Technical Help and Frequently Asked Questions
For non-technical questions regarding MessageWeek, please see our Your Questions

How do I play the videos? I am a Netscape user, and have trouble with plugins? Trouble downloading the RealPlayer? Browser cache problems How do I download the RealPlayer? I can't seem to see the videos after downloading the Realplayer? How do I download the Real videos and save them for later viewing? The Real audio seems slow and distorted I can see the video but there's no sound I can hear the audio, but the video is distorted or just "pea green" in colour? My PC is old and can't stream the videos Why do the videos pause mid-stream sometimes? The videos seem a little blurry in places Which video icon should I click on? Can my Macintosh play the videos? How do I play the Windows Media Streaming format? Server or HTTP streaming? What is broadband? Can I order the videos on CD? How may I contribute financially? How do I play the videos? In order to watch the video clips on your computer, your system must meet the minimum system requirements: Pentium class system 200Mhz (Or Mac equivalent), 32Mb RAM, sound card and speakers, true colour monitor recommended (800x600). In order to watch the Real video format, you must download and install the FREE RealPlayer available at www.real.com/products/player In order to watch the Windows Media format you must download and install Windows Media Player 9. Earlier versions of this player will not work. The Real Player and Windows Media Player are once-off downloads. Netscape users may encounter problems with "plugins" and therefore be unable to watch the videos. We recommend upgrading to Internet Explorer 5.5 or later. (Internet Explorer 6.0 is available on many computer magazine CDs, or for free download at www.microsoft.com To view the Broadband video clips, you need either a satellite, ISDN, ADSL, or cable connection, and have downloaded and installed the corresponding FREE media Player.. I am having trouble downloading the RealONE Player Yes, we have had a couple of reported cases where the smallest RealPlayer download of 8Mb seems to have taken an undue long time, or failed altogether. This is probably due to net congestion, or poor line or modem quality. Try choosing another download site, or choose a time of day when there is less internet traffic. If you have tried several times unsucessfully to download the FREE RealPlayer, then please email our support team, and we will post you out a FREE Multimedia CD which includes the FREE RealONE Player. Sometimes my browser loads the video page from cache and so I can't see the latest videos MessageWeek video clips are updated between Wednesday and Friday each week. If for some reason your browser doesn't show the latest video clip, click on Refresh/Reload to override the cached version. In some cases you may have to restart your computer, or change your browser's cache settings. How do I download the Real Player? Go to the RealPlayer web site, and click on the Download Free RealOne. You may find the FREE version of RealPlayer a little obscure to find on their website. You will find it by scrolling down on both web pages when following the FREE link. Choose the smallest size option, around 8Mb. When you have downloaded the RealPlayer onto your system, use Windows Explorer to locate the downloaded file where you have saved it. It might look something like, C:\My Documents\RealONEplayerV2GOLD.exe Double-click on this file to begin the installation. It will automatically detect your browser/proxy settings. During installation, uncheck any boxes that don't apply to you. After installation, you may then click on the Real video stream of your choice to begin playing. I can't seem to play the videos after downloading the RealPlayer? After downloading the FREE RealONE Player, double-click on the file you have saved to activate the installation. Simply downloading the file is insufficient; it must also be installed. In the preference settings of RealPlayer, check also to see that the proxy settings are correct, that is, that they match the settings of your browser. Usually, RealPlayer will automatically detect any proxy settings. How do I download and then save the video for later viewing/archiving? When using RealONE Player and the TCP protocol, you can only download and then the video will automatically play. It will not allow you to save the video clip to your hard drive - when it is downloaded it is saved (cached) to a temporary folder. There is, however, a workaround for this. There are two ways of doing this: Using Internet Explorer 5 (or later) you may download and save the video to your Hard Disk by right-clicking on the Download Icon and selecting "Save Target As". Once saved, the video may be viewed by clicking on the file. If the first scenario fails to work then the following workaround will: Click on "download" option for the video clip you want, and when it is fully downloaded to your system, it will automatically play. In order to save the file for archiving or later viewing, first open Windows Explorer. Using Windows Explorer, go to C:\Windows\Temporary Internet Files, and there you will find a copy of video file "filename.rm" that you just downloaded and viewed. You cannot, however, play the video from that folder. Hold down the  <control> key on your keyboard and click-and-drag the file "filename.rm" to another folder somewhere else on your hard drive, for example C:\My Documents.  Now using Window Explorer, browse to the folder you just copied to. You'll notice that it's filename will have changed to "filename(1).ram". You still cannot play this file as it is. Right-click on the file and choose "Rename". Rename it to filename.rm (Make sure you've changed the .ram extension to .rm) When you've done that, double-click the file (single-click on newer computers), and it should automatically play. You have saved a copy of the file on to your hard disk drive for future viewing. The Real Audio seems very slow and distorted If you are experiencing audio problems, where the audio plays at the wrong speed or sounds distorted, it may be due to a soundcard incompatibility. Open Preferences in RealPlayer and click on Performance, and under the Sound Card Compatibility paragraph, click on Settings and check one or both options/boxes as may be applicable. I can see the video but there's no sound Check your sound card. Check your speakers. Do they usually work? Increase your volume setting. If your computer crashed or you received an error message, often it is good policy to reboot (restart) your computer. I can hear the audio, but the video is distorted or just "pea green" in colour. Some computers using particular brands of video cards, your video may appear "green" or not display at all. To remedy this you may have to uncheck the box as illustrated below in the Real Player preference settings: Please restart RealPlayer after you have unchecked this option. My PC is old and can't stream the video The lowest bandwidth we provide is at 43Kbps. This is suitable for a 56k connection. We also provide an transcript of every message for those wishing to read it. Why do the videos sometimes pause mid-stream? This is caused by "buffering". With a good connection, RealPlayer buffers a few seconds before playing and is able to play the entire clip without having to wait for more video to be sent via your connection. However, if there is some internet congestion, or your connection is slow, then RealPlayer has to momentarily wait for more video. To avoid pauses in the video, you have two options: either choose a lower rate stream, for example, 56k, or choose the DOWNLOAD[-AND-THEN-PLAY] option. RealONE Player then waits for the entire clip to arrive at your computer before playing it. You can also set RealONE Player to buffer the entire clip before playing. Why do the videos appear a little blurry in places? We use high quality source video to create/encode the internet video streams. Digital media streaming entails complex algorithms that refreshes only portions of the video that has changed since the last frame. Movement, like running or waving, is difficult to stream accurately because of limited bandwidth, (that is, the telephone lines we use for internet connectivity were never designed to carry such volumes of data). Broadband delivers significantly better quality video than what is available at 56K. Which video icon should I click on? If you live in a metro/urban area, with a good 56k connection, then you should easily stream at the 56k option without unnecessary pausing. We provide two formats of video: RealONE and WindowsMedia. RealONE delivers better quality video and audio, and requires the FREE RealONE player. Windows Media format requires Windows Media Player 9 with latest codecs - FREE from Microsoft. Broadband users have the option of choosing a speed that matches their connection. Can my Mac play the videos? Yes, if yours is a PowerPC with OS 8.1 (or greater) then there is a beta RealONE Player for your system available for FREE at www.real.com . How do I play the Windows Media format? In order to play the Windows Media Streaming Videos you will need to download and install the latest Windows Media Player 9 available for FREE from www.microsoft.com Macintosh users will be pleased to note that Microsoft has released a beta Media Player for Macintosh 6.x and this can be downloaded for FREE from www.microsoft.com Do you use http or server streaming? We would like to implement server technology in the near future. However with developing industry standards, and a wider range of streaming formats now available, it hasn't always been wise to invest substantially in a standard that may be outdated in the near future. We currently HTTP stream (TCP protocol) and offer several different bitrates and server options. What is broadband? Broadband is a relatively new method of significantly faster digital data delivery. It can utilise existing telephone networks, where the traditional copper telephone cabling can carry high frequency digital data, or satellite connections can also provide significantly improved download speeds. Broadband means significant improvement in quality and delivery. Can I order the video clips on CD? Yes, Message of the Week on CD is available with the latest video clips in broadband quality. This is an exciting ministry - how can I help? We welcome your comments and feedback, and have provided an online form for this. If you would like to assist our team with script writing, presenting, graphics, research or other related areas, please email Message of the Week expressing your interest. You must be a committed follower of Jesus Christ, and an upstanding member in your local church. We are willing to work with you and provide the necessary onsite training for the particular area of expertise you may be interested in. Please contact the Producer to indicate your interest. Wednesday to Friday each week are usually set aside for video recording and editing of material. You are also invited to display on your website a direct link to Message of the Week. For this you may want to use the animated banners displayed here. Simply right-click on the banner and choose "Save As". You may then incorporate it into your website. We do not solicit the public for donations. If, however, you would like to support Message of the Week financially, then know that your contributions are deeply appreciated and will be used to continue fund and develop this growing ministry. Sponsorship - I would like to financially help this ministry. If you would like to support/sponsor this ministry on a once-off or regular basis, then we gratefully acknowledge your contributions. While the production work is currently voluntary/unpaid, any financial contributions that are received are used to pay domain hosting fees, host advertisements in community newspapers and Australian Posters Billboard advertising, as well as pay for postage and production costs of the free multimedia CD. Thank you for your support. Any donations may be sent to: Message of the Week PO Box 777 Northam, WA, 6401, Australia Alternatively, you may use our PayPal online donation facility Copyright © Message of the Week, 1997-2006