1. Chapter 15 Video

2. Importing Video Into Flash Once you import video into Flash MX 2004, you can control it using behaviors and very basic ActionScript, target different points in the video to allow users to jump from pont to point, transform video clips on the Stage, apply effects such as tinting and skewing, or publish a QuickTime file. You can also cut apart a video and organize the clips, apply color correction, and modify how the video is imported into your Flash project.

3. Acceptable Video Import Formats File TypeExten sion WindowsMacSoftware Audio Video Interleaved.aviYes QuickTime4 or DirectX 7 Digital Video.dvYes QuickTime4 Motion Picture Experts Group.mpg,.mpeg Yes QuickTime4 or DirectX 7 QuickTime Movie.movYes QuickTime4 Windows Media File.wmv,.asf YesDirectX7 Flash Video File.flvYes Neither

4. Sorenson Spark Video Compression Imported video is compressed in Flash using the Sorenson Spark codec. A codec is an algorithm that controls the way video files are compressed and decompressed during import and export. Sorenson Spark is a video encode and decoder that controls how video files are compressed and decompressed.

5. Methods of Compressing Video There are 2 methods that are used to compress video –Spatial compression – compresses the data in each frame of video, similar to the way a JPEG image is compressed. The frames that are compressed using spatial compressions are called intraframes. –Temporal compression – compares data between each frame and stores only the frame differences baetween them. The frames that are compressed using tempral compression are called interframes.

6. Importing Video File Import to Stage (will also appear in Library) Select the video to import. Video Import Wizard appears. Embed video in Flash document. Follow the prompts. Keyframes: 24. Select High quality keyframes Select Synchronize to Macromedia Flash Document Frame Rate Number of video frames to Flash: 1:1

7. Embedding or Linking QuickTime Video Clips When you import a QuickTime video clip, you can choose to embed it or link it. If you embed it, it becomes part of the movie and can be viewed with Flash 6 or above. If you import and link the movie, it will have to be viewed with a QuickTime Player.

8. Compression Profiles From the Compression profile pull-down menu, you can specify a bandwidth to target. The lower the bandwidth you are targeting, the more the video will be compressed in an attempt to reduce the file size enough to allow it to safely stream over the bandwidth target you’ve chosen.

9. Controlling Video with Stop and Go Actions 1. Select the video clip. 2. In Properties Inspector, give the instance a name. 3. Drag a Play button to the Stage and Select. 4. In Actions, enter the script on(release) { instancename.play();} This tells Flash to play the movie when the Play button is released.

10. Controlling Video with Stop and Go Actions cont. 5.Drag a Stop button to the Stage and Select it. 6.In Actions, enter the script on(release) { instancename.stop();} 7.Make sure that you add an actions layer and include instance.stop(); in frame 1 so that the video clip doesn’t play automatically when the movie starts.

11. Controlling Video by Targeting Frame Labels You can also target specific points in the video using behaviors. To accomplish this, 1.Insert a label layer and add labels to the points in the video that you would like to go to. 2.Insert the movieclip behavior “Goto and Play at frame or label” and select the appropriate label.

12. Named Anchors A named anchor is a special frame label that resides on the Main Timeline. Once the named anchor is played in a browser window, it is registered in a browser’s history so when a user clicks on the Back button in the browser, the browser will play the previous named anchor position on the timeline. This allows you to create movies that work with the Forward and Back buttons in a browser.

13. Making a Named Anchor Label Create a labels layer. Click in the specified frame. In Properties Inspector, enter a label name in the Frame label field. Under the Frame label field is a Label Type drop-down menu. Select Anchor.

14. Publish Settings Choose File > Publish Settings to open the Publish Settings window. Click the HTML tab at the top. In the Template drop-down list, choose Flash with Named Anchors. This will add JavaScript into the HTML document that will catch the named anchors as they play in the browser. F12 will allow you to publish your Flash movie and preview it in your browser so that you can test the named anchors.

15. Linking to QuickTime Video Many companies, (like CNN), build QuickTime movies that have Flash controllers. If you need to author QuickTime content, you can link to a QuickTime video clip from the Flash 2004 movie.

16. Linking to QuickTime Video Cont. Import the video to the Stage, selecting the link to external video file button. Note that you can’t preview linked QuickTime video files using the Test Movie command. Instead, you need to export it as a QuickTime movie (MOV). File > Publish Settings –In the Flash tab, choose Flash Player 5. Because the current version of the QuickTime Player will play only Flash 5 content, you have to change the version of the Flash file to Flash 5 before publishing the file as a QuickTime movie. File > Export > Export Movie –Name the movie and select QuickTime as the file format.

17. QuickTime uses tracks to separate and store different forms of multimedia. A Flash track was added in QuickTime version 4. The Flash track allows you to include content that you build in Flash. However, QuickTime will only support ActionScript that is one version less than the version of QuickTime that the viewer has installed. (QuickTime 6 supports Flash 5 QuickTime movies.) The disadvantage to this kind of movie is that it requires the QuickTime player to view the content. You can’t export a linked QuickTime movie as a SWF. You must export it as a QuickTime movie (MOV).

18. Editing Video The new Video Import Wizard allows you to select a video clip and choose which portions of the video that you actually want to import into your movie. This keeps you from having to purchase a video editing program such as Adobe Premier.

19. Editing Video After importing the video, select Embed video in Macromedia Flash document In the Editing pane of the Video Import Wizard, select Edit the video first. This opens the Customize Editing panel. You can trim the length of your video clips, create multiple clips, and reorder video clips. Use Set in Point to specify the beginning of the clip and Set Out Point to specify the end of the clip. Click Create Clip and name the clip.

20. Reversing the Order of Clips Once you have created multiple clips from a video, you can arrange the play order within the Customize Editing window of the Video Import Wizard by selecting a clip and clicking the Move Clip Up button. Checking the combine list of clips into a single library item after import box will consolidate the clips you’ve picked into one video clip within the Library. To keep separate, simply don’t click this check box.

21. Sorenson Squeeze Sorenson Squeeze is a separate product available for purchase which provides higher compression of video than Flash can provide. This is very useful if you plan to import much video into your movies.