Reference number: CH000591

How can I insert a movie into a HTML document?

Question:

How can I insert a movie into a HTML document?

Answer:

Users can embed a movie into a HTML document using any of the below examples. It is important to realize that before you use the below examples that you understand what type of movie you are going to be playing as well as the browsers that are going to be playing the files. By default a browser may not have the necessary plug-in to view your movie file.

Link to movie files
Basic embed command
Add movie files using the img tag
Embed command to play QuickTime movies ( .mov )

Link to movie files

The below examples are different methods of making the video file viewable from the browser window. In addition to the below recommendations it is also recommended you create a direct download link to the file. Which will allow the user to download the file to their computer if it is unable to be played from within the browser. Below are two examples of direct links for the two video files in this document.

Floppy drive robot

HTML code:

<a href="http://www.computerhope.com/issues/floppy2.avi">Floppy drive robot</a>

IBM Linux commercial

HTML code:

<a href="http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ibm-linux.mov">IBM Linux commercial</a>

Basic embed command

This is the most basic method of embedding a file into a web page.

Example HTML code:
<embed src="http://www.computerhope.com/issues/floppy2.avi"></embed>

In this basic example you're simply using the embed command and pointing to the source of the movie file you wish to play. Keep in mind this is a very basic example and will not display any type of warning or point the user to a location to download the plug-in if the video file is not supported.

Example of video:

Add movie file using the img tag

In addition to using the above basic example of embedding a movie file into the web page using the embed command a user could also include the movie file using the img tag as shown in the below example.

Example HTML code:
<img border="0" dynsrc="http://www.computerhope.com/issues/floppy2.avi" start="fileopen">

Example of video:

Embed command to play QuickTime movies ( .MOV )

Apple QuickTime movie files are also another popular type of movie files on the Internet. Below is a basic example of how to include these type of files in your web page.

Example HTML code:
<embed src="http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ibm-linux.mov" Pluginspage="http://www.apple.com/quicktime/" width="320" height="250" CONTROLLER="true" LOOP="false" AUTOPLAY="false" name="IBM Video"></embed>

In the above embed example the first portion of the code we point to the src (source) of the movie file, which is the movie file itself. Next the pluginspage is the location of the plug-in if the visitor does not have it installed. The width and height are the actual dimensions of the video file, may wish to increase the height of the video file if you are unable to see the controller. Controller can be set to true or false and is a setting that defines if the bottom controls for the video should be displayed or not. Loop Is a setting for when you wish for the file to automatically start over when finished. Finally, autoplay tells the browser to start or not to start playing the video file after the page has finished loading.

Example of video: