Encoding Videos into Flash

Videos captured by web cameras, camcorders, and other recording devices usually produce large “raw” video files.  The raw files are initially in the highest quality possible for the life of that video file.  This article will discuss the transformation of a raw video into a smaller video file size that has acceptable quality also known as encoding.

In this example we will encode a Quicktime video file into a Flash video file using the Flash Video Encoder that is part of Adobe Flash CS3 from Adobe.  This is one of numerous ways to encode a Flash video file.  The rest of this article assumes you have the Flash Video Encoder installed.

First start by opening Flash Video Encoder.  Start by clicking on the add button and select the raw video file.  In this case we will select the file named bull.mov.  After selection it will place the file in the main window.

Next click on the settings button.

Now select your options including the quality.  We will use medium quality in the example.

After you have determined all the settings, hit the ok button.  This will bring you back to the main screen where all that is left is to hit the start queue button.

After the encoding process has completed, you will see a green check mark next to the file name.

In this example, we only encoded one file, but you can convert several files at once using this same method.  The resulting flv will be named the same name as your original media file except it will have the .flv extension.  In this example bull.mov was encoded into bull.mov.

As you can see by this example, encoding into flash can be an easy task if you have the right tools.  This is only one of several ways a video can be encoded into flash.  You can use this technique or find one yourself.  Either way, encoding into flash is a painless endeavor.

Once you have the flv file you can play the flv file on your computer using VLC media player.