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Using Video in Flash MX

Surely one of Flash MX's "killer features" is its new support for video. This chapter covers everything from creating quality video source material, importing and optimizing compression settings, and even considerations for using the third-party product "Sorenson Squeeze with Spark Pro".

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This chapter is from the book

Using Video

Before Flash MX, I would get tired of telling people "No, you can't do video in Flash." Sure there were some creative workarounds. But no more! Flash MX lets you import video and compress it using a state-of-the-art codec that keeps files small and quality high. Even though most of the technical details are handled automatically, you're given enough control to vary the results greatly.

In this hour, you will:

  • Import and use video in your movies

  • Build scripted controls to play videos

  • Optimize for high quality and low file size

  • Enhance quality and performance using Sorenson Squeeze with Spark Pro

A codec is short for compressor/decompressor. Basically, videos need to be compressed so that they download quickly. The same video needs to be decompressed for the user to view it. Many different technologies are available to compress and decompress. The codec that Flash uses is called Sorenson Spark.

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