Integrating Video: The Solutions

In Flash 8, there are four ways in which you can deploy video content. In the following sections, we provide a high-level overview of these methods.

Loading a Flash Video File at Run Time

Starting with Flash Player 7-compatible movies, you can load Flash Video files (.flv) at run time. When we say "run time," we mean that you can create a separate Flash Video file (.flv), upload it to your Web server, and use ActionScript code or a component to load the video directly into your Flash movie (.swf) as it plays in the Web browser. You can create Flash Video files by:

• Importing a video file into a Flash document, and then exporting the Embedded Video symbol from the document's Library panel as a Flash Video file (.flv).

• Encoding a Flash Video file with the new Flash 8 Video Encoder application, which is enabled with Flash Professional 8.

• Exporting a Flash Video file (.flv) from a QuickTime-compatible application and the FLV QuickTime plug-in that is enabled with Flash Pro 8.

• Using a third-party video compression tool designed to export Flash Video files (.flv) such as Sorenson Squeeze or On2 Flix.

Real-Time Streaming a Flash Video File at Run Time

In the previous section, you learned that it's possible to load a Flash Video file directly into a Flash movie file (.swf) as it plays in a Web browser. However, when you use this type of loading, the Flash Video file is loaded and cached as any other asset accessed at run time. As such, if you have a large video file but only want to watch the last portion of the video, you'll have to wait until most of the video file has been downloaded.

One way you can offer your users the fastest access to Flash Video files (.flv) is to stream the video in real time with Macromedia Flash Communication Server or a Flash Video Streaming Service provider. With this server technology, a Flash Video file is only temporarily cached in the Flash Player's memory. You can more easily protect copyrighted material, and users can seek to any point in the video with minimal wait times.

Note 

Macromedia Flash Communication Server is a specialty server product that works separately from a standard Web server. You can set up and install your own Flash Communication Server, or you can purchase hosting from companies such as MediaTemple or Influxis. The latest version of Flash Communication Server is now called Flash Media Server 2.

Web Resource 

For a list of Flash Video Streaming Service providers, see the Flash Video Hosting Providers section at www.flashsupport.com/links.

Embedding Video into a Flash Movie

The third method that you can use to view video is to embed the video file in the Flash document file (.fla), where it is then published directly inside the Flash movie file (.swf). This method is compatible with Flash Player 6 or higher movies. Flash 8, in either the Basic or Pro edition, can encode your video with the Sorenson Spark or On2 VP6 codec (discussed later in this chapter). It's important to understand that these codecs don't require additional plug-ins for playback — the Web user needs only to have Flash Player 6 or higher (for Sorenson Spark) or Flash Player 8 (for On2 VP6) installed with his browser. Neither Spark nor VP6 use any system-level video codecs; the codecs are built into the Flash Player plug-in.

When you import a video clip as an Embedded Video object, the video is stored in the Library as a Flash Video file (.flv).

Tip 

You can also use a third-party application to create a Flash movie file (.swf) with embedded video. These utilities can produce better quality video than the native encoder used by Flash 8.

Linking Video with QuickTime Flash

When Flash 4 was released, QuickTime movies could be imported into the Flash authoring environment. There, you could animate and develop Flash content that interacted with the QuickTime movie. However, in Flash 4 and 5, you could only export QuickTime Flash movies (.mov) that required the Apple QuickTime 4 (or higher) Player to view. The QuickTime video files were linked to the Flash document (.fla file), which meant that the Flash document didn't store the actual video content. You can still use linked video files in Flash 8 to create QuickTime Flash movies.

Cross-Reference 

You can learn more about QuickTime Flash movies by reading our online PDF archived version of Chapter 41, "Working with QuickTime," from the Flash MX Bible by Robert Reinhardt and Snow Dowd (Wiley, 2002). This chapter can be found online at www.flashsupport.com/archive.