Create Linked Flash Videos, for Streaming and Download, with Sorenson Squeeze

This tutorial shows you how to create Flash downloadable streaming videos as linked FLV and SWF files you can then place on a Web server.

STEP 1: Import your video file

Start the compression process to a linked.FLV and embedded.SWF video by choosing Import in the main Squeeze interface. Next, navigate to the location of your video file and choose Open.

STEP 2: Create your audio compression settings

Before you can start adjusting your audio and video compression settings, you need to create a custom compression setting by going to the Format & Compression Settings part of the Squeeze user interface and selecting the Med_Prog setting. Once you select the Med_Prog setting, choose the + symbol right below the Format & Compression settings interface to create a copy of the default compression setting that you can label as mysetting in the Name text box where it says Med_Prog_Copy.

Inside the Audio compression setting make sure that the Fraunhofer MP3 codec is selected and that you can make your audio data rate 32 Kbps; the sample size will default to 16 and the sample rate can be 22.050 kHz, with mono audio. Low-speed users should select the Fraunhofer MP3 codec and then select a data rate of 16 Kbps; the sample size will default to 16 and the sample rate can be 11.025 kHz with mono audio.

STEP 3: Customize!

Move over to the Video section of your compression setting file. High-speed users should choose the Sorenson Spark Pro codec, Sorenson 2-pass VBR as the coding method with a data rate of 300 Kbps and a frame size of 320 x 240. You can make your frame rate 15 frames per second. Low-speed users should choose a data rate of 21 Kbps with a frame size of 160 x 120 at 5 frames per second.

For the additional settings under the Video section, choose 45 for Key Frame Every for high-speed video. Select the checkbox for Auto Key Frame on Scene Change and input 68 under the Auto Keyframe Frequency. Last but not least, for the Video compression settings, check the box for Image Smoothing.

For low-speed video choose 50 for Key Frame Every and 50 for Auto Key Frame on Scene Change. Check the Image Smoothing checkbox. Click the OK button the save your setting.

STEP 4: Apply your compression setting

Go to the Format & Compression Settings and select mysetting. Next, choose the name of the video file you imported and then click Apply under the Format & Compression Settings where you have selected the mysetting compression setting. Your Flash video compression setting is now applied to your video and can be seen in the main Squeeze interface.

STEP 5: Customize your fliter settings

Your next step is to create a custom filter setting to help give you a better quality video. To do this, select Normalize Audio under the Filters section in the Squeeze interface. Click the + symbol below the Filters interface.

This creates a copy of the Normalize Audio preset. Under Filter Name, type in myfilters and choose 15 for Contrast and 10 for Brightness. Check the Deinterlace checkbox and choose Auto Remove Interlacing via the pop-up menu. Select the Video Noise Reduction checkbox and choose Light under the pop-up menu.

Under Cropping, select None for the Method and input 8 for Top, 16 for Bottom, 16 for Right and 12 for Left. Select the Normalize Audio checkbox. Click OK once all your adjustments have been made.

STEP 6: Apply your filter settings

Select your video in the Main Squeeze Interface. Go to the Filters section and choose the myfilters setting. Click Apply. You will notice that your filter setting has been added to your video file.

STEP 7: Trim your video

To trim your video, make sure your video file is still selected. Move the playhead in the Preview window to the point where you would like to start your trim. Click the I key on the keyboard to select your In Point. Move the playhead to the place you would like your Out Point to be. Click the O key.

STEP 8: Adjust Flash Media Player controls

To apply a Flash Media Player to go with your video, double-click on Player Options inside the applied Flash compression setting you have already applied. (Refer to Step 4.)

Navigate to the Player Template tab, select the ion.swf player and click the Select button. Go to the Play Options tab and choose Linked FLV Video. Click the Play Automatically radio button and the Play Once button under the Loop section. Click OK once your settings have been adjusted.

STEP 9: Start your compression

Click the Squeeze It! button at the bottom of the main Squeeze interface to start your compression. A progress bar shows while your video is encoding. Once your video is finished encoding, you’ll see Complete in the progress section.

Support Gear: Sorenson Squeeze Compression Suite; Adobe Flash

YOUR GUIDE

Derrick Freeman
Video Streaming and Compression Specialist
GeniusDV

Derrick has been compressing video for seven years and researching streaming media for five. He is a beta tester for video compression applications and writes video streaming and compression articles for GeniusDV.com. He also manages the video streaming training and consulting division for GeniusDV.

Derrick Says Keep In Minds...

This tutorial shows you how to create Flash downloadable streaming videos as linked FLV and SWF files you can then place on a Web server. Using linked FLV videos is cool because you can easily recompress a video, keep the player and upload a new video file. To get the best quality Flash video when importing mov, avi, MPEG-2, DV and WMV files for compression, you’ll need to purchase the On2 VP6 Pro from Squeeze, which isn’t included in the main Squeeze package. The codec, however, will give your projects a big boost in quality.

Using a Linked FLV Video creates an SWF file and an FLV video that are linked together, rather than an SWF file that has video and the media player married together. The SWF file is the media player and the FLV file is the video. When doing your Web authoring, you’ll add both files to the same folder on your Web server.

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