Using the Flash encoder
 

I was told that I should try and avoid using the flash files. (.flv) and instead I should go with WMV or MP4.

Can someone tell me how I can use the Flash encoder and have it produce the other file types?

....or is it an impossible option?

It all depends what you're using it for. Flash video is very efficient and is easy to transmit over the internet. I wouldn't use it to show a client their project. But if they wanted something delivered to the web, flash would be a good way to do it.

MP4 is a good one too. It can be used for small files to put on web pages and it is scalable enough to burn Blu-Ray discs with.

What version of Premiere are you using? I'll do my best to point you in the right direction with regards to encoding media.

Exporting via the Adobe Media Encoder, within Premiere, is the way to get the other various file types.

The Flash Encoder is limited to flv and swf.

I just ordered Pemire today and am now using the 30 day trial version.
I have yet to get into the editing but really trying to learn the different techniques to get a good video to a website.

Currently I have sports site and am trying to host a basketball game that I taped over the winter. I am expecting about 2K viewing's of it. I have about 60 mins of un-edited footage that I want to show. I want it to maintain very good quality. At the time of shooting I never thought it would be going to the web so I shot it in 60i. I don't care much for the deinterlaced results. (But I am learning).

I thought that flash was the best route to go but I had read that the .flv was not the best file to use and maintain quality.

There are higher quality formats out there, yes. If everyone had Gigabit connections to the net you could easily publish uncompressed files. But the average broadband customer in the US has a 1.5 - 2.0 Mbps connection.

When you have your program complete, do some test exports in various formats to see which one best suits your program.

Nothing is wrong with FLV for online video. You can deliver some good content with it. The other thing is Flash now supports MP4 so if you cant live without it, you can still deliver it via flash. It does require the latest flash software but it does look good. I have a sample here

As others have said the actual flash encoder is just for flash and SWF. If you want the others in Premiere goto File Export -> Adobe Media Encoder

and play from there. There are thousands of settings so start playing and make use of the export work area so you can set a small test area so you are not rendering for hours :)

I has been a long weekend for me...I am now trying to get into this stuff.

Your example above looks great and I realy want to deliver great quality. Maybe not the best footage ever taken, but I want to assure the web delivery gets the most possible out of it.

That movie preview looked great. Do I have the H.264 codec in Adobe or do I need to go get some files?

Premiere can encode to h264 so you are set there. The only downside is what was listed on my page, it requires the latest flash which more and more people are getting. The player I use has a fall back option meaning if they do not support h264, it will play an FLV. Premiere CS3 can export to On2VP6 FLV which is very close to h264 in quality but pretty much everyone can play that now.

Josh,
Can I treat the .mp4 the same as a .flv file? In terms of deployment to the web?

Indeed and it can do one better, Not only can it be your "streaming file" assuming your encoder is setup to make it properly it can also be the same file people download to watch on their ipod without having to convert it.

Josh,
Thanks for the help.
Do you know if the website coding can be the same? I know this is not a web site development forum and I may need to move this question to one. But I thought you may know if the html code has to be different to tell it that the target file is .mp4 rather than the .flv

If the player you are using has been updated then all you have to do is point it at the .mp4. I use the JW FLV player and all I have to do is point the file variable to whatever.flv or whatever.mp4. and either will play fine. The trick with MP4 is to make sure that you encode it for streaming. Sorenson Squeeze calls it hinted streaming. This allows the person to start play back instantly. If you don't they have to download the whole video and then play which is no fun. Hopefully I am understanding your question correctly :)

Just to make sure. (but I think we are on the same page)

Here is the code I would use in my page to call the video. This is created with the insert command in Dreamweaver. (Which is my 2nd html editor behind ASP.NET Visual Web Developer 2005)

However, in Dreamweaver I can not use the Wizzard to point to a .mp4 file. This file name is Reds_vs_Angels_5-18-08 and it does not have the .flv extention but I guess the file type is understood to be .flv

The original way around this type of problem was to simply change the .mp4 to flv on the file. Also, have you tried to give the file an extension and see if that works?

I would have imagined that Adobe would have updated their Dreamweaver to use the new feature but it might take them a little while.

So I dont need to consider chaning the player?
I will try to change the extention.

Well if you like it and it works for you keep going :) I like all the options of the JW FLV Player and if you want to try something different that would be my recomendation.

What is JW?

Hi Josh,

I'm interested in adding Flash movies on our website as well.

So is the JW player free to use on one's website?

And since I'm not a webmaster, how easy/difficult is it to integrate in a website?

Thanks!

I was able to get this work by changing the .mp4 to .flv and the quality was outstanding. The only problem I am having now is my FTP is timing out long before my file is transfered.

Questions on the H.264 codec
Does codec not allow for compression size/quality setting's? or is it strictly High all the time. I noticed that the files size is about 9x larger with H.264 as compared to the On2Vp6 does this sound correct?

Jeff, What is your background with web design? It really is easy to do, however it took me a couple day's before I got to play video's and taking longer to get them good.

I am not webdesigner but I have created some detailed webstuff and getting more and more into it. But I can help point you in the direction if you need.

What web design software do you currently use? ...if any?

H. 264 is highly customizable. You should be able to fully control all the settings to where you can get video quality that is equal or better than ON2VP6 but the same size. You will have to play around to get the best fit for your footage but it is worth it in my opinion.

JW FLV is free for projects that are not making money. I sell my online video service so I paid for the commercial licensee. There are other players such as the Flo Player which I think are free no matter what.

While I have a background in coding which might make things easier if you take the time to read the guide setting up a player is easy as pie. Also JW Has a setup wizard on his web page where you set the variables and it spits out the code for you to cut and paste :)

Thanks for the replies gentlemen!

Josh--Since I have a video production company like yourself, and would be using video samples of our work, I would definitely need to buy the commercial license, or use Flo Player, like you suggest.

Guy--Background on webdesign is near zilch :) We're signed up with a company called APlus, which has their own web design program (very limited program, but my wife's a genius at Photoshop, so integrating with the web program made it look "better"). We should really learn Dreamweaver. Sigh.

Also Guy, I've used Premiere's flash export to make flv files for a client to use. (They haven't put it up on their website yet) The flv files are about 1 min. to 2 min. in length, with the aspect ratio half of 720x480 (360x240?).

I have seen the quality in action now. My problem is the file size. I am trying to put up and entire youth Flag football game (for the grandparents) and the file size is 938MB compared to the On2 at around 100MB.

My native footage is shot with an XL2 (720x480) 30p so no need to deinterace it. Any idea on a good seeting for the H.264?

I would not worry about learning DreamWeaver I was saying that because the Wizzard that DW uses makes adding flash video very easy. I use DreamWeaver for that only and then move it over in the Visual Web developer 2005.

Like Josh is saying above if you export it to an .mp4 using the H.264 codec the quality is very good. You can then change the extention to .flv and the flash player can read it. Especially for short clips like that.

Hi there!

i am too in the need of help for the flash encoder. my main problem: it's terribly slow... converting a 1:24 video with 750kbit takes over TWELVE HOURS on my machine... (Intel Core2Quad, 3,5Ghz for each core, 4GB Ram)

Any ideas how to speed this process up? I wanted to use flash video in a sort of semi-live environment (event filming, simply put intro and outro via premiere in, render as 720p hdtv wmv and then convert it to flash to offer both wmv and flv) but with this massive speed...

thanks :)