Encoding Movies In Flash?

[zx50]

I was just wondering, is it possible for you to make a full movie in flash, say something like 1-2 1/2 hour film. If so, then what player would I need to play this back. And would the filesize be too great, that it would be just worth sticking to avi or the usual other formats.

[gonwk]

Hi zx50,

Is your only interest in Flash files because of "File Size" or something else?

G!

[zx50]

I read on the internet that flash files have more detail, and because they can be placed on websites for download, I might be stupidly thinking that they could be very small in size when compared with the usual avi files. A sort of better quality film with less of a filesize idea. I might be wrong on this though.

[gonwk]

Hi zx50,

I googled & googled to see any comparison between FLV & AVI files ... and I could not find much.

Here is what I deducted after few hours of screwing around ...

- If you want to stream online then FLV and SWF is the way to go ... since the biggies YouTube, Google, and the rest use Flash Video.

- FLV files are actually "Compressed" from a Source file ... meaning something like an AVI or MPEG4 or whatever.

- There are numerous Payware to do this "Compression" and "Conversion". Compressiong ... so ... but since they are recommending a 320x240 screen size ... and most likely your source uses a 640x480 ... the 320x240 screen is 4 times smaller so therefore giving you the "More" detailed look. Also, FLV files use the H.263 format which seems to give a better compression ...

So, I hope this has helped ... it sure as heck left me more confused ...

BTW, Nowhere I could find some comparison with Megabyte size ...

G!

[zx50]

Thanks for the info.

[BR7]

I am not sure how well it will do but if you have Photoshop image ready should be able to do it

In ImageReady, you can export a document as a SWF file that can then go directly to the Web or be imported into Macromedia Flash. When creating a SWF file, ImageReady converts animation frames to SWF animation frames. Slices, image maps, and rollovers are lost.
1. In ImageReady, choose File > Export > Macromedia Flash SWF.
2. In the Macromedia Flash (SWF) Export dialog box, select from the following Export Options:
* Preserve Appearance to retain the appearance of the PSD file and rasterize a text or shape layer if they cannot be exported natively to SWF. If Preserve Appearance is not selected, effects are dropped from all layers except raster layers during export.
* Generate HTML to generate HTML in addition to the SWF file.
3. Leave Enable Dynamic Text unselected unless the Photoshop file contains text variables. If the file contains text variables, and you are going to use the SWF file directly on the Web (rather than first importing into Flash), select Enable Dynamic Text. Then specify which characters to embed by choosing None, Full Set, or Partial Set from the Embed Fonts menu. If you choose Partial Set, click any of the following buttons to designate the characters of the partial set, and type specific characters in the Extra text box if necessary:

Includes all uppercase letters button to include all uppercase characters

Includes all lowercase letters button to include all lowercase characters

Includes all numbers button to include all numbers

Includes all punctuations button to include all punctuation
4. Under Bitmap Options, leave the Format menu set to Auto Select and JPEG Quality set to 80.
5. Type a name for the SWF file and choose a destination. Click Save.
6. Click OK.

Tip iconTo export individual layers from a Photoshop file as separate SWF files, choose File > Export > Layers as Files. To export individual animation frames as separate SWF files, choose File > Export > Animation Frames as Files.