Most of our products are video downloads and, if you’ve downloaded movies from sites like iTunes, you know how this works. If not, this guide will get you started.

You have the option to download our videos in either MP4 format (best for Macintosh, most mobile devices and Windows PCs with QuickTime Player or iTunes installed) or WMV format (WMV 9 plays on the vast majority of Windows PCs that have Windows Media Player installed).

We offer two sizes of MP4 files. The larger file (usually 854×480 screen resolution and 1624 kbps total bit rate, for you techies) offers best quality in a reasonable file size for computers and iPads (needs to be transferred from a computer). The smaller version (usually 480×269 resolution and less than 1000 kbps bit rate) will still look reasonably good on a computer, but can also be reliably transferred to an iPhone or Android phone without taking up too much file space or exceeding the phone’s processing power.

If you have Windows XP or later on a PC, we recommend that you download and use the free Quicktime Player (or iTunes) and select MP4 files (see how below). This format provides better visual quality in smaller files an allows you to view files that are compatible with the most popular smart phones. Also, using Quicktime may offer an easy solution if you experience compatibility problems with Windows Media Player. However, if you can’t or don’t want to install QuickTime Player or iTunes on your PC, WMV files should work just fine. All Macintosh computers have QuickTime Player built in and will play the higher-quality MP4 files.

Testing Video Playback

You should be able to download any of our videos to a computer and play it without difficulty (you’ll need to transfer files from a computer to use them on mobile devices). However, it’s still a good idea to run a test first, so you can work out any issues before deciding on a format and purchasing a video.

To make sure your computer is set up to play our videos properly, simply click one of these add-to-cart buttons for a free test video.

For Macintosh/PCs with QuickTime/iPads (MP4) — larger screen/file size

For Macintosh/PCs with QuickTime/iPhone/Android (MP4) — smaller screen/file size

For PCs with Windows Media Player (WMV)

When you get to the cart, click the Checkout button to complete your free download and test your video (double-click the downloaded video to try it out, if it doesn’t open automatically).

This way, you can:

• Test our shopping cart and download system
• Make sure you know where downloads go on your computer (usually the desktop or a downloads folder — search for file name Video_Test if you can’t find it)
• Make sure you have a video player that can play the video format you select, and you know how to make it play the video
• Test your ability to transfer a video to a tablet or phone and play it

If you can’t play a WMV video you have downloaded to your PC, you may need to re-install Windows Media Player. To download a free version of a Windows Media Player, go to the following Microsoft page:

Windows Media Players

Alternatively, you can download a free QuickTime Player to your PC, which is what we recommend for greatest quality and flexibility. You can then download MP4 files. Click here for QuickTime 7.6.5, which is compatible with Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7.

QuickTime Player for PCs

If you have a Macintosh, you should have no problem, as QuickTime is automatically installed and plays MP4 files.

One more thing. We compress (Zip) our video files to guarantee that they download on your computer (so that you can’t mistakenly view them without saving them). Both Windows PCs and Macintosh computers have Zip-file decompression built in to their operating systems, so the files should convert automatically to MP4 or WMV files upon arrival, or at least convert when you double-click on a given Zip file.

If for any reason your decompression software isn’t working, simply download a free version of Stuffit Expander (Windows 7/Vista/XP or Mac), through the following link:

Stuffit Expander

Transferring Videos to Mobile Devices

In many cases, you won’t be able to download a video directly to a mobile device and will have to transfer it from your computer to your tablet or phone. Each mobile device has its own system for handling this, so look up that method on the internet to learn how to do it.

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Shopping

Shopping in this store is no different than it is in other online stores. Simply browse through our product descriptions and click the associated “Add to Cart” button whenever you see a product you’d like to place in your shopping cart.

Getting Discounts

We provide a 10% discount on purchased products whenever you process an order with five or more items in your shopping cart. Once you add a fifth item to your cart, these discounts will automatically appear in your “View Cart” display.

In addition, we package many of our products into “courses”, which also discount the included products by 10% and include additional tools. If you include a course as one of five or more items in your order, you get both discounts applied to the products within the course (almost 20% off).

Checkout

Checkout proceeds in a familiar way. Click the View Cart button on the right to go to your shopping cart and follow directions to complete purchases. You may use the cart to change quantities or delete unwanted products from the cart before processing payment (there’s no reason to order more than one of any downloadable item; we provide this functionality in case you want more than one of a physical product, such as a hat).

We use PayPal (an eBay subsidiary) for our payment processing, so secure, flexible payment processing is assured. You can use either your credit card or PayPal account for payment. If you want to use your credit card, simply click the “Don’t have a PayPal account?” link on the first PayPal page and you’ll be directed to a credit card page instead of a PayPal account page.

Once you’ve completed your purchase, you’ll be directed to a PayPal thank you page.

IMPORTANT. Make sure you click the yellow “Complete Purchase” link on this page.  This will take you to the correct product download page. If you skip this step, you won’t get access to the download page immediately. However, you will receive an email with a link to the download page, as a backup.

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Downloading Products

Once you get to the download page, you’ll see a download link for each product purchased. Each link is good for twenty-fours hours from the time the link is issued and for three attempts at downloading the product. This should give you what you need to download each product successfully. Just click each download link to initiate each download.

The email with the link to this page will serve as a backup in case you lose access to the download page before your downloads are completed successfully. If for any reason you cannot successfully complete a download in the allotted time and tries, reply to this email with a note explaining the problem.

The Download Process

If you’re familiar with online video, you’ll know that there are three ways to deliver it: streaming (immediate viewing with no download), progressive download (you can start to watch it as it downloads) and straight download (which means you can’t view it until the download is complete).

We’ve chosen to go with straight download, because we believe most people prefer to wait a few minutes to get a much better product. Here’s what we mean:

• First, straight download gives you a product you can view whenever you want to in the future, unlike a streaming video. You own it, and can even produce copies that will work on portable devices such as smart phones and iPods.
• Second, you get a better product. By going with a straight download, we don’t have to reduce file size or transfer rate (which affects image quality) to make sure you have an uninterrupted streaming or progressive download experience. In other words, we can give you a larger screen size and better quality.

The key thing to understand is that your download may take 2-6 minutes or more, depending on the size of the file and the speed of your Internet connection (you’ll need a broadband connection, such as DSL or cable). But what you’ll end up with will be a much better product.

By the way, understand that you don’t have to be captive to the download process. Once you initiate your downloads, you can do whatever else you want on your computer while they proceed in the background. Still, we recommend that you keep the download page open until you confirm that all your downloads are sitting on your computer’s desktop or in whichever folder you’ve designated o receive video downloads. If you have difficulty finding the file, you can search your computer for it using a keyword from the file’s title.

Using and Converting Files

You simply double-click a video file to play it. This will open a player window with standard controls (play/pause, fast forward, etc.). The video will display in 854 by 480 pixels resolution, but you can drag the lower right corner of most players to make the image bigger. This resolution will still look good in a significantly larger window.

Archiving Files

Finally, if you have limited hard-drive space for video files, you can burn multiple videos to a CD or DVD for storage and delete the original files from your computer. You can then re-insert the CD or DVD into your computer to view the video at any time. Another option is to store your video files on an external hard drive.

Keep in mind that the MP4 and WMV video formats will not play in a standard DVD player connected to a TV. You’ll have to convert the videos to a format compatible with DVD players to burn them to a DVD and view them on a TV.