Using Flash As An Online Video Delivery Application

Flash is now one of the top-most vehicles of online video delivery today. This is likely due to the fact that the Flash program itself has integrated tools that make publishing uber-web-ready videos, animations, advertisements and so much more, right out of the box. This makes it very simple for nearly anyone of any capability to upload a quality, easy to use video for literally the world to see.

Most videos placed online are in a format that is only conducive to straight playback with little to no user interactivity, much like watching tv. This provides a rather flaccid experience and is not really web-friendly. Users come to a website to have interaction, to choose what they view, not have it dictated for them.

A program named "Flix" has been released, making encoding video into a swf file easier than ever. Flix offers numerous compression and authoring choices for anywhere from a 56k modem to a broadband connection, from 1fps banner ads to full out videos. Flix offers a versatility and functionality unparalleled in today's market. However, the downfall of Flash, and Flix, resides within itself. An SWF file can only contain 16,000 frames, which roughly equates to just over 22 minutes of the standard 12fps. It's second downside is that it is not a streaming format, but rather is of the progressive download format, meaning it is not a good choice for live broadcasts.

Advantages are present as well; the ability to combine video/motion images with vector graphics, all though one program is a huge plus. Flash is capable of producing a high quality fusion of the two that is viewable on 99+% of browsers worldwide and therefore can reach a vast audience quickly, easily, and all while being user friendly.

I believe that Flash as a video delivery platform is a great idea and I see it more and more everyday. We are saturate with advertisements, YouTube, and an unmeasurable amount of Flash online games and movie clips. There is no way to deny Flash's usefulness or presence due to it's shear magnitude on the world wide web.

-Keegan