Please note that this is not meant to be a technical document. For that reason, some things are vastly simplified. Our goal is to help solve any problems with the downloadable videos and understand why you might be having the problem in the first place.

HISTORY - Our videos are in a "container" that is called MP4. MP4's can contain different forms of audio and video, and the information on what type it contains is in a "header" that is part of the MP4 file. Your computer needs what is called a CODEC to be able to read the format. Versions of Windows before 7 do not have the correct Codec and you will need to download it. Our videos are Flash - which offer the best compression and universal playability. That mean they play well on tablets, PC, Mac, etc. Many years ago, Microsoft stopped supporting Flash for a few years (there was a vulnerbility it that was later corrected), so some versions of Windows don't have proper support built in. Windows 8 and 10 seem to work seamlessly with MP4. XP and Vista need third party software, and Windows 7 is "hit and miss". See our recommendations below.

PROBLEMS, SOLUTIONS, and FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

No Limit to the Number of Downloads - Due to abilities embedded in services like Dropbox we can store a lot of videos. We do have to pay for that storage, but it is no where as bad as website bandwidth charges. Still, at some point in time we may ask for donations as we are rapidly approaching a time where we need more space.

Why Do I Have to Download? - Dropbox will only stream 15 minutes of any single video, so the only way we can share our class videos is to let you download them and play them locally. Most of our class videos are an hour or more.

Recommended Software - We do not recommend that you download any other software for Windows 8 (and 10) unless you have problems. For Windows 7 and earlier, we normally recommend RealPlayer AND many of our user use QuickTime. The issue with these "free" products is that they frequently require you to give them information so they can spam you with e-mails. In both cases, after signing up and receiving e-mails, I recommend un-subscribing. The software will remain, but the nagging will disappear.

Audio BUT No Video - This is the most common error and comes from your Version of windows misreading the header. In the case of Windows 7 and earlier it is a known issue. Microsoft has acknowledged it, but has no intention of "fixing" the API. FIX: use a 3rd party player and DO NOT double click the file to open it. Instead, open the program and using the File menu, find the video and open it through the player! (thanks to Snooze who figured this out and sent it on to us to test).

No Video or Audio - Please read history above and then review our info on recommended software. There are many other video players out there, but we haven't tested them. If you find one with good promise, please let us know!

But... YouTube works just fine - why dont' you use it? - YouTube is very low resolution and viewers would not be able to see the menus in the software we are using, the lines we draw on quilts, etc. There is a huge difference in the quality and the size or our videos. That quality comes with a need for greater bandwidth.