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Thread: Flash to Video Tape

  1. #1
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    I need to transfer a looping Flash animation to a video tape for use as nightclub projections. Can anyone tell me what exactly I need? I have an Apple Mac G4
    Many thanks
    Andy

  2. #2
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    i take it you mean from flash to VHS? I've got the same problem - i'm doing this cartoon in flash that a customer wants on video and vcd - with sound too. The only way i've figured to do it is to export the movie as an avi then use premier to construct the soundtrack. You can then send the completed avi to a company that does video duplication (usually about 75p per unit) - it has to be 25 fps and if it's being played on a monitor/tv then it needs to be the correct dimensions - i think 768 x 576 px

    has anyone else got any other way of doing it?

  3. #3
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    Ive been looking into ways of doing it and the other way Ive discovered is to save the animation as a Quicktime movie or AVI and then burn it to Toast as a Video CD which I hope will play on my DVD.
    I do ideally want the VHS solution, so any other suggestions are very welcome. Im sure Im just being crap.

  4. #4
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    i've just been trying to export a small part of the flash file as an avi and it's 356 MB! i think it might just take a bit of fiddling with the export settings.

    I suppose a long way of doing it would be to burn it to vcd then use the video-out on your dvd played to record it to VHS.. seems a bit long winded though.

    wish i could find a resource on this - loads people must have done this before!

  5. #5
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    I think this is the cheapest solution, even though its a bit longwinded, Ill let you know how I get on. Ive noticed that you get a much smaller file size if you export to Microsoft Video1 format trather than AVI full frames uncompressed.Ive found that one file is 1,4mb while the other was well over 7mb? I cant see any real difference in quality, but my files are quite simple shape movements.

  6. #6
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    thanks, just tried 24bit color, video1 compression. got it down to 33mb and it looks fine. thats only 9 seconds though - hopefully the full 3minutes or so will fit on a cd?

    let us know if it works with the DVD coz me and a friend are starting a project and we want to circulate the results on DVD.

    if i find any better solution i'll let you know

  7. #7
    Karma police phreakdevil's Avatar
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    Hey you guys, you should check this board at least and see if anybody has asked something that might help you out, about the dvd-vcd this thread will help you on that: http://board.flashkit.com/board/show...hreadid=364517
    Now about the file size prob, if you export it as .avi from flash and use a divx codec it will be a VERY low size file and will look ok, about the tv movie size and anybody correct me if im wrong, im pretty sure it`s 640x480.
    If you want to export it to VHS there are 2 ways (that i know) to accomplish that 1 is what you have allready said (make a dvd or vcd and then copy from your vhs) but, if you have a video card that has a video-out and allows you to use your tv as a monitor then just play the animation fullscreen and copy from your VHS -that`s the way i did it- and i have a VERY crappy video card (trident 3d image 975) its also very cheap !!!
    Good luck.

  8. #8
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    cheers phreak. i need to get me a video card then. i take it the sound would transfer to the VHS too.

    excuse my ignorance but how do use a divx codec? ..it's not in the list when i go to export. do you need a divx player installed?

  9. #9
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    thanks, what exactly do you mean by divx codec, is this a seperate piece of software? or is it an option in Flash?

  10. #10
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    Ive downloaded and installed the dvix codec but it doesnt appear as an option at export. Any ideas as to what Ive done incorrectly? Ive unistalled/installed a few times. Any help is gratefully accepted. Do you have to install it in a particular place?
    cheers

  11. #11
    Karma police phreakdevil's Avatar
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    Ok here`s the deal: when you export the movie as a .avi flash will then ask you the name and location where you want to save the file, then it will ask you (in a new box that will appear after the name) about the video compression, is then when the divx-mpeg4 compresion option will appear, yes, you should have the codec installed before.
    I think i got it with quicktime, but as long as you have it there should be no prob.
    Fileas: you dont need a divx player to have it, you can get the codec from other sources but if you have the layer you have the codec, a bit confusing isnt it??
    Anyway i thimk you can download it from here:
    http://www.divxcity.com/codec_main.php

    Hope that help you. Good luck.

  12. #12
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    ok, i've downloaded the codec and you're right it gets the file size down really low but i lose all anti-alias edges. Think i'll just play around till i get the quality i need..

    thanks

  13. #13
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    The easiest way

    What I do is hook up my miniDV camera to my sVideo on my powerbook. Then that makes the minidv camera a second monitor (mirror your desktop on it). Then Set your mini DV to record/video in, and now you have it on miniDV/ digital video format. Then you can import it into Final Cut, iMovie, whatever. Then export it as whatever you need it as. This is the easiest way if you have the equipment.

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by andy morrell
    I need to transfer a looping Flash animation to a video tape for use as nightclub projections. Can anyone tell me what exactly I need? I have an Apple Mac G4
    Many thanks
    Andy
    I advise you flash to video encoder, it converts flash to video without any quality losses & its easy to manage.You can dowmload it from:http://www.geovid.com/Flash_To_Video_Encoder/

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