Montage advice needed!

[slinx]

Hey guys...

I have read in detail the info that has been posted in the threads, some very useful and interesting stuff that has been very helpful, but I feel I need some advice more specific to what I am trying to do...

I may as well outline my objective. I am undertaking a web design course, and for my showcase project I have constructed a web-site for my 5-a-side football (soccer!) team (http://www.croftersfc.co.uk).

What I am looking to do is create montage profiles for each player... consisting of snippets of footage arranged in synch with an audio track, with some text about the player thrown in for good measure.

What I am looking for is some advice on how to go about this. Do I use Flash Video, QT, AE (I hear AE6 is tailor-made for my needs!)... which one is most suitable?

More importantly, what is the best way to go about it? I understand that by adding video and audio its gonna swell the size of the output horrendously, so is it better to stream (audio sync problems?), preload and embed, preload a certain amount (I see 40% has been mentioned as a good guide) or leave the video in parts and 'stitch' it together using LoadMovie?

All advice is much appreciated so thanks in advance.

Steve.

[whiterabbit]

Slinx,

You cover alot of ground with that question. This could be done in many ways, one way to do it would be with SV or simulated video (sequences of images).

This works well when you want to mix still and video and animate across the entire stage and integrate flash elements.

Basically you would arrange a sequence of images on your timeline. Certain images would hold longer than others (to the music) and be treated possibly with flash text and other effects. Inbetween stills you would have sequences, this makes for a very cool effect which also helps lower the bit rate of your movie.

I envision the entire crew lined up in various poses across the stage. Mousing over any of them starts off the show for that particular player. I would flash through some stills to the beat, even reuse, mirror etc...photos, then drop into a slowmo shot of them kicking the ball etc...

To really make it cool you could have them kick the ball to the next player which starts off that clip.

This is all done in Flash though you would use after effects to edit your clips and export as sequences.

Flash will stream (so to speak) automatically. You could make a seperate movie for each player or put them all together. I would not buffer 40%, use a smart buffer to measure viewers bandwidth.

With SV, you work more with Flash than video so know your flash and you can do alot.

Good Luck

[slinx]

Wow. Excellent feedback whiterabbit my friend...

Couple of questions tho, does simulated video increase/decrease the size of the file compared to say an mpeg or avi clip?

Altho even if it does bloat the size a little, the advantages you have described more than make up for it...

I have constructed a couple of prototype profiles already example (ultimately i want to add a lot more action to the profile) but i have added a preloader as the streaming was too jerky otherwise.

I will investigate more about smart buffers, as i think this could be the answer!

Any more feedback is more than welcome...

Thanks again,
Steve

[whiterabbit]

Slinx,

You can be pretty even on file size but you have to be aware that you are working
with key frames. Check out some of the demos on our site, I think link is in our signature. Check out full screen one of some people kicking around a paper ball.

By sectioning the videos and synching them up you can keep file size below what a comparable video of that resolution of traditional DV codecs. The ball that is being kicked around is an animation