FLASH: video flash

[phillip m. torrone]

i get asked by clients and other developers about video in flash quite a

bit, they want it. so when this new tool called flix came out i can finally

say there's an automated way for putting video in flash besides the manual

process of importing a quicktime in, saving out all the frames, importing

back in, adding the sounds...flix is highly optimized and meant for making

video swfs.


here's a macromedia tech note if you're unfamiliar with what i mean by

video flash:

http://www.macromedia.com/support/flash/ts/documents/simulate_video01.htm


at fallon we do lots of tv, so the clients often want to put these online-

but there's always the issue of the which video format, what will the users

have, the file size, all that. also most of the sites we work on are flash

based and often clients don't always like the square box with real,

quicktime, or windows branding \ controls as part of the plugin. 


having video in flash also allows us to preserve the user experience and

also take advantage of the fact of the large penetration rate and ubiquity

of flash to display content.


now video in flash isn't for 2 hour movies or high quality video, it's

great for things like this:

http://www.flashenabled.com/eds


this is a commercial we (fallon) did for eds, it's in the herding cats

series. it's pretty good. and this was just a quick test :]


below is more information, check it out.


cheers,


pt




Video in Flash is Here! Wildform Releases Flix -- The First SWF Video Encoder


Wildform is pleased to announce the release of Flix, the first and only

tool that encodes video into SWF, the Macromedia Flash format. Now you can

take your video and audio files and convert them into the most popular

media format on the web - viewable by more than 95% of browsers without a

download!


Flix-encoded video lets you:

-Stream video to over 95% of web browsers without a download - even through

firewalls

-Insert links in your video files

-Create hassle-free video banner ads and video e-mails

-Integrate video into customized media players and UIs

-Embed video into HTML web pages, or larger Flash movies


Flix enables you to convert your video into an SWF file in three easy steps

-- select your source file, choose a bandwidth preset, and click encode!

You can also easily customize your settings, embed links and data

variables, change your swf framerate, set your movie to loop, or choose

from a number of other features.


Come see Flix for yourself today. Visit www.wildform.com to view Flix

demos, and samples of Flix-encoded video. Be sure to check out our

resources section to get our latest tutorials, smart clips and video and

Flash links.


Flix, available for only $99, includes 15 days of e-mail support. To

purchase Flix, go to: www.wildform.com/flix/purchase.


Specs:

Flix encodes SWF files from the following formats: .asf, .avi, .mp3,

.mov/.qt, .mpeg, .wav, .wma, and .wmv.  To view and encode Quicktime

movies, you will need the free Quicktime player (www.quicktime.com).  To

view and encode the other formats, you will need the free Windows Media

Player (Windowsmedia.com).


Flix's video encoding capabilities are intended primarily for lower bitrate

video (28.8k, 56k and 128k) and clips under 3 minutes in length.  However,

it is capable of encoding longer clips, as well as video for higher bitrate

streams (especially if those clips are short - a minute or less).

Depending on your source material and your intended audience, your results

may vary. We strongly suggest you do not create SWF video output that

exceeds 50 MB of player RAM usage. In addition, as with all PC based video

encoding, the faster your processor and the more RAM you have, the better

your encoding experience will be.  Remember that you will also need plenty

of hard drive space for your video files.


Flix's audio encoding is intended for audio files of any bitrate (low to

high) up to the maximum allowed number of frames in the SWF format (which

is 16000 frames).


System requirements:

64MB RAM

Pentium II 233MHz

10MB free disk space

Win 98/ME/2000/NT 4.0

Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher



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 November 27-29, 2000, LONDON, National Film Theatre


   Produced by United Digital Artists and lynda.com

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-http://www.flashforward2000.com  or UK tel. +44 (0870) 751 1526

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