Uploading video to Flash format

[MarkTheNoob]

Used hexus for all my hardware needs over the last few years and was hoping you guys could help again or point me in the right direction.

I have a website and i want to upload high quality videos to it. I don't want to have download links for the video files but rather play them as flash videos but i know nothing about it. Can aqnyone tell me the best program and settings to convert videos or where i could chase down the info.

Thanks guys!

[santa claus]

AFAIK, if you're going show videos via Flash, importing them converts them to .flv format (the Flash video format) and this will compromise the quality. You could stream the videos through a Flash player and this may get around the problem; you could use a preloader so your audience knows your movie is loading. Be warned though, size is everything on the web. If you're too ambitious and want to use big files you may end up with smaller numbers of people willing to await them playing.

A great site for all things Flash is www.webwasp.co.uk where you will find free, clear, step-by-step tutorials on what you want to do plus it's supported by an expert owner and mods who will help if you get stuck .

[Clockwork_Killa]

Im not sure I agree with the above post.
First of all if you want to convert youre video to flash format, you will need to either use the separate flv encoder program that comes with flash, or if you dont have flash then you will need to download a free flv encoder (something like riva).
Make sure to check the settings before you encode, then when your happy with those start ecoding.
After youve got your videos encoded, embed them in your page, Id recommend using dreamweaver for that as it does it all for you (it actually imports and embeds a prebuilt flash video player so you dont have to worry about any actionscript or preloaders). Make sure you set the video type to progressive before embedding, and you should end up with streaming videos that are playable pausable etc etc.
Hope that helps

Also, the quality of your flv videos will depend on the source material and the encoding settings, but generally you can get good quality videos with relatively small file sizes.

[santa claus]

I'm not entirely sure with which part of my post that you don't agree? Your post doesn't seem to directly contradict anything I've said.

My post describes a method. Your post describes an alternative method. I still think if Flash is used some quality will be lost.

No need to learn actionscript.