Support & FAQ

Here is a list of our most frequently asked support questions. If the following information does not resolve your issue, please do not hesitate to write us at info@video-tutorials.net.

ABOUT THE COURSES
Q: Do the videos have audio? What language are they in?
A: Our courses have audio; it's in English.

Q: Who makes the courses?
A: Video-Tutorials.Net develops, manufactures and prints all our courses. We are the only authorized distributor of our work, and hold international copyright and intellectual property rights over our work. Solidworks-Lab.com is the online classroom for Video-Tutorials.Net.

Q: What does my subscription include?
A: It includes access to the course you purchased and all the updates we make to it. For example, if you purchased the SolidWorks Library 12-month subscription, you will have access to all the SolidWorks course material we issue through that 12 month period. For the best deal, purchase access to the complete library; this gives you access to all our updates for every product.

Q: Can I get the online courses on disc?
A: We have some courses available on disc (all of the material we released in 2009 & earlier). Our newer material is only available online; we had to move to this delivery model to stem piracy. Let us know if this is inconvenient for your.

Q: How do I know what is in the courses?
A: On the Product Catalog page, and at video-tutorials.net we post many sample videos and the complete table of contents for each course. Please review each course prior to purchase.

Q: I use a Mac. Can I use the online classroom?
A: Yes. The only software prerequisite for viewing this course is the free Adobe Flash Player, available for download at Adobe.com. Both Mac and Windows users need a Flash Player to view the course.

Q: Which courses are you putting out next?
A: The 2010 schedule includes lots of SolidWorks 2010, Catia V6, Inventor 2010, and more music products too. Please send us your suggestions; they are most welcome and will help us determine the priority of our new projects.

Q:Is SolidWorks 2009 & 2008 material relevant to me if I'm using 2010?
A:The answer is YES! There are not many changes between SolidWorks 2008 - 2010, and our "Updates" course covers all of these.

Q: Do the courses include part/sample/model files?
A: Our Visual Basic and SolidWorks 2009-2010 courses include part files. The models in the courses are very straightforward; we show you how to build them in the video chapters. Where the models are more complex, we take you through them step-by-step. Our customers' experience with our course model has been very positive.


PAYMENT, SHIPPING, RETURNS
Q: How can I pay?
A: We accept payment by credit card, PayPal, and Western Union or money order in US dollars. Businesses/educatonal institutions with PO numbers who need an invoice and to pay by check: please email us to make arrangements at info@video-tutorials.net

Q: I'm not in the US or Canada. I don't have a credit card. How can I pay? Can I wire funds to your bank?
A: You can wire funds through Western Union or via bank transfer (for the latter you will need to pay all the fees).

Q: Do you accept checks or money orders?
A: Yes. We accept money orders in US dollars. We accept eChecks through PayPal. This means you need to link your PayPal account to your checking account. For companies and individuals that prefer to pay with a check and require a PO Request, please contact us to make arrangements. All prices on our site are in US dollars.

Q: Do you ship worldwide? Do you ship to my country?
A: Yes, all countries, for the same flatrate fee of $3. All discs include a subscription to the online classroom .

Q: Where's my disc? Where's the tracking number?
We ship next business day after you pay, but please allow at least 7 business days for delivery in the USA and and 10-14 business days overseas (longer if you're in a remote area). If for some weird reason it doesn't arrive, we'll resend, no questions asked. We don't send the packages with tracking info since the postal service is generally extremely reliable.

Q: Do you give refunds?
A: Once you have access to the online course we have no way to prevent piracy, so we don't issue refunds. Please be sure you review the course contents and samples carefully prior to purchase. You can also review some of our customer feedback and reviews on websites like eBay and Amazon; we have hundreds of comments from customers on these sites.

Q: How do I add additional courses to my account?
A: Login to your account (or create a new account if you don't already have one). At the top of the screen, go to Product Catalog. Click the Add to Cart link next to each course to purchase it. You can also buy the same courses from Video-Tutorials.Net.

Q: Do you offer educational and/or volume discounts?
A: But of course! Students are eligible for 30% discount. Please send us a copy of your valid student ID & proof of enrollment via email. We give volume discounts of about 50-70% to schools and companies purchasing multiple licenses, depending upon the volume. We can also give you a price for a network installation (please let us know how many users you need it for). Please email info@video-tutorials.net for our volume discount pricing sheet.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS & USAGE
Q: Does the disc play in my TV's DVD player?
A: These discs play in your computer. You can connect your computer to your TV, if you like, but the discs won't play in your TV's DVD player.

Q: What are the system requirements for playing the course on disc?
A: You need a DVD-ROM / CD-ROM, the current version of Adobe Flash Player installed and you need to set your screen resolution to at least 1200x900.

Q: What are the system requirements for using the online classroom?
A: The course files are Flash files (.swf) and you need to be connected to the internet to view them. You will need to have an Adobe Flash Player and a reliable, fast high-speed internet connection to view via the online classroom. You can't view offline; you need to be connected to the internet to take the course.

Q: Can I download the online courses to my hard drive?
No. The online classroom courses require you to view while connected to the internet.

Q: Can I make copies of the course for my friends / colleagues? Can more than one person use the same access codes?
A: No. Each user needs a unique access. The access is not transferrable. The server does not permit simultaneous logins of the same user access. These materials are protected by international copyright and we police pirates carefully. We offer great educational discounts if you're a student, and excellent volume discounts to companies or educational institutes who need to purchase multiples or a network license.

HOW TO LAUNCH AND VIEW YOUR COURSE
Q: How do I start my online course at SolidWorks-Lab.Com?
A: It's simple! Please review the following instructions.
1. First, login to your account.
2. Go to the User Control Panel (click the link at the top of the page).
3. Click on the course you want to view.
4. Select a viewing mode (Frames or PopUp). In Frames view, the player is embedded within the browser window, with the table of contents in a panel on the left-side of your screen. In PopUp view, the player appears in a new broswer window.
5. Select a video from the panel/window on the left.
6. Repeat to view additional videos.
7. To get back to the Control Panel, click Control Panel at the top of the screen.

Important: in PopUp mode, don't close the video player to start a new video. If you do this more than a few times, this messes with the system security controls and you'll be booted out of the online classroom--the video file won't load.

Q: How do I download my course?
A: First, read & follow these guidelines: - Files are large; please allow sufficient time for download and ensure your high-speed connection is working well. - Please download only one file at a time. - DO NOT RENAME the files. - Don't overtask your CPU during download with miscellaneous multitasking, or the file will be corrupted/incomplete. Then, follow these instructions: 1. Click on the link we sent you, or copy & paste it into your browser. Enter your access codes into the prompt box. 2. Right click on the file to download & select Save Target As. 3. Browse for your desired location on your hard drive. Don't rename the files! 4. Click Save.

Q: How do I uncompress my course?
A: Our course files are compressed using WinZip or WinRar. Your computer has some default software on it for uncompressing files. If you don't, you can download WinZip at http://www.winzip.com/downwz.htm or WinRAR at http://www.rarlab.com/download.htm (you'll need to choose which version of this freeware to download based on your operating system).
1a. Double-click on the Zip file to launch your uncompressor program.
1b. Select all the files and click Extract.

2a. OR, you can right-click on the Zip file and choose Open With.
2b. Choose your compressor program, and then drag the folder within the zip file on to your desk-top.

Q: How do I start my course?
A: Please follow these instructions:
1. Open the course folder.
2. Double-click on the VTN icon executable file.

TROUBLESHOOTING YOUR COURSE
Q: I can't see the player controls and / or the full video screen...
A: Our player is 1149 x 831, and the video files themselves, with pause/play controls, are 930 x 730. Viewing the course comfortably means you need to set your screen resolution to at least this size.. If you're not comfortable with your screen resolution this size, or if your monitor is small and your computer doesn't offer a resolution of this size, you can view the chapters outside of our player by opening the video files directly. Open the disc, then the vf folder(s), and then the .swf files that start with "a". Example: vf/a01.swf etc.

Q:I'm getting a "concurrent login not permitted" message at SolidWorks-Lab.com. What's up?
A:Only one user may login at a time for an account; simultaneous logins are not permitted by the system. Make sure you logout from one computer before logging in at another computer. Also, the license is not transferable, so only one person per account, please!

Q: The playback is choppy or otherwise isn't working correctly...
A: No, it ain't the video! Here's some troubleshooting tips:

- Ensure you've got the latest Flash player from Adobe.com (v9 had a bug)

- If you're running Vista, ensure you've got at least Service Pack 1 installed.

- If you're working from a disc, copy the contents to your hard drive to reduce the load on your ROM drive.

- If none of this helps, there may be a driver conflict on your computer with Macromedia Director, the program we've used to compile the courses. In this case, try playing the course outside of our player. You can view the chapters outside of our player by opening the video files directly. Open the disc, then the vf folder(s), and then the .swf files that start with "a". Example: vf/a01.swf etc.

- As a last-ditch alternative: download a free standalone Flash player (it has built-in controls): http://www.globfx.com/downloads/swfplayer/ or http://www.eolsoft.com/freeware/flash_movie_player/ are good options. THEN open the vf folders, and launch the .swf files that DON'T start with "a". Eg: vf/01.swf.

Q: My drive is always chugging and I see a "loading" message in the player; the playback seems choppy. What should I do>
A: Something's up with your drive, or there is a conflict between a driver and Director, the program we use to compile the courses. Clean the disc and try again. If that doesn't work, copy the contents of the DVD to your computer and run it from your hard drive instead of the ROM drive.

Q: The audio is choppy and doesn't match the video...
Please download the latest Flash player; this usually does the trick.

Q: I'm getting a "concurrent login not permitted" message at SolidWorks-Lab.com. What's up?
A:Only one user may login at a time for an account; simultaneous logins are not permitted by the system. Make sure you logout from one computer before logging in at another computer. Also, the license is not transferable, so only one person per account, please!

Q: I can't see the player controls and / or the full video screen...
A: This may happen if your laptop has a small screen. The dimensions of the player work best if your monitor is at a high resolution. If you're not able to view the course on a computer with a monitor allowing a resolution of 1400 x 1200, here are a couple work-arounds:

1. In Frames view, just scroll down the page to access the controls.
2. In PopUp view, you can also scroll down the page to access the controls, or drag your browser window as high up as you can to make the controls visible. This generally works with Firefox and Google Chrome, but with some versions of Explorer you may not be able to drag the window out of the viewing area.
3. Auto-hide the Task Bar at the bottom of your screen so it's not blocking the controls. Right-click on the desktop, and select Properties. Check the "Auto-Hide" option.

Q: My online video file is not loading...
A: This can happen if your internet connection is too slow, or if you are viewing in PopUp mode and have closed the video player browser. If this latter describes your problem, please return to Frames viewing mode by clicking Frames at the top of the screen. Then the videos should load, and you can return to PopUp view (making sure not to close the video browser when you switch to a new video).

Important: in PopUp mode, don't close the video player to start a new video. Just click on a new video link; it will load in the same browser window.

Q: I use a Mac. I can't unzip the file. What should I do?
A: OS 10.3 and later have a built-in utility that will uncompress a Windows zipped (or rar'd) file. If you're using a different OS, you'll need to download a freeware utility to do this, like Stuffit or MacZip. Here's a link to the latter: http://mac.softpedia.com/get/Utilities/MacZi.shtml.

Q: Can I copy the disc to my hard drive?
A: Yes. This will improve performance and lessen the load on your ROM. You won't have to listen to your drive whirring if you transfer the course to your hard drive.