[James Mitchell]

I have heard quite a good buzz about the Flash Video file extension FLV.

1. I wondered what experience you all have with it and what you think about it.

2. As far as streaming is concerned is there a better/faster way?

3. For those of us without Flash is there a good converter that can be used (possibly listed in that link under external links)?

4. Is there something similiar to this kind of progressive streaming for audio files?

[marcamos]

JPMitchell, on Sep 18 2006, 02:44 PM, said:

I have heard quite a good buzz about the Flash Video file extension FLV.

1. I wondered what experience you all have with it and what you think about it.

2. As far as streaming is concerned is there a better/faster way?

3. For those of us without Flash is there a good converter that can be used (possibly listed in that link under external links)?

4. Is there something similiar to this kind of progressive streaming for audio files?

For your 3rd question, I have some info. I wish I had more, but I'm a major n00b in the world of Flash. Anyway, a little while back I was looking for an app that could take a video burned onto a personal DVD (the legal type) for a client's web site and copy > convert it onto my desktop for use in a Flash movie. I knew .flv would be the best way to reach the widest audience, I just needed to find an app that could do it.

I came across a great free program called ffmpegX (Mac only). It's simple and has a million options, such as converting to over 10 different media formats, and even changing the size of the video during the process. There were filters to add, but I hadn't played with any of them.

Here is the site: http://homepage.mac.com/major4/

[James Mitchell]

Looks interesting... I'll have to dig a bit deeper. [ fyi: How to encode a movie in FLV format ]

Keep the replies coming.

[sypher]

Flash 8 comes with an external app that converts videos to flv. Its an easy process, import the video. Choose player styles etc.

[Catalyst]

The converters I know of cost more than Flash does, but I'm sure if you look enough you'll come across something.

I do like the format and use it often. A lot of the streaming formats require something type of stream server on the host, which FLVs don't.

On #4 are you trying to stream audio to a web page or just across the internet?

[James Mitchell]

Catalyst,

A friend of mine said there was a free FLV convertor (only downside is file sizes are not nearly as compressed).

Also regarding #4 - in most cases they will likely be streaming through a webpage (similar to youtube and other embedded players [wimpy player])

[sypher]

Yargh like I said flash 8 be comin with a beauty of a gem yargh *belch* no need to squander yar fortunes with other swashbuckling pirates!

[Blue Render]

JPMitchell, on Sep 19 2006, 10:02 AM, said:

Catalyst,

A friend of mine said there was a free FLV convertor (only downside is file sizes are not nearly as compressed).

Also regarding #4 - in most cases they will likely be streaming through a webpage (similar to youtube and other embedded players [wimpy player])

Riva flv encoder http://www.rivavx.co...php?encoder&L=3
It is free and does a decent job but results in big file size as you mentioned. Sorenson Squeeze used in conjunction with On2's VP6 codec does a fantastic job but is a pricey tool.

Progressive FLV is definitely the way to go. Simulated streaming and good quality.

[marcamos]

Thank you for the info Blue Render, and welcome to our little township.

[habinfotech]

Post removed

[Shirley]

JPMitchell, on Sep 18 2006, 02:44 PM, said:

I have heard quite a good buzz about the Flash Video file extension FLV.

1. I wondered what experience you all have with it and what you think about it.

2. As far as streaming is concerned is there a better/faster way?

3. For those of us without Flash is there a good converter that can be used (possibly listed in that link under external links)?

4. Is there something similiar to this kind of progressive streaming for audio files?

video hosting website basically uses flash video as their video format, like youtube, flv is becoming more and more popular on the Internet. If you don't hava flash video and want to convert other video format into flash video, just use some converter, take Moyea Flash Video MX Pro(http://www.swfkits.c...r/download.html) as example, this converter can convert video to FLV. It supports almost all types of source video files such as mpeg, avi, mpg, wmv, rm, rmvb, mov and so on. For question 4, swf is similiar, but as I know, flv is better than swf, as flv's size is smaller than swf.