Why Flash Video, You Ask? The Basics of Why Flash Video and Flash Video Players Have Taken Over
When a company calls me about using Director's View™, one of the first questions I typically hear is, "I read that your product uses Flash Video and I wanted to know why there is such as buzz about using Flash Video versus other video technologies like QuickTime, Windows Media, or Real Media". Therefore, I wanted to start with an introductory post about why flash video rules.
1. It's Ubiquitous Baby - Everyone Can See and Hear Your Video...How's that for simple? :-)
Let's start with the reason that most companies are calling me in the first place! The Flash Video Player is the most widely accepted and distributed multimedia player on the planet. With Flash 7 having 95.6% penetration and Flash 8 having over 90.3% penetration, you can rest assured that visitors will be able to see your video. And that's pretty darn important, isn't it?
I'm confident that you all have heard comments from visitors about not being able to see your QuickTime, Windows Media, or Real Media files, right? And, I'm sure you are tired of it. When you use Flash Video, especially when it's targeted at Flash 7 Player, you will be targeting the widest possible population. Most Director's View™ clients are thrilled that the days of hearing "I can't see your video...it won't load...or I can hear it, but I can't see it!" are gone. This point alone makes the transition to Flash Video a no brainer. By the way, the Flash Player is also cross platform, so both PC and Mac users can enjoy your videos. Sorry Bill Gates. :)
2. The Flash Video Player Environment - The Video Theatre Itself Has Game!
Flash is unrivaled when it comes to building robust and interactive environments for the web (and cd-rom). When a client comes to me with great ideas about building a custom video player or flash website and they ask the limitations, I typically tell them that the sky's the limit! I have yet to come across a piece of functionality that cannot be built using ActionScript (the object oriented programming language used in Flash). Flash Professional is a robust application and you can take the user experience to a completely new level, a level that other media players simply cannot... You can build incredible user interfaces with robust navigation, you can use cue points to trigger additional content, you can provide bandwidth detection and tailor content based on connection speed, you can provide dynamic chapter selection, so on and so forth. Which is why we are carefully mapping out the next version of Director's View™, so you can take advantage of some of these incredible features.
The only downside is when you try to program it yourself, which many Director's View clients have tried to do. Flash 8 is a serious multimedia application with an object oriented programming language called ActionScript. It's not uncommon to have a few thousand lines of code running your flash app. For those of you who want to give it a try, I definitely think you should. I think it will give you a good perspective on how flash applications are built and what you can do with this powerful interactive media program. Then, if you get really frustrated and you've already had eight pots of coffee while you work through the night, give me a call. :-)
3. Easy and Seamless Integration With Your Website
Flash video files are handled just like any other web file format (whether you are using swf or flv). This means that there is no additional setup required to provide flash video via progressive download on your website (Note, I am referring to using progressive download flash video and not streaming.)
So, what does this actually mean? By using a product like Director's View™, you can have a flash video theatre running on your site in minutes...literally. The theatre itself is a flash movie (swf) that plays within an html webpage. Your flash video files can sit on your http server (typical web server) and your theatre will load the video as needed. This is one of the most attractive reasons for making the transition to flash video. It's easy and cost effective! You noticed that I didn't mention a streaming service...that's because you can load flv files via progressive download. If you want to use streaming, you definitely can, but you will need a streaming service. To summarize, the process is easy and you don't need a web developer, designer, or video engineer to set it up. This is the core reason I built Director's View™. :-)
OK, so there are three great reasons why flash video is taking over. I wanted to keep this post straight forward, so I'll stop here. Look for more posts in the future about the ins and outs of using flash video.
I want to hear your thoughts too! Let me (and others reading this post) know why you've made the move to flash video.
GG
1. It's Ubiquitous Baby - Everyone Can See and Hear Your Video...How's that for simple? :-)
Let's start with the reason that most companies are calling me in the first place! The Flash Video Player is the most widely accepted and distributed multimedia player on the planet. With Flash 7 having 95.6% penetration and Flash 8 having over 90.3% penetration, you can rest assured that visitors will be able to see your video. And that's pretty darn important, isn't it?
I'm confident that you all have heard comments from visitors about not being able to see your QuickTime, Windows Media, or Real Media files, right? And, I'm sure you are tired of it. When you use Flash Video, especially when it's targeted at Flash 7 Player, you will be targeting the widest possible population. Most Director's View™ clients are thrilled that the days of hearing "I can't see your video...it won't load...or I can hear it, but I can't see it!" are gone. This point alone makes the transition to Flash Video a no brainer. By the way, the Flash Player is also cross platform, so both PC and Mac users can enjoy your videos. Sorry Bill Gates. :)
2. The Flash Video Player Environment - The Video Theatre Itself Has Game!
Flash is unrivaled when it comes to building robust and interactive environments for the web (and cd-rom). When a client comes to me with great ideas about building a custom video player or flash website and they ask the limitations, I typically tell them that the sky's the limit! I have yet to come across a piece of functionality that cannot be built using ActionScript (the object oriented programming language used in Flash). Flash Professional is a robust application and you can take the user experience to a completely new level, a level that other media players simply cannot... You can build incredible user interfaces with robust navigation, you can use cue points to trigger additional content, you can provide bandwidth detection and tailor content based on connection speed, you can provide dynamic chapter selection, so on and so forth. Which is why we are carefully mapping out the next version of Director's View™, so you can take advantage of some of these incredible features.
The only downside is when you try to program it yourself, which many Director's View clients have tried to do. Flash 8 is a serious multimedia application with an object oriented programming language called ActionScript. It's not uncommon to have a few thousand lines of code running your flash app. For those of you who want to give it a try, I definitely think you should. I think it will give you a good perspective on how flash applications are built and what you can do with this powerful interactive media program. Then, if you get really frustrated and you've already had eight pots of coffee while you work through the night, give me a call. :-)
3. Easy and Seamless Integration With Your Website
Flash video files are handled just like any other web file format (whether you are using swf or flv). This means that there is no additional setup required to provide flash video via progressive download on your website (Note, I am referring to using progressive download flash video and not streaming.)
So, what does this actually mean? By using a product like Director's View™, you can have a flash video theatre running on your site in minutes...literally. The theatre itself is a flash movie (swf) that plays within an html webpage. Your flash video files can sit on your http server (typical web server) and your theatre will load the video as needed. This is one of the most attractive reasons for making the transition to flash video. It's easy and cost effective! You noticed that I didn't mention a streaming service...that's because you can load flv files via progressive download. If you want to use streaming, you definitely can, but you will need a streaming service. To summarize, the process is easy and you don't need a web developer, designer, or video engineer to set it up. This is the core reason I built Director's View™. :-)
OK, so there are three great reasons why flash video is taking over. I wanted to keep this post straight forward, so I'll stop here. Look for more posts in the future about the ins and outs of using flash video.
I want to hear your thoughts too! Let me (and others reading this post) know why you've made the move to flash video.
GG
Labels: Director's View, Flash Video, Viral
