Technical information

by Forest Key and Chris Hock
6
Modern video standards for digital television have eschewed interlacing in
favor of progressive scan display techniques. Progressive scan video
cameras usually have the ability to switch back from progressive scan to
interlaced video, and most of these cameras have a variety of frame rates
with and without interlacing. Typical frame rates are described as 60p (60
fps progressive), 30i (30 fps interlaced), 30p (30 fps progressive), and 24p
(24 fps progressive). When working with progressive images there is no need
to de-interlace footage prior to deploying to the web.
Introducing the Macromedia Flash MX 2004
Video Platform
With the introduction of the Flash MX 2004 platform many new video
capabilities and services have been added to the Flash video platform.
Below is a list of Macromedia products used to create and deliver compelling
Flash video experiences:
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Flash Player 7 introduces greatly improved video quality through higher
frame rates and improved image quality. Flash Video (FLV) files can now
be dynamically loaded at runtime, permitting multimedia producers to
use larger and longer video files within the Flash MX authoring
environment. Note: Flash Player 6 supports streaming FLV files from
Flash Communication Server.
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Flash MX 2004 introduces the Video Import Wizard, which adds new
options for encoding video on import into the Flash Timeline.
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Flash MX Professional 2004 introduces Media Components, a set of
components that enables users to incorporate external FLV files and to
connect to Macromedia Flash Communication Server video streams;
Flash Video Exporter, a new plug-in for use with third-party applications
that enables users to encode audio and video into the FLV file format;
and a series of behaviors that, together with slides, simplify and
accelerate the creation of advanced interactive video presentations.
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Flash Communication Server [available separately] is a Macromedia
streaming media server that streams audio and video to Flash Player 6 or
higher.
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Flash Video Streaming Service [available separately] is a new service,
based on Flash Communication Server, for quickly and easily streaming
Flash video from a reliable, Content Delivery Network (CDN).
Approaches to Incorporating Video
The Flash MX 2004 products enable developers to use one of three
techniques when delivering video:
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Embedding video within Flash Player movies
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Producing progressive download FLV files