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How do I embed flash?

by Eric Parnell
5 replies
Hey guys,
I'm wondering the best/easiest way to embed a flash movie on my page (besides using youtube).

I have Adobe After Effects which i can export to an .swf flash file, or as an .xfl file for use in Adobe flash (which I don't really know how to use)

Or I could export to an .avi and use this .flv converter I downloaded...

Not really sure which is the best option.

THEN I actually need the script to post it on my site. I was playing with Dreamweaver and could watch the flv files I embedded locally when I hit preview and it gave me a couple files to upload to the server (flash player and something called clear skin...) So I uploaded those onto my server. Do I only need that if I'm using flv files?

Anyway that's my progress and as you can see I'm very confused. Anybody able to simplify this and help me out?
#embed #flash
  • Profile picture of the author doop
    1. Grab yourself a copy of "JW FLV Media Player" here: JW FLV Media Player

    2. Export your video as an FLV in Adobe AE (try to encode it at around 1-2mb/minute otherwise users may get streaming issues

    3. Upload your video

    4. Use the easy wizard here: Setup Wizard
    to get the embed code for your webpage

    5. If you plan of getting a lot of traffic i'd recommend signing up for Amazon S3 here: Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) It will ensure smoother playback and minimize bandwidth issues.

    Hope that helps!
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    • Profile picture of the author Eric Parnell
      Definitely helps, but there's one problem. In After Effects CS4 you can't export as an flv, only swf or xfl (to be used in adobe flash) should I just use the flv converter I mentioned?
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      • Profile picture of the author doop
        I'm using CS3....

        To export as FLV ->

        Go to: Composition->Make Movie

        In the "Current Render Details Dialog Box" click on "Output Module Settings"

        Under Format You should see "Adobe Flash Video" this is .FLV

        You Can Also Click on "Format Options" to change the bitrate

        As Josh pointed out you should encode at 256kbps to ensure your video can be viewed by the most number of people
        (it will also save your bandwidth)
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    • Profile picture of the author Eric Parnell
      AH! I'd clicked on output module but just selected lossless, by going a folder deeper I found flv. Awesome. Now I'll see if that player I mentioned earlier that I uploaded to my server recognizes this flv. What about script?
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  • Profile picture of the author Josh Anderson
    Eric,

    If you use .flv you can use many third party video players with extra features to improve your publishing experience and your visitors experience.

    If you use .swf you can just use the basic object embed method:

    Flash in HTML

    Personally I prefer flv and players because using powerful features of my players is a must for me.

    2. Export your video as an FLV in Adobe AE (try to encode it at around 1-2mb/minute otherwise users may get streaming issues
    I have been teaching people how to optimize their web video for years but I have never heard of encoding settings as mb/minute.

    All pro encoders offer settings based in kbps (per second) additionally all ISPs available bandwidth is measured in kbps and mbps.

    A properly optimized video designed to reach all of the (slow) US broadband market without buffering/viewing issues should be encoded at no more than 256kbps using either the vp6 or h.264 codecs for best image quality results.

    How well a video streams is impacted by a few things:

    1. How fast the visitors internet connection is.
    2. What bit rate the video is encoded at and whether that bit rate is lower or higher than the visitors internet connection bit rate.
    3. Whether the video is using progressive download or buffering and how much of the file is set to buffer before play.

    To avoid these issues and improve visitor experience I optimize my videos using the highest quality codecs and target bit rates designed to easily be viewed by my largest target markets (In US as much as 30% of the internet user population is on 256kbps or less). I use .flv players that offer me the ability to control the buffer time and play behaviors.

    should I just use the flv converter I mentioned?
    Maybe maybe not. Not all "flv converters" are created equal. It all depends on what codecs it has and whether the quality it produces is acceptable to you. If it's a free converter then it will use inferior codecs. But if that's your only option then go for it... however, you will likely need to encode at higher bit rates to get acceptable image quality results. If using inferior flv encoding software try 350kbps to 400kbps.

    However, if you have CS4 don't you also have Flash Pro?

    Flash pro comes with a second little app called "flash pro video encoder" which can encode your video to flv without you needing to know how or do any flash programming stuff. Flash video encoder is a small app that usually has an optional install when you install flash pro.

    Save as .avi from after effects and encode to .flv.

    ---

    Now having said all that... if all you need to do is put the video in the page and you do not need to control buffering etc or do anything fancy you may want to just export as swf and use the instructions I linked to above for embedding .swf which does not require a player like .flv will.
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