:Enhancing Flash Video
:Enhancing Flash Video
The flash video format (file extension .flv) is rapidly becoming the de facto standard on the World Wide Web, overtaking entrenched formats such as .mov (which plays in the Apple Quicktime player), .wmv (Windows Media Player) and .rm (Real Player). Where a few years ago, best practice involved providing an array of video files to accommodate a variety of platforms and bandwidths, today many popular sites deliver Flash video, and Flash video only. Sites that rely on .flv include all the major television network sites, YouTube, Google, MySpace, Reuters and even Microsoft. The .flv format is also preferred by the Open Source Portfolio project, currently being piloted at UD, with an eye to possible adoption.
Those who wish to jump on the .flv bandwagon may be discouraged to find that the software on their Multimedia PC or MacIntosh can not be used to generate the most popular video format for web delivery. While this seems likely to change in the near future, the short term solution is to convert your existing videos to .flv. This is a relatively simple thing to do, using one of several software packages. The two best programs appear to be the Adobe (formerly Macromedia) Video Encoder that ships with Flash 8, or the On2 video encoder. Both these programs deliver excellent quality at a low filesize. Users in the University of Delaware community who do not wish to purchase an encoder may take advantage of software located in the new Student Multimedia Center or (for faculty) at the PRESENT. You can even send a (short) video to the PRESENT using the UD drop-box and save yourself a walk to Smith Hall.
Once you have reformatted your video, you might want to take advantage of the many ways in which flv video can be enhanced. Because Flash video plays in the extraordinary Flash plugin, there is virtually no limit to what can be done with .flv. Creating enhancements is by no means easy, since it involves both purchasing and learning to use the Flash development environment. Here at UD, our in-house Flash developer is working on a small number of standard enhancements that a non-programmer can take advantage of with no expense, and little or no training.
Virtual Reality Template [view sample] : This tool creates video that the user can rotate in space by dragging his cursor across the video screen. Typically this requires 36 still images of the object, taken at 10° intervals. It can also be used for panoramas. The effect is similar to the Quicktime Virtual Reality (qtvr). We can convert an existing video file, or start with your still images. Sorry, no vertical rotations are available at this time.
To use the VR template, send your file(s) to Becky Kinney (bkinney@udel.edu) using the UD dropbox. Type 'vr' in the description field to indicate that your video is intended to be virtual reality. If you need help using the dropbox, check out this annotated demonstration.
Annotation Tool: This online tool can be used to create 'bookmarks' within your video. Students can jump to any section of your video by clicking on a link. They can also see which topic is currently playing simply by noting the pointer that appears beside the active bookmark. Comments or transcripts can be added to any bookmark location, and these will appear beneath the video window.
That's all we have ready at this time, but we are always looking for new ideas. If you think of something you'd like to be able to do with Flash video, let us know!