Flash

Wowza Media Server Pro

In addition to QuickTime, WindowsMedia, and Real, Duke supports the streaming of Flash video via a server environment running Wowza Media Server Pro.  Our Wowza server supports both live and on-demand (VOD) streaming.   Flash video can be delivered via a web server (sometimes called "progressive download"), but streaming offers a number of advantages you may want to consider. Streaming Flash-based media allows for ubiquity across platforms given that the Flash player has significantly more market penetration than the other players (Real, QuickTime, and Silverlight).  Whether you have a desktop or laptop, Macintosh or PC, you will be able to create content that can be accessed by almost anyone.

Page Contents

Creating Flash Video Files

First you will need a video file to work with. It’s best to start with a high quality video source.  If you don’t already have video clips, you can shoot your own footage, purchase stock video, or create a screen capture using a screen capture application. We recommend that when editing your video clips in preparation for streaming you:

  1. Start with high quality video.
  2. Use higher frame rates if your video includes a lot of motion.
  3. Pick a resolution that is appropriate for your target audience.  320x240 and 640x480 are common for internet delivery of standard definition (4:3) content; 640x385 and 640x360 are emerging standards for presenting native widescreen video.  These latter are gaining traction since video shot originally at 720p, or 1280x720, scales to 640 x 385, and video shot originally at 1080p, or 1920x1080 scales to 640x360.
  4. If possible, keep content at its native frame rate to avoid quality issues. 

Bit Rates

Bit rate is the amount of data transferred per second.  Make sure your bit rate is reflective of your target audience. If your visitors are connecting with DSL, do not encode the video at 2 Mbps. Click here for a bit rate calculator.

return to top

File Encoding

Before you can upload your files to our Flash (Wowza) streaming server you must have the appropriate file format.  Flash streaming servers use the .flv filetype or .mp4 (or .m4v) encoded with H.264 compression. There are many options for encoding your video as a Flash-supported file.  Below is a partial list of applications:

  1. Quicktime Pro
  2. Sorenson Squeeze  
  3. ON2 technologies Flix Standard
  4. Flash Video Encoder (included with Flash) 
  5. Riva Edge  (freeware for Windows)
  6. Super (freeware for Windows) 
See Flash File Encoding for more information about these tools and quickstart guides.
return to top

File Upload

Duke's Wowza server is fully integrated with afs, the same file system connected to OIT's DukeStream Pro QuickTime Streaming Server and Helix Universal Server (RealMedia).  This means that if you are a current user of either or both of those servers , you can upload Flash files to the same folders you are already using in /afs/acpub/project/media.  If you do not currently have a folder in /afs/acpub/project/media, you can request one here.

Once you have determined where your files will go in /afs/acpub/project/media, you can upload them to that location via any of the methods outlined here.

return to top

Publishing Flash Video

There are numerous options for publishing Flash video files.  Stand-alone desktop players are available, but the option that lets you take advantage of the Flash's player's wide reach is to embed your video into a web page via a Flash video player.  With Flash, there is no standard player equivalent to the QuickTime Player or the RealPlayer.  If you are a programmer well-versed in ActionScript, you can write your own player from scratch, but for a quick solution, most publishers turn to one of the free players available online, such as FlowPlayer or JW Media Player.  Another option would be to use some of the tools available within the Flash application to create a simple player.  Instructions for those three options are available below.  These instructions do presume some familiarity with HTML and JavaScript code as well as access to an HTML editor like Dreamweaver.

  1. Flow Player
  2. JW Media Player
  3. Adobe FLV Component
  4. Custom Flash Player (You will need a copy of Flash)
  • For more information about these tools and quickstart guides, click here

return to top

Live Streaming with Flash

Live streaming is possible with OIT’s Wowza Media Server.  "Live" streaming is distinguished from "on-demand" streaming.  "Live" means an event is being broadcast in real time as it is captured, and so must be viewed in real time as well.  "On-demand" means someone creates a file, encodes it for streaming, and uploads it to a server so that viewers can access it at a later time of their choosing.  To broadcast live video via OIT's Wowza server, you will need to use an encoding tool equivalent to QuickTime Broadcaster (for QuickTime Streaming Server), or the RealProducer (for Helix Universal Server).  The following tools are currently recommended for Flash (Wowza):

  1. Adobe Media Encoder
  2. On2 Flix Live
  • For more information about these tools and quickstart guides, click here

return to top

FLV Video Editing

Because Flash videos are generally compressed for web delivery, they are not typically used as master files to be stored for later editing and repurposing.  However, if you do need to edit videos with the .flv extension, there are some tools available that you can try:

RichFLV

RichFLV is a FLV editor created by Benjamin Dobler.  It requires a free download of Adobe Air.  This is a simple edting program that allows the user to trim the head and tail of a video.  

iSkysoft Video Convertor

Essentially this is a video conversion application.  It runs on PowerPCs & Intel-based Macs.  The user has the ability to trim, crop, or apply an effect to the video.   The output options are numerous.

Moyea FLV Editor

This Windows based FLV editor offers the user a number of standard output formats including an Adobe Premiere or Sony Vegas option.  This application offers the user options to trim the video, merge video files and add effects.