Scott Fegette

First, simply choose ‘File > Import > Import Video...’, and you’ll be presented with the “Select Video�? interface:

... which, quite simply, allows you to select the video source file to be converted and/or imported, and it’s location (local/network). Easy enough! So you simply point at the right file, and click ‘Next...’- and then should be greeted by the “Deployment�? step of the wizard:

The Deployment step, as you may have guessed, allows you to specify how you’d like to deploy your video- progressive download, streaming, embedded in the SWF timeline, a bundled video for devices, or as a linked QuickTime movie. (If you don't have access to a FlashCom or FVSS server, you'll probably want to choose progressive download.) If you're not sure- just click through the options and let the 'help text' on the right of the wizard fill you in on the specifics and help you make the right choice for your project.

Clicking ‘Next...’ after doing so brings you to the next step in the Wizard, either "Skinning" (if you haven't chosen Embedded Video), or if you've chosen Embedded Video, the “Embedding�? step. We'll start with the Embedding step, then move to Skinning.

In the Embedding step (again, only displayed if you're creating embedded video as opposed to progressive/streaming video), you’ll specify how the video should be embedded in your FLA file. Just tell the Wizard what type of symbol to use, how to handle the audio and video in your video file, and how the stage and timeline should be handled (should the video clip be placed automatically on the stage? Should the timeline be expanded to show the full duration of the clip?). Clicking "Next" from here takes you to the next step of the wizard- Skinning.

In the Skinning step of the wizard you can choose the visual design of the playback controls presented to users. There are a whole slew of presets, or if you like, you can create your own in Flash as well. Choose a skin, preview it in the window, and move on by clicking "Next" again. (If you’ve chosen to split your video - i.e. cut it into chunks, you’ll be presented with a wizard to support that before moving to the next step, “Encoding�?- I won't cover that step here specifically however).

The Encoding step lets you choose a compression profile (including the ability to change any settings within, and create new profiles), and review all the settings associated to that profile. A profile simply encapsulates all the different encoding settings you’ve chosen - the video codec, size, bitrate and framerate along with audio codec and bitrate. If you’re not comfortable choosing all those advanced settings, you can just choose a preset - for example ‘Flash 8 - High Quality’, and let Flash 8 worry about the specifics.

The screenshot above, however, shows the 'Advanced Options' toggled open. You'll notice two additional tabs beyond the Encoding settings- 'Cue Points' and 'Crop and Trim'. Cue Points is a great feature that allows you to set exactly that- cue points within your video file to be used within Flash to jump directly to a location. For example, you may want to provide 'chapter markers', or perhaps jump directly to a particular quote within an interview clip. Very handy. The Crop and Trim tab allows you to crop your video, or trim a specific section within to be encoded (i.e. letting you trim off the excess). Considering these are features usually leveraged within your video editing or compositing package, it's a very handy step to have them here, directly within the import process.

As with the rest of the wizard steps, when you've gotten all these powerful settings right where you need them, hit "Next" to move on to the last step, the 'Finish Import' screen:

The 'Finish Import' step simply summarizes all the settings you’ve specified in all the previous steps before starting the process of conversion, and then - assuming everything is set as you expected - processes your video accordingly when you click the 'Next' button.

So... if the settings look good, just click 'Next', and that's it! You're up and running with a newly-encoded Flash Video file. All things considered, the new Import Wizard is a very painless process- and certainly easier than video import/conversion has been in prior versions of Flash. So - if you’re not a video pro but want to get your work done in one application - Flash - instead of bouncing to a dedicated video editing or compositing applications to encode your video source with fine-grained control, Flash 8 should fit the bill nicely. Time to break out those home movies and get to work!