Macromedia Flash8 Bible

Flash Video can be deployed as .swf files or .flv files. You can load .flv files from a Web server or stream them from a Flash Communication Server or Flash Video Streaming Service provider.

You can compress source video files in Flash Basic 8 or Flash Pro 8. Flash Pro 8 offers expanded controls for the new On2 VP6 codec.

Flash Player 8 is required for .flv files using the On2 VP6 codec. You can use the Sorenson Spark codec with Flash Video content in Flash Player 6 or higher.

The On2 VP6 codec offers superior compression and image quality compared to Sorenson Spark. However, VP6 requires more computer processing power and memory.

Flash Pro 8's Video Import wizard and the Flash 8 Video Encoder application can add embedded cue points to an .flv file. These cue points can be detected in ActionScript.

The new FLVPlayback component offers you a wide range of control skins and takes the guesswork out of implementing video content with your Flash movies.

You can use SMIL files to control which .flv file is played by the FLVPlayback component.

The Flash 8 Video Encoder can batch process your video clips to the .flv file format.

Sorenson Squeeze 4.2 can create high-quality .flv files in the Sorenson Spark Pro or On2 VP6 codec. Squeeze offers more detailed options for compression presets than the Flash 8 Video Encoder or Video Import wizard.

The On2 VP6 codec supports alpha channels within video content. You can create alpha channels in video applications such as Adobe After Effects.