Question:
Hi, I have a web site and would like to add a video using FLASH format. Does anyone know much about flash video (.flv or .swf)? How to create .flv file? Are there any special things I have to do on the server? What would be the most efficient way to add flash video to my site? Thanks. 
Answer:
FLV (Flash Video) is a file format used to deliver video over the Internet. FLV content may be embedded within SWF files. SWF is a vector graphics file format. Intended to be small enough for publication on the web, SWF files can contain animations or applets of varying degrees of interactivity and function. SWF file can be played directly in web browser, such as Internet Explorer. But FLV file can not be played directly, because it requires a separate SWF file which reads the video content from FLV. The SWF file that plays FLV file is called ONLINE FLASH PLAYER. If you want to add flash video to your site, then there are two options, which you can consider: |
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OPTION #1 - Host video on your site.
Pros:
- you can use any online flash player with any skin, interface, look & feel etc;
- quality of video is controlled by you only -- make it very good or bad, as you wish;
- video size is not limited, you can set any size you like;
- autoplay possibility -- video can start to play immediately after a visitor opens your web site;
Cons:
- it requires a high bandwidth, so it may be expensive if you'd expect a lot of visitors to your site;
- your hosting must be reliable to support requests from many visitors simultaneously;
OPTION #2 - Host video on YouTube.com, but insert the video player directly into your web page.
Pros:
- it doesn't require high bandwidth, it's almost FREE even if you have a lot of visitors;
- YouTube is owned by Google, so reliability is guaranteed;
Cons:
- it's possible to use only predefined interface, flash player includes self-advertisement logos of YouTube;
- quality of video is limited;
- video size is only 320x240;
#1 - HOST VIDEO ON YOUR WEB SITE
Step 1. Download and install FREE Video to FLV converter (Riva Encoder): Click here to download Riva Encoder Setup
Step 2. Launch Riva FLV Encoder. Click Start -> Programs -> Riva -> Riva FLV Encoder
Step 3. Click Browse button, and select your Input video, for example VIDEO1.MPG
Step 4. Click the second Browse button, and select Output Directory (where your converted FLV file must be saved).
Step 5. Specify Movie Size (width and height), Bitrate (quality level) and click Encode.
Step 6. Upload FLV video file to your website.
Step 7. Download free ONLINE FLASH PLAYER - Click here to download FLV player
Step 8. Unzip it, and upload the file flvplayer.swf to your website (to the same folder where your FLV video file is located).
Step 9. Finally, insert the following HTML code into web page on your site:
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<embed src="http://www.myfileserver.com/folder/flvplayer.swf" width="320" height="240" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" flashvars="file=http://www.myfileserver.com/folder/video.flv&autostart=true" /> |
Where www.myfileserver.com - is the name of your web server/site
folder - path where FLV file and FLASH PLAYER are located
video.flv - name of your FLV file
You can also set any width and height values.
Done!
Here's a screenshot of FLV player:
#2 - HOST VIDEO ON YOUTUBE, AND INSERT VIDEO INTO YOUR WEB PAGE
Step 1. Upload your video to YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/my_videos_upload
Step 2. On the page, where your video is located on YouTube you can see the following area:
Step 3. Just copy HTML code from the Embed field. After that, paste the HTML code into your web page, and upload to your server. That's all.