Rewview of FLV converters for OS X

i have tested several demo flv converters since yesterday.

ffmpegX
this program is more for your nattress types. you get a nice interface but the options are limited. plus the fact that you have to spend quite a lot of time loading parts like xbianaries , and mencoder stuff i have never seen. i was able to get it started but was unable to get a resulting flv or swf.
if you try this program you must have a quantum physics background due to it complexity of install.

On2 flix standard & on2 flix pro
i dont know if its because its because its a demo or not but this program as given me a swf file that wont playback over the web after ftp upload but will play on my g5. the quality seems to be pretty good. there are controls for bit dept but it comes from a drop menu. i could not figure out how to or what to set it to. i am thinking that it may work better after you buy the full non-demo version. i was able to get 1 net playable swf file but wouldn't play over the net. It uses qt on2 technology to create files and i am not sure if qt come with that standard. either way i was not able to create flv with demo just a few cpu playable swf's. all of the flv files i created with this program cam up on my desk to as flv but the icon is a blank sheet which told me rite off that its not readable.

Video2swf
i found this product on the apple website. it has a very easy to understand interface and is easy to install. this program is the closes i have came to a net playable flv. files at least come up with that little red f in the lower left hand corner. they are not playable for me but i feel that this may be a demo limitation. once again here i had no playable flv just a swf file. the swf file is playable but the quality is 25% less than what i like. no matter what i set the thing to i got this slight strobe effect. though the swf will play on line at minimal quality. this program i am still messing with to see if i cam get a smoother, cleaner swf since that is all i can seem to get from these programs.


i guess the video2swf is the closes i can get until i find another product. so if you know of one let me know. meanwhile back at the ranch i am back to the painful grind of finding a solution for video to flv.

""" What you do with what you have, is more important than what you could do, with what you don't have."

> > > Knowledge + Action = Wisdom - J. Corbett 1992 """"

Obviously, the king of .swf converters is FLASH. Also, Sorensen Media Squeeze is used by many to output Quicktime to .swf for web playback.

Good info. Thanks. I sort of went through same thing awhile back. Like John said best solution is Flash.

So I had someone else do it for me.

Man, I look at Flash and just want to run.

Michael Horton
-------------------

I took a JR College Saturday class on Flash, at it turns out to be relatively simple, but very time consuming and tedious. Lots of key framing type stuff that are not actually keyframes but act the same. I actually bought the original product from a developer in SanDiego that was amazing for it's time. I forget the original product name but I still have it around here somewhere.

Well know this. You will never see Flash videos or ESPECIALLY Flash ads on this web site. Sucks the life out of Macs. Astounds me how it's pretty much taken over the digital world.

Michael Horton
-------------------

it amazing how hard it is to create flv from a mac. i am hoping that i can get a good swf that will play smoothly and be accessible to all macs & pc's. i keep getting closer with this video2swf demo i may just purchase it if i can get even one smooth web play out of it.

download times are just seconds with flv and i am hoping that its the same with shochwave files.

""" What you do with what you have, is more important than what you could do, with what you don't have."

> > > Knowledge + Action = Wisdom - J. Corbett 1992 """"

Sorensen squeeze is inferior to Flash Video Encoder in Flash 8.

Flash 8 video encoder (the separate app) is the only way to compress FLV's.

There are 2 compression algorithms for FLV.
One is good: Think its called vp6 or similar.
One is bad: Think its Sorensen's own codec.

Johan Polhem
Motion Graphics
www.johanpolhem.com

Hi Jeff.

.swf files are not intended to be played directly from the web - they need to be inserted into an HTML page using a special "embed" statement. Most software whcih will create .flv and .swf files includes information and an application which will take care of that for you. You need to upload both the html page and the .swf (and possibly an additional .flv) file to the website.

Many consider Flash to be the best format for web streaming (Not neccessarily my opinion) because the Flash player is on more computers than any other. "Video" streaming, however is not Flash's primary function. Flash provides an animation and presentation system unequalled by anything else. That's why it is used so often.

If you have an Intel Mac, you probably still have the original Flash player, which is designed for PowerPCs - it performs very poorly through Rosetta. However there is a new "Intel Mac" player available from Adobe which works much better.

There are many different "video" formats for Flash, but only the most recent one, provided by 0n2 technologies rivals .mp4 and .vfw. That is one of the formats which goes into .flv files, however there is an older .flv format which does not work quite as well. If you are creating .swf files wich have video included in the .swf, you are using a very old compression scheme.

There are advantages to using Flash, especially if .flv files are combined with other Flash fetures, which can help to greatly improve video quality over a particular bandwidth.

Travis
VoiceOver Guy and Entertainment Technology Enthusiast
[www.VOTalent.com]

travis that helped me understand a lot about flv made me think differently thanks

i have had some success with something. still unsure if it is the ultimate fix for compatibility.
i have an old pc that has to be like 3 yrs old it has qt but like a 5 version or something. i hooked it up and tried to see the videos. i got nothing.. so i just simply updated to apples latest free DL. and it played it. the godaddy guy had said that it they cant see it maybe they arent updated to the latest version of qt. wow
i had like 5 people try it on pc's and they got nuthin. there are a lot of slackers out there.

i also fiddled with an mpeg4 and tried to use every broadband setting getting the most success with broadband medium. i am still a bit worried about 2 things.

1. if it is the norm for people to have older qt players what format could i use that would allow at least qt6 to see it i have entertained h263 or mp4 since Johan has made sorenson a bad word for net vids.

2. could have a " if video does not play get the latest QT from....pc/mac " link but i am wondering how many viewers would be willing to do that.

thanks

""" What you do with what you have, is more important than what you could do, with what you don't have."

> > > Knowledge + Action = Wisdom - J. Corbett 1992 """"

Hi Jeff.

Disclaimer: I'm a technology hobbyist, so my knowledge of such things is limited. I'm more experienced on PCs than Macs.

Unfortunately there is still no standard video format that performs well on all machines. Flash is considered by many to be the closest, which is why YouTube, etc., use the format.

Quicktime is great for Mac audiences. With the success of Itunes, many more people have Quicktime on thier PCs, however, the Quicktime 7 player is still buggy on PCs... It's also "Mac oriented" - it's layout and user interface makes it uncomfortable for PC owners - "it just doesn't feel right". And to get it to work reasonably well, with features like full screen, etc., PC users need to pay to upgrade to Quicktime Pro - not much, but enough to limit use. Also, when a PC user upgrades Itunes or Quicktime, it "steals" default player status for other formats, even when you instruct it not to, which infuriates PC users.

Many, including MAC people, have found the Windows .wmv format to be the best solution- It's already installed on 93 percent of the machines out there, it's reliable (well, as reliable as anything else) and Flip4Mac makes it relatively painless for Mac owners. Then there are other formats like Divx... (What a mess.)

For a while, it looked like .mp4 would solve these problems, but infighting within the MPEG standards committees, and the usual resistance from Microsoft, has kept that format from fulfilling it's promises.

Anyway, many knowledgable folks seem to think that this will all get sorted out in a couple of years. Perhaps sooner.

Good luck with this.

Travis
VoiceOver Guy and Entertainment Technology Enthusiast
[www.VOTalent.com]

so your saying that i still need to use flv or flip4mac to make my web vids because of the inconsistancy of qt and other formats.

i am gonna make a descision to day and live with it so if you have a lick to convertion software that is proven 2b reliable i will need it as i am gonna solve this TODAY if it kills me.

""" What you do with what you have, is more important than what you could do, with what you don't have."

> > > Knowledge + Action = Wisdom - J. Corbett 1992 """"

I really have no opinion as to which is better. That's something you and/or your client need to decide, taking in to consideration the audience for the project, etc.

Here's a comparison of the three formats (sorry for the reposting, everyone) deliberately set up to show the strenghts and weaknesses of each:

www.hd-vo/stream


Flash: http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flash/articles/selecting_video_encoder.html

Windows: http://www.flip4mac.com

Travis
VoiceOver Guy and Entertainment Technology Enthusiast
[www.VOTalent.com]

i just got off the phone with adobe and they do not sell a flash video encoder stand alone. they only have flash pro 8 at 699. well out of my budget.

how can i get flash with 300 or so bucks?

that on2 never gave me a flv file i could only get swf from it. is that a limitation of the trial software?

""" What you do with what you have, is more important than what you could do, with what you don't have."

> > > Knowledge + Action = Wisdom - J. Corbett 1992 """"

Hi again, Jeff,

According to their website, the 0n2 software should have no problem creating an .flv file. The only thing that the demo does differently is watermark everything with the on2 logo. I can't imagine that would be intentionally left out. If you can't create the .flv file, I would recommend contacting their customer support. ...And the "standard" converter (should do what you need) is on sale for 39 bucks.

Travis
VoiceOver Guy and Entertainment Technology Enthusiast
[www.VOTalent.com]