Bubble Vision Support - Help with playing videos
- Help playing my DVDs on a TV
- Help playing my DVDs on a computer
- Help playing my embedded YouTube videos
- Help playing my Windows Media (WMV) videos
1. Help playing my DVDs on a TV
My DVDs are manufactured with high quality control standards by CreateSpace, a subsidiary of Amazon. They are in the DVD-R format, which should be playable on all modern DVD players.
The DVDs are in the NTSC format, native to the USA, Canada, Japan etc.. Most TVs in non-NTSC countries (e.g. Europe) are "multi-function", so the DVDs should play correctly on the vast majority of DVD players and TVs worldwide.
Occasionally an NTSC DVD will not play on non-NTSC equipment such as very old TVs. In such cases it may be possible for me to make you a PAL format DVD, if you contact me directly (with your location and description of your DVD player and TV) rather than purchasing through the CreateSpace shopping cart.
A list of video standards by country can be found here.
If your Bubble Vision DVD will not play on your TV, try it on another player if you have access to one, or on a computer with a DVD drive (see section 2, below). If it won't play on the computer, examine what files are on the disk. On a Windows PC, open "My Computer", right click over the DVD and choose "explore", then you should see 2 folders on the DVD, VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS. Inside the VIDEO_TS folder you should find some files ending in .vob and .ifo. If these are present it indicates that the DVD disc is probably OK. If the files are not there or you cannot access the DVD-R disk at all, it indicates a problem with the disc or the DVD drive.
Note that I never put a region code on my DVD's. They are region-free.
If you have trouble playing your DVD, please contact CreateSpace customer support. Then if you still have trouble, contact me (Bubble Vision customers only please) with as much information as possible about the problem.
More help: DVD FAQ and Video Help.
2. Help playing my DVDs on a computer
Of course the computer must be fitted with a DVD drive. Most DVD drives and computers with DVD drives ship with bundled DVD software. If your DVD will not play on the computer, try uninstalling your DVD software and installing it again. If it still does not function there may be a problem with your DVD drive or with your DVD player software. For the PC, I recommend WinDVD or PowerDVD software for best results. Your DVD will also play in Windows Media Player if there is an MPEG-2 decoder installed on your computer. DVD software includes an MPEG-2 decoder that should be automatically detected by Window Media Player. Alternatively you can download the free MPEG-2 decoder from Elecard.
If your DVD won't play on the computer, look to see what files are on the disk. On a Windows PC, open "My Computer", right click over the DVD and choose "explore", then you should see 2 folders on the DVD - VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS. Inside the VIDEO_TS folder you should find some files ending in .vob and .ifo. If these are present it indicates that the DVD-R disk is probably OK. If the files are not present or you cannot access the DVD-R disk at all, it indicates a problem with the disk or the DVD drive.
If you have trouble playing your DVD, please contact CreateSpace customer support. Then if you still have trouble, contact me (Bubble Vision customers only please) with as much information as possible about the problem.
More help: DVD FAQ and Video Help.
3. Help playing my embedded YouTube videos
YouTube videos are offered in a variety of resolutions. If the video does not play smoothly then try changing the resolution at the bottom right of the player under the symbol that looks like a gear/cog (e.g. change 720p or 1080p to 360p or 480p). If you have good bandwidth, make sure you are watching the best resolution available (e.g. 720p or 1080p). For the best viewing experience, try the full screen button at the bottom right of the video, especially for the HD videos, but if the video skips then your video card might not be powerful enough for full screen playback.
Please note that more display options may be available on my Bubble Vision YouTube channel than on this website.
Many videos have a closed captions file containing the narration script and/or the names of the marine life and dive sites in various languages. Show or hide that with the "CC" button at the bottom of the video.
If you have a YouTube account then please "like", share, comment, or subscribe while you are there. Thanks! :)
4. Help playing my Windows Media (WMV) videos
A few older videos are still available as a WMV download. Unless you have a fast broadband connection, we recommend you download the videos before playing them. In Internet Explorer hold the cursor over the file name and select "Save Target As..." under the right mouse button. This stores a copy of it on your local disk and gives it the best chance of playing smoothly. It also allows you to continue browsing while the video downloads. The files are large, so please be patient. Most of the videos are 320 x 240 resolution and about 90 seconds long.
The appropriate WMV player may well be pre-installed on your system, but if things don't seem to be working you can download and install the latest version of Windows Media Player for free. Many media players may download the Windows Media version 9 codec automatically if it is not already installed, so there may be a delay.
