4 Replies Latest reply: Jul 28, 2007 1:27 AM by JayNewWeb RSS

    Flash encoding

    JayNewWeb Community Member
      I'm a total novice here. I have created my company's very simple websites in DW MX 2004 ( http://www.silver100.com and http://www.silverfacts.com), and am now going to CS3. I got Premiere Elements 3 and Visual Communicator 3 beta and plan to be producing some short and relatively simple video presentations (with some still images and some large text in it as well) for marketing to put on our web site (and perhaps DVD). I have zero experience with this and even less time for a learning curve.

      I'm under the impression that I'll probably want to put some or most of our videos onto the web in Flash format. And if that's the case, it seems my choices for converting video to Flash are:

      - free software (not my first choice)
      - low-cost third-party software (my second-to-last choice)
      - Dreamweaver CS3
      - Flash CS3 Pro

      It seems Premiere Elements (and even Premiere Pro for that matter, as well as any other video editing software from Adobe) will output to FLV format, but that that's still not enough for putting that on your website as a Flash video. You need it to go to SWF.

      According to my searching the Adobe website under Flash development info, the only two programs Adobe makes that will do the actual encoding (correct term?) for putting FLV files into SWF is either the Flash program itself or Dreamweaver. The info says Dreamweaver obviously is considerably more limited than the Flash program (of course), an example being limited choices for the player interface and controls (which I can't imagine I'm going to care about since the basics is all I really want).

      It seems to me that it's just generally a good idea for me to move up from DW MX 2004 to DW CS3 at this time anyway if I plan to put videos of any format on my web pages anyway, and that all things considered, DW CS3 is also my best bet for creating the Flash player/encoding.

      Does it seem I'm on the right track with that conclusion?

      Thanks!

      Jay
        • 1. Re: Flash encoding
          SnakEyez02 CommunityMVP
          FLV is a valid format. You don't need to make it into an SWF file. There is a difference between Flash video files and the SWF or ShockWave Flash files. One major one is that the FLV format is something like you would see on YouTube which is just a video, whereas the SWF file has ActionScript involved in building Flash applications as opposed to just movies. Also moving from Premiere to Flash might not be the easiest move, especially changing timelines and trying to understand the scripting in Flash. If all you want to do is publish your movies to Flash Video format you might just want to look for an encoder. I would say the Flash Video Encoder from Adobe, but as far as I know you can only get that with the purchase of Flash CS 3 Pro.
          • 2. Re: Flash encoding
            JayNewWeb Community Member
            Oh, now I see... it seems I had misread the item under:

            "About Flash video - Additional applications, servers, and video service features - Adobe Dreamweaver CS3"

            at the following link:

            http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flash/articles/video_guide.html

            So, I'm back to finding the most practical, affordable, user-friendly way to do the encoding. Maybe a free or low-cost third-party program (I swear, someone in TS for Premiere CS3 Pro told me to search for a free FLV encoder on the web)... and maybe I'm also back to reconsidering if Flash is even best for my needs versus QuickTime or WMV format. Now that I think about it, I'm guessing a lot of those more professional-looking promotional and educational videos I see a lot on the web these days that use just a little video box with a very simple player right on the web page are using QuickTime, not Flash. Does that seem perhaps accurate? Or are the probably Flash? (Is there a way to look into the properties or source of such a page and find out?)

            Thanks again.

            Jay
            • 3. Flash encoding
              JayNewWeb Community Member
              I've edited this post -- wiped it -- because it's obsolete and the post that follows replaces it.

              -- Jay

              • 4. Flash encoding
                JayNewWeb Community Member
                Okay, now we're onto something...

                Here are two product lines I found that seem extremely appropriate to look at:

                Wildform

                Blue Pacific

                (I feel okay about asking on an Adobe forum for advice about other products because I own half a dozen Adobe products and this is not an area where just buying Premiere Pro or Flash Pro is a simple solution by any means, and I can not afford to take a year to become an expert when I'm just a businessman who needs to generate my own stuff to help me raise sales and funding to where I can hire pros to take over.)

                Anybody have any insights into which is more practical for simple business presentations (in addition to having Premiere Elements and of course DW)? Again, I want to do my video (mainly just me on-camera talking), some still images, and some large text. I may possibly want to add minimal effects but only if they're very easy. I care about clean and simple but businesslike.

                Thanks!