Toubleshoot and help viewing the animation files

All flash and shockwave animations (*.swf) should play within a subarea of your internet browser window if the latest Adobe Flash Download Adobe Flash Player or Shockwave Download Adobe Shockwave Player Player plug-in (Version 10.0 or higher) is installed. However, there will be only a blank space (without any specific error message) if the plug-in is not installed or the file version is not supported. The most recent software version can be obtained from Adobe's download page (select the free download of either player). It is highly recommended to consider updating any existing version here, even if some of the flash animations will play with a lower version (6.0, 7.0, or 8.0).

Please note that some of the animations files are very large (typically file sizes are between 3 and 6 MB, however, some are as big as 25 MB). It may take several minutes to fully download these files, depending on the speed of your internet connection. Some browsers or operating systems will not show the animation until the download is completed.

If you still do not see the animation, consider downloading the animation as a stand-alone projector file. For PC users (Microsoft Windows or Linux as operating system), these files are binary executables (*.exe). Some older flash animations are also avaiblable for Macintosh, in which case the projector files are downloaded as packed archives (*.hqx).

Clicking the large Flash expansion icon below the animation will stretch the flash file (*.swf) to the current browser window, which can then be enlarged or reduced (scaled) to any viewing size.

Some of the Adobe Acrobat (*.pdf) files Acrobat with embedded shockwave file link include an embedded link to the associated shockwave (*.swf) file, allowing to play the animation directly within Adobe Acrobat (requires version 9 or higher) without any additional browser requirements (a right mouse-click offers additional controls, such as full-screen mode).

All flash animations include a button control panel for some basic playing functions (stop, start, step forward/back, go to begin/end). Some newer animations include waveforms with a moving time line cursor. Moving the mouse over these waveforms (the mouse cursor will change to a pointing hand) and clicking at a time point will set the animation to this time point. Additional interactive features may include component labels that function as buttons (the mouse cursor will change to a pointing hand), which reset the animation to that time interval.

Some animations are animated GIF files, which should play in any more recent browser (e.g., Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, Netscape) without any problems. These files may also be large and require some time to download. If your browser will not display an animated GIF file, or memory limitations prevent opening a very large GIF file (e.g., a poster) within the browser window, consider downloading the file (e.g., in Internet Explorer, right-click over the link and select "save as"), and then use any graphic program (e.g., Paint Shop, ACDSee, etc.) as a viewer.

last updated: 10/28/10