Flash video is sweeping the Web -- and you can be using it too. If you're new to Flash, you can encode your videos to Flash video to post on the Web, and embed then in your Web pages using simple video players as provided, for example, by Adobe Dreamweaver. Or if you're already a developer with Adobe Flash CS3 Professional, you can integrate videos into your Flash animations.
Rob Reinhardt, lead author of the Flash Bible series, shows you how in Adobe Flash CS3 Professional Video Studio Techniques, from Adobe Press.
(You can also follow his blog and support forums at FlashSupport.com.)
To get you started, the entire Part 1 of the book is dedicated to Working Foundations -- pre-production and shooting tips, capturing and processing video in Adobe After Effects, compression formats and parameters, and Web delivery options and formats. Almost every page also includes Tips and Notes with additional information and references.
Part 2 then digs into Production Essentials, using Flash video with Dreamweaver, using the Flash Pro FLVPlayback components, encoding with Sorenson Squeeze, and then building your own Flash player. There's also a chapter on planning your bitrate budget, with an associated Excel spreadsheet (and an interactive Flash version now posted to the blog).
By this point, the book is deep in ActionScript code allowing you to customize your own animations. The book includes a DVD-ROM with almost 9 GB of Flash projects, source files, and video clips. The book also cleverly uses public domain video clips from the Prelinger archives -- www.archive.org/details/prelinger -- all public domain and royalty-free for you to experiment with.
Finally, Part 3 adds further Creative Explorations, including building a video index and playlist, creating an interactive talking head overlay, and tips for optimizing the video playback.
The Appendices cover installing the Adobe software and third-party tools and utilities, encoding options, troubleshooting tips, and a project checklist for Flash video projects.
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Contents below ...
Adobe Flash CS3 Professional Video Studio Techniques
by Robert Reinhardt
Adobe Press, August 09, 2007, $54.99 / $34.64
Paperback, 376 pages, ISBN 0321480376
Contents
Introduction
- End-to-End Production Know-how
- Who Should Read This Book?
- What's in This Book?
- What's on the DVD?
- Where Do I Go Beyond This Book?
Part I: Working Foundations
Chapter 1. Pre-production Primer
- Designing the Video Experience
- Planning Your Video Shoot
- Selecting Equipment
Chapter 2. Capturing and Processing Video
- Capturing Video
- Processing Video with Adobe After Effects
Chapter 3. Compression Primer
- Distinguishing Source Files and Their Differences
- Understanding Video File Bitrates
- Learning About Player Versions and Codec Options
- Determining Your Video Compression Profiles
Chapter 4. Delivery and Deployment Primer
- File Formats: SWF, FLV, and HTML
- Protocols: HTTP vs. RTMP
- Delivery: Web Server, Flash Media Server, or CDN?
- Playback: Live Streaming vs. Prerecorded
- Budgets: Bandwidth and Transfer Rates
Part II: Production Essentials
Chapter 5. Placing Flash Video on a Web Page
- Integrating Flash Video with Dreamweaver
- Playing Video with Flash CS3 Components
- Gathering Files for Deployment
Chapter 6. Exploring the FLVPlayback Components
- Overview of the Components
- Configuring the Component
- Enhancing Playback with Cue Points
- Dynamically Placing Video on the Stage
- Modifying Skins
- Building a Player with Custom UI Components
Chapter 7. Building Your Own Video Player
- Making a Connection
- Building Basic Playback Controls
- Reading Metadata from a Flash Video
Chapter 8. Integrating Multiple Bitrates
- Knowing When to Offer More than One Bitrate
- Determining Which Bitrates to Offer
- Preparing SMIL Files
- Calculating Available Bandwidth
- Enabling Dynamic Buffering with a Real-time Stream
Part III: Creative Explorations
Chapter 9. Building a Video Index and Playlist
- Making a Marker Index for Video
- Building a Video Playlist
- Playing Video Ads during a Video Feature
- Chapter 10. Constructing Banner Ads and Captioned Videos
- Coding a Video Banner Ad
- Controlling Captions with Timed Text XML
Chapter 11. Constructing an Interactive Video Host
- Planning the User Interface
- Producing the Video Footage
- Encoding the Flash Video
- Developing the ActionScript 3.0 Code Base
Chapter 12. Delivering a Reliable Video Experience
- Creating a Deployment Plan
- Encoding the Flash Video
- Developing the Video Player
- Customizing the Video Experience with HTML and JavaScript
Appendices
Appendix A. Software Installation
- Adobe Software
- Flash Video Encoders
- Flash Video Utilities
- Public-Domain Video
Appendix B. Flash Video Project Checklist
Appendix C. Encoding Flash Video
- Overview of Common Features and Workflow
- Comparing Video Encoders
- Other Flash Video Utilities
Appendix D. Troubleshooting Flash Video