flash / flix / cdroms

[drhill]

Hey everyone -
many thanks for your views - and hats off to all of you with experience sharing your talents...it has made my learning curve much shorter (and i think i speak for many on this).My questions are probably a bit basic - but i haven't seen it directly addressed so here goes:
I've been asked by a client to put together a cdrom with video/audio/animations etc etc...not a big deal and a project with many options. Most end users will be on pcs with some variation of windows.Essentially I'd like to author the cd in flash (do a projector) and 'load movie'the flix videos into the presentation. Will I fire up the host pc browser when the videos are played? How does this integrate w/ the projector and its controls? How much flexibility do I have on video controls when in the projector?
Then - what IS best...mpg - mov or swf (for cdrom)...
It's a crazy world - I was talking to 2
Director dudes - seasoned in things lingo - and one said he thought Director was on its way out, and the other was scoffing at the spread of flash players saying he was at a client yesterday that did not have a flash player - hence - he said - mpg is the world standard...hes preachin director - and is a busy man ala lingo...I say this only because i have two weeks from when I get the digital assets - and i'm even willing to go this route (Director) if it is best (I own D8.5 shockwave - but have hardly used)sorry this is so long - I love what I see from both Flash and Flix, and both are to me very fast / intuitive to use - your views here are greatly appreciated
D

[Jonathan_B]

Hi.
You can create the player/presentation in Flash. You can convert the videos into Flash with Flix and then bring them into Flash with Load Movie action. When you're done, you can create a projector (separate projectors for both PC and Mac) that will play the whole movie with all the controls.
There are a couple of issues that you should consider. Because of the way Flash works, when you have a SWF on CD, the Flash player loads the entire file into memory before it starts to play. So, depending on your computer's speed, ram, CD player speed, etc. your performance may vary. Consequently, we suggest not creating files larger than 25MB for use on a CD Rom.
Also, for Macs, you need to allocate enough RAM to your projector.
As for the source file, Flix converts .mov, .avi, .mpeg equally well. The key is just getting the best looking source you can. .avi files probably convert the fastest.
JB

[drhill]

Jonathan -
Thanks for this.
If I understand you correctly - this means the swf video
(alone for pc)should not exceed 25MB... so - I'd likely need to split a 6 minute video into 2 segments. Also - does the host computer fire up a browser to play the swfs? Or does the video play inside of the projector (wherever I position it) and the flash player is more or less 'transparent' utilising the projector controls I build?
Finally - maybe this point wasn't clear (or we don't know) -
but what is the 'defacto' codec / format right now...I mean
if an author had to choose 1 that would reach maximum number of (pc) users with minimum hassle (and no installations)today...swf?mov?mpg?big hog avis?other?
tx
D

[Jonathan_B]

Yes, if your Flix videos are over 25MB you should break them up. Flix 2.0 has a feature that lets you automatically load a new swf at the end of a swf.
If you make a Flash projector the host computer will play it in the Flash projector - no other browser is needed.
If you create a projector, you won't have to worry about what someone has on their computer. The projector will take care of it.
Hope this answers your questions.
jb

[drhill]

Jonathan -
thanks for the clarity on this -
in the meantime I've dug up the stats I was seeking - John Manning had posted this at his site - and although its Dec 2001ish timeframe - it's still relevant regarding the 'state of media players'

Windows Media Player: 69%
Real Player: 51%
QuickTime Player: 35%
Flash 3-5: 98%
and I'll add - just for a giggle my own 'wet finger'estimate for
Flash 6:...2% (who knows?)

at first this might not seem like a big issue to some -
but before i started my agency I worked for a large chemical company - with a large IBM contract - and they were busy creating a standard corporate profile for the thousands of workers (read SLOW - MO roll-out) and they just end 2001 agreed to mpg1 and flash 4 players for the thousands of employees as a standard profile...only super users could install software...this means basically employees can't install anything themselves... -
so that leaves the IBM contractors with the bells and whistles (lucky them)...
I can't tell you how many times i saw our web agency choke on supplying our comms department with clever 'draft'ideas that fell flat when the whole world gained access - or even before (thanks for the quicktime player on the cd - i can't install it) - I understand FMX will have the sorenson codec imbedded in the 'projector'so - cd wise this is interesting...we'll see.As far as the web video goes what i don't understand is this: sorenson is father of quicktime ? (correct me if wrong)...sorenson is father of FMX video codec?Flix is father of 1st video to swf converter for Flash? Flix and firewalls - and Flash and firewalls work (don't ask me why - I've just seen it w/ my own eyes)-
Quicktime / Real not in my experience
Flix has a pretty serious customer service rep (which I have witnessed as well) - what's the point? Macromedia buys flix (like they did flash/>whatever they were called< years ago)...and we all benefit from the best of both while we enjoy our merry integrated ways...
wahoo baby...
cool?

[Jonathan_B]

Ok. Send over the paperwork and we'll check it out
The reason that swf files play through a firewall and quicktime files don't has to do with the way they stream over the internet to your computer.
Next week we will release an update with MX video output. So with Flix you will be able to output Flash 3-6 video (and projectors), not to mention our one-of-a-kind vectorized video.
jb