Frequently asked questions
MediaGun is the ideal solution when a vast diversity of file formats have to be put together in seconds and displayed immediately. This could be for training, entertaining, selling, teaching, point of sale or point of information animation, etc.
Because it shoots media at high speed to targeted audiences!
Granted, this may sound shocking today, but on its first inception, the world was a much gentler place.
We've been on a decade long quest to find an alternative, but so far, all the good ones are already taken.
An idea? Let us know at contact@mediagun.com.
If your file does not show up in the MediaGun Backstage, then it’s not supported.
If it does show up but MediaGun is not able to play it, your file might be corrupted, or its extension could be incorrect.
To find out, you can download a verified sample file from the MediaGrid and try to play it with MediaGun.
If successful, then the issue lies with your file.
Make sure you are not running other programs unnecessarily when you run MediaGun.
Avoid playing images with a density higher than 150 DPI, with a resolution bigger than your screen, or uncompressed videos. (See also FAQ 6)
Yes. Also, you can scan sub-folders too by checking the box "Include Sub-Folders" on the Backstage. And note that MediaGun can use shortcuts/aliases.
Although you don't need PowerPoint installed on your device, you need an Internet connection.
MediaGun renders your presentation on MS-SharePoint. This process is 100% automatic and totally secured.
Please note that TIMED presentations are sadly no longer supported on SharePoint. We are hoping this feature will be restored in the future.
The workaround is to export them as an mp4 video in PowerPoint. Timings, animations and transitions will be preserved.
If they are smaller than your screen resolution. MediaGun plays them at their real size, as MediaGun does not resize them. This is to prevent loss of quality, as enlarging them would result in pixelation.
Depending on the device's graphic performance, if a picture is larger than the screen, or of a resolution in Dots per Inch (DPI) larger than 150, it may require seconds to appear on the screen.
If you use a picture file which is meant to be printed instead of be displayed in an on-screen presentation, such a file has a typical definition – or density - of 300 – 600 DPI or more, and a resolution far higher than necessary.
In MediaGun – or in any other software program – it may take a long time to show up on the screen, for no extra quality!
The solution is to prepare your pictures at the screen resolution – for example 1920 x 1080 pixels, and at a definition of 72 to 96 DPI.
Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel)
Tell Office to keep fonts inside the file first
File → Options → Save → “Embed fonts in the file.”
Leave “Do not embed common system fonts” unchecked if you truly want every glyph.
Save as PDF
File → Save As → “PDF (*.pdf).” Office now embeds the fonts it just packed into the document.
It's always safer to verify that the desired fonts are preserved before your presentation.
The time during which any text file is displayed in Solo Mode is determined by the amount of words and images. To make sure that your PDF contains every image from the original Word document and that pictures are not degraded:
In MS-Word:
File → Options → Advanced → Image Size and Quality → High fidelity
Insert → Pictures → (no linking)
Save As → PDF → Standard → Options → PDF/A
Open PDF → Ctrl + Minus/Plus → image still looks sharp? You’re done.
Click this button to toggle the video resolution between real size and full screen.
When this is not possible directly from YouTube, a variety of programs exist.
We have successfully tested VideoProc Converter from Digiarty Software Inc. (https://videoproc.com)
See the MediaGrid
MOVIES
avi, divx, flv, m1v, m2t, m2ts, m2v, m4v, mkv, mov, mp4, mpe, mpg(1+2)/mpeg(1+2), mts, ogv, rmvb, vob, webm, wmv, xvid
PICTURES
bmp, gif, jfif, jpg/jpeg, png, psd, tga, tif/tiff, webp
SOUNDS
aac, ac3, aif/aiff, aifc, ape, flac, m4a, mp3, mpa, ogg, opus, ra, wav, wma
DOCUMENTS
doc, docx, ppsx, pptx, xls, xlsx, txt, pdf
Multiple line selection within and across the 4 Media Boxes on the Backstage greatly accelerates the creation of a Playlist. This is done by using standard keyboard key combinations relevant to each operating system.
Selected lines in the 4 Media Boxes can be added to the Playlist either by clicking the ADD button, or dragged and dropped to the desired position in the Playlist.
As soon as a media file in a Playlist is spotted as missing, MediaGun notifies the user. At the moment, missing files can only be restored manually. In the future, it will be possible to automatically download them from the cloud. Of course the alternative is to remove missing Events from the Playlist. It is impossible to get to the Stage with a Playlist containing a missing file. The RUN button is disabled as long as the playlist is not "clean". This is the secret for a worry-free presentation!
A shortcut/alias becomes invalid when its link with the target file is broken. For example when the target is renamed, moved to a different location, or deleted. In every case, MediaGun notifies the user about the issue, so the link between the target and the shortcut/alias can be re-created before entering the Stage. It is impossible to get to the Stage with a Playlist containing an invalid shortcut. The RUN button is disabled as long as the playlist isn't "clean".
This is the secret for a worry-free presentation!
Yes. This enables you to use your corporate identity colours and font. Please note that your font may not be supported on all operating systems. “Arial – 24” will be used if the original one is not available. NB: Only one TXT Style per Playlist is possible.
Yes, you can choose among 15 effects. NB: Only one transition per Playlist is possible.
This window enables the user to display their brand, their company details, the name and date of a particular conference or trade-show, etc. The selected image will be shown in Stop mode.
Accepted formats are jpg and png.
This depends on the type of media and is 100% automatic:
Pictures last 7 seconds (or multiples of 7 seconds by repeating the image).
The duration of TXT files is calculated depending on the amount of words per screen portion.
In Solo mode, MS-Excel and MS-Word documents are automatically converted into PDF. The duration of every PDF page is calculated depending on the amount of words and images per page.
PowerPoint presentations must be exported as mp4 videos. This preserves timings, animations and transitions as saved in the original presentation.
Video and audio are played entirely.
Click on the Stop button, then the Solo toggle button.
Yes. Without exiting Solo mode, navigation to another media file or inside the current file is possible. When the mouse button is released, Solo mode resumes automatically.
We have made the choice to upload and process MS-Office files to SharePoint – a completely safe and automatic method – so that all operating systems will be able to play them (Windows, macOS, Linux) whether or not MS-Office is installed on the device. The small drawback is the time need to upload the file to SharePoint.
Yes, it will. However, note that there is a 100 MB limit to the size of any video file embedded into a PowerPoint presentation slide. If its size exceeds 100MB, play it instead as a separate Event in your Playlist.
Videos can be also linked (i.e. not embedded) to a PowerPoint presentation provided they are uploaded to YouTube and some other services.
Due to the method used to display MS-Office documents, we recommend to embed them rather than accessing them via a hyperlink.
NOTHING. And that’s the beauty of it! (You do need an Internet connection to view MS-Office files though).
Yes, provided you have some EXISTING media files. MediaGun is a versatile player, but it's not meant to create contents out of nothing.
Unfortunately, Microsoft removed this feature in 2024. But the workaround works quite well: Export your presentation as a video from the PowerPoint app. All existing timers, animations and transitions will be maintained.
Of course, this means you will have take this extra step.
You can also export as PDF. MediaGun will set the timers following its own method. Animations and transitions will be lost.
No. But you can transfer your from one computer to another by logging out of MediaGun on the first computer and logging in on the second one . Of course you can purchase a second license!😉
Great! Let us know about it!
Contact us at support@mediagun.com
MediaGun does not export your playlists. The current solution is to screen-record the playlist as an MP4 video. Each operating system offers commercial or free screen-recording apps.
See an example here: https://youtu.be/8UDwhe2paVQ