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Click here for help with Video Clips
Click here for help with the Live Cam
   
KidRacer-X video clips and Live Cam require the Quicktime Player (available here). There appears to be two options for downloading. One option is to download QuickTime alone or the other option is to download QuickTime with iTunes. Since I know many Windows users prefer their own media players, I will let you decide whether or not you also want iTunes to manage your MP3 music as well. For the purposes of KidRacer-X, all you need is Quicktime.

 

Windows Quicktime Help for Video Clips

The good news is that if you downloaded QuickTime and you're running Windows XP, 2000, or Vista, you should be able to view the video clips. There are a few common problems:

1)

The most common problem has to do with the "exe" extension. Once you've downloaded a file, try changing the file name as shown in the example here. Some Windows computers are hyper-sensitive to filename extensions. In this example, let's pretend you downloaded a movie called "leather" to your computer. Simply changing the filename extension as shown resolves most issues.

leather.mov.exe
leather.exe
   
What you see...
Change the filename to...
   
2)

Are you seeing a green screen? Maybe it's "blocky" or perhaps you're getting video but not audio. Maybe you're getting audio, but no video? This little fix seems to address 95% of all video performance problems. It's an easy fix.

  1. Open Quicktime Player
  2. Go to EDIT>PREFERENCES>QUICKTIME PREFERENCES
  3. Then go to the ADVANCED TAB
  4. Under the video section, UN-Check the box that says "Enable DirectDraw Acceleration"
   
3)
You don't have an extraction program such as WinZip or Stuffit. It is essential for any computer (Mac or Windows) to have one of these programs. Both programs offer a FREE download (availbale by clicking on the icons at right) for extracting downloaded files and I provided those links below. For programmers like myself, I use a paid version to help compress and upload files. If you can't decide, I prefer Stuffit. I think it's easier and more intuitive.
   
4) You have two versions of Quicktime installed and your computer chose the older version. Delete one for the other.
   
5)
   
What you see...
What you should have...

Your problem may be with file association; meaning that by default, Windows wants to use Real Player or Windows Media Player to watch. This is a common problem associated after download. Can I convince you to buy a Mac, yet?

Keep in mind that there are several different Windows operating systems (unlike Mac), so this may vary slightly between versions. For this example, the screenshots below come from Windows XP. One of the most common problems is that Windows wants to "designate" KidRacer-X movies as another file type. Specifically, it sometimes changes the icon on my files like these below and wants to open the video clips in another media player other than QuickTime.

It's important to note that you have a two options here to resolve this problem...
Option 1) I'm only offering this option to inform you, but this is NOT what I suggest you do. I only offer it to keep you informed and for those brave to tinker around. Specifically, Windows has a feature to set your default media player in the "Add/Remove Programs" in the Control Panel. From there, you can click on the "Set Program Access and Default" link. In that link, you can designate default media players and which file types get assigned to different media players.

Option 2) Recommended: Since I don't want to be responsible for screwing up your system settings and making you poke around areas that may cause futher issues, simply use this next option which simply fix the immediate file problem:

Step One
Right click on the icon and go to PROPERTIES
   
Step Two
Click on the
CHANGE button
   
Step Three
Select QUICKTIME
and click OK
   
Step Four
Select OK on the
PROPERTIES Window
   
Step Five
The movie file should now look like this and will open into QuickTime, everytime. 
   
   
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Windows Quicktime Help for Live Cam

Assuming you already downloaded QuickTime and you're running Windows XP, 2000, or greater, you should be able to view the Live Cam with minimal problems. If everything else seems to be in place and you're still having problems, these four easy steps should solve any remaining pesky problems. Please note, after making any changes to your QuickTime settings, it's best to re-connect to the Live Cam feed. You don't have to exit the program, but you should close any open QuickTime window and re-establish your connection to the feed.

The most common error occurs when you clicked on the link to watch the Live Cam and you see an error code or something stating that you were missing components. If you notice closely at what programmed popped up, you may see that it was Windows Media Player or Real Player that opened instead of Quicktime. This happens when you set either of these programs as your default media player. You have two options:

• Remove any setting that designates a particular media player as a "default" player. That way, wherever you are the web, either on Kidacer-X or somewhere else, when you click on a strange link that may have specific media player requirements, your computer will ask you what player to use in order watch that media. This may not be the preferred choice for some.

• The quickest fix without screwing up your preferred settings is to copy the link I mentioned on the Live Cam page which starts off with rtsp://... Copy this entire line, open Quicktime, go to the file menu and find the link that says "Open URL..." and paste that rtsp code in there. That should fix the most common error people experience.

Although I'm unaware if this problem affects Live Cam broadcasts (as opposed to downloaded videos) there is another trick up my sleeve you may want to try. This addresses "green screens" and missing audio or video when watching...

Are you seeing a green screen? Maybe it's "blocky" or perhaps you're getting video but not audio. Maybe you're getting audio, but no video? This little fix seems to address 95% of all video performance problems. It's an easy fix.

  1. Open Quicktime Player
  2. Go to EDIT>PREFERENCES>QUICKTIME PREFERENCES
  3. Then go to the ADVANCED TAB
  4. Under the video section, UN-Check the box that says "Enable DirectDraw Acceleration"

 

If your problem persists, please follow the additional guidelines below that resolve most problems!

Step One
Open QUICKTIME
PREFERENCES.
   
Step 2
Click on the ADVANCED Tab and go to the TRANSPORT SETUP menu. Select CUSTOM. A new popup window will appear as shown in step three.
   
Step 3
Make sure you're settings are set to HTTP and PORT ID 80.

At this point, EXIT any open QuickTime windows and RECONNECT to the KidRacer-X Live Cam. Is your signal working now? If not, move to step four.
   
Step 4
Click the STREAMING TAB and select your current internet speed. Although the automatic setting should work in most cases, it may help to make a selection here.

Don't know your speed? Make a close guess. The more accurate your selection, the better your performance will be.

If anything, don't pick a higher speed then what you receive.

Again, EXIT any open QuickTime windows and RECONNECT to the KidRacer-X Live Cam. Is your signal working now? If not, move to step four.
   
 

Ultimately, the Live Cam is incredibly easy to use and access. Most problems result from the following...

  • You don't have QuickTime 7 (or greater)
  • You're operating system is Windows 98 or earlier (XP, 2000, and Vista is recommended)
  • You don't have broadband (DSL/Cable/T1)
  • You have a firewall (a protective software or hardware configuration) to prevent incoming data feeds. At your own discretion, you may want to adjust those restrictive settings.
  • Your Transport Setup is NOT set to HTTP and PORT ID 80 and it probably should be
  • After you made the suggested settings changes, you didn't re-establish your connection to the Live Cam feed. Try quitting QuickTime and then re-connect to the Live Cam signal.

 
   


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