy setting. Please contact your network administrator regarding the correct setting.

        Proxy Options:
        • No Proxy - No proxy setting.
        • Manual - You can manually specify appropriate proxy information.
        • Auto - Automatically loads Proxy setting information from your browser.
    2. Update
      • Selecting the Auto-update mode:
        • Manual Checking
          Auto-update will not be performed. You need to click on the "Check Now" button to update.
        • Daily Checking
          This is the default setting. If this option is selected, the program checks for updates every day.
        • Weekly Checking
          If this option is selected, the program checks for updates every week.
      • Check Now
        Click on this button to check for updates immediately.
        If an update message is displayed, follow the on-screen directions to update the program.
    3. Version information
      • Version informaion
        Display FFWP and movie informaiton.

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  7. Why won't a movie play smoothly on the first play, but it plays well the second and later times?

    When you view the movie the first time, you are streaming the file from the source (usually another server on the Internet). Once the movie has played through completely, it is then cached locally by the player for smooth playback afterwards.

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  8. How do I uninstall FFWP?

    Please follow these steps to uninstall FFWP.

    • Internet Explorer (Windows)
      1. Exit Internet Explorer.
      2. Open the Windows Control Panel. In Control Panel, open the Internet Options list item, and a new window titled Internet Properties appears.
      3. In the Temporary Internet Files section of the Internet Properties window, click the Settings.. button. A new Settings window appears.(Figure1. Internet Properties)
      4. In the "Settings" window, click the View Objects... button. (Figure2. Settings..)
      5. After a brief delay, a new Windows Explorer window appears. This window displays all of the Objects stored on the computer and their location on the local hard drive. (Figure3. Objects)
      6. When done viewing Temporary Internet Files, close each of the new windows created during this process.
      Note: The object name might be different depending on what version you installed.
    • FrameFree Web Player for Mozilla (Windows)
      1. Exit the browser.
      2. Move to the "plugins" folder of the browser directory.
        The directory structure is different depending on your browser.

        For Firefox, it is usually C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\plugins.
        For Netscape, it is usually C:\Program Files\Netscape\Netscape Browser\plugins.
      3. Delete the plugin file "npffpreviewer.dll."
    • Safari (OSX)
      1. Navigate to the folder /Library/Internet Plug-Ins
      2. Drag the file named "FrameFreeWebPlayer" to the trash.

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  9. Why is the browser not responding when I select "Settings" from the right-click option menu?

    If you have an ATI graphics board installed, it might cause this issue. Please turn off the ATI POWERPLAY mode by following these steps:

    1. Right-click on the Windows Desktop.
    2. Select the Properties menu.
    3. Select the Settings tab.
    4. Click "More settings"
    5. Select the POWERPLAY tab
    6. Uncheck POWERPLAY
    7. Click OK to close all windows.

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