Multimedia Macro Changes Aspect Ratio of Video

[sponjworthy]

The multimedia macro works great for embedding video in our confluence site, but my video format 16:9 .mov file is getting pinched into a 4:3 aspect ratio (even in full screen). I don't see an option to change the aspect ratio. Anyone have any thoughts on how to fix the aspect ratio displayed?

[Shannon S · Accepted solution]

Hello there,

I've tried the same with a 16:9 movie I downloaded. I have it in both mp4 and mov, and it retains the 16:9 aspect ratio when I embed it in Confluence 6.6.0.

• Did you notice this with many video files, or is it a particular video file?
• How was that video file created? Was it converted at all? 
• Which browsers does the problem occur in?
• Have you set any height and width properties using the Multimedia Macro?

Regards,

Shannon

[sponjworthy]

I spent more hours than I care to admit trying to figure out where the disconnect was in the video format and find which formats and compressions work with the multimedia macro. I finally found one. mp4 that worked correctly. If I were a good forum citizen I'd document what does and doesn't work with the confluence macro. I'll try to get a comprehensive list. There are a lot of new compressions it doesn't work with. Going back to an older h.264 also helped. Thanks a million!

[Jerry Dodge]

I've been using Confluence to document daily meetings on Skype. Every morning, we record our Skype group call, which after the meeting is done, it spits out an mp4 file automatically. I download that mp4 and drag it into Confluence to embed in that meeting's page.

The weird thing is that most of the time, it gets squished down to 1/3 of the size (portrait oriented) as described here, however on two occasions it went just fine. Exactly the same format, produced from the exact same software / scenario. 

[Shannon S]

Hi Jerry,

Thank you for following-up on this. Back when this question was originally asked, I wasn't able to replicate this behavior in the most recent version of Confluence Server. (6.6.0). I was hoping to hear more information from @sponjworthy about their case so that I could report it, but I didn't end up getting any more information regarding that.

In your case, after having a look at your other questions on Community, I think you possibly may be on Confluence Cloud instead. Is that the case, and has your site admin already reported this to the Support Team?

There was a bug logged for Cloud very recently:

• CONFCLOUD-69899 Wrong aspect ratio for videos on Confluence Pages

I don't believe this was necessarily the same issue from this question in 2018, but it may be the problem you're encountering now. It also appears to be specific to the new editor.

Can you tell me if you are, in fact, using Confluence Cloud, and if this is in the new editor? Do you encounter the same issue in the legacy editor?

Thank you for your help.

Shannon

[Jerry Dodge]

Hi,

I'm in fact using Cloud, I keep forgetting there's a difference. I just double checked, and actually all videos from Skype are doing this. When I first make the page and upload the video, it shows correctly. But after publishing the page, when viewing it, that's when it's messed up. 

It does appear that issue is the same. 

[Shannon S]

Hi Jerry,

Thank you for confirming that. Are you able to use the legacy editor in the meantime as a workaround? You should have the legacy editor template available on your site, but if you don't, please let me know.

Shannon

[Jerry Dodge]

Considering this is over 2 years old, and the problem still exists, I'm starting to lose faith on Confluence. It's a great platform, if only all these issues could be fixed in a timely manner.

[Deleted user]

I am also having the same issue when I upload a mp4 video. It looks great when I upload the video but when I share the page with my team the ratio changes. Is there an update on this issue?

~ Alice

[Richard Brown]

Same problem.  Really bizarre, and disconcerting that the issue still exists after all this time.

[Shannon S]

Hello all,

My apologies that you've been having trouble this issue for so long. If you are currently encountering this issue on Confluence Cloud, this is the bug that was created in April 2020 where you can follow the progress:

• CONFCLOUD-69899 Wrong aspect ratio for videos on Confluence Pages
  

I'm happy to say that this is on our short term roadmap to fix. Be sure to click This affects my team on the case above, and you'll be added to the list of watchers and receive updates in the future.

Take care,

Shannon