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Best way to FLV
Ok, so I’ll make this explanation process as simple as possible.
I have video, and I need the video to become an FLV for web video.The strings attached:
It can’t lose any quality… Now granted I know that scientifically speaking anytime you take a file and shrink it down to a smaller file type, YOU WILL LOSE QUALITY because it must throw out extra information… BUT, I have seen many flv’s that really look as clean and as good as if they have not.The specifications of project:
The video is in Final Cut Pro 6, shot in 720 X 480, One minute long video. (Going to be exported for web use.)How I export:
I export the video as a Q-Time video NTSCDV, dimension 640 X 480 at very best quality possible.Possible threat to quality:
In the video, there are 3 clips that have a Motion project overlying the video. They are a motion graphic lower thirds popping in from the bottom and leaving soon after. The reason I mention this is that I know that in some cases when using Motion segments and alpha channels, I MUST export as an Animation codec with Millions of Colors +.)Ok, so far either way that I export… the QTime file looks just the same and is perfect!
Converting to FLV:
I have tried using FlixOn2, FlashCS3 encoder, and the standard FinalCut 6 export (not recommended by most I observe).No matter which way I convert the Q-Time to an FLV, I find that during the 3 clips that include lower thirds, there is “stuff” appearing around/below the text and graphic elements. The picture is not as clear, and really it’s just not up to par for professional work.
Please help!! I have spent many hours researching solutions, am nearly going bald, and will probably never see the age of retirement.
Any help is greatly appreciated! Thank you!
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25 Replies
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[Ian Smith] “The specifications of project:
The video is in Final Cut Pro 6, shot in 720 X 480, One minute long video. (Going to be exported for web use.)How I export:
I export the video as a Q-Time video NTSCDV, dimension 640 X 480 at very best quality possible.”Why are you converting the size? You’re dropping quality right off the bat.
[Ian Smith] “It can’t lose any quality..”
Flash is terrible for video so it will lose quality.
[Ian Smith] “No matter which way I convert the Q-Time to an FLV, I find that during the 3 clips that include lower thirds, there is “stuff” appearing around/below the text and graphic elements. The picture is not as clear, and really it’s just not up to par for professional work.”
These are called artifacts. They are standard in Flash files. You have to create ultra high quality Flash files to get them clean, maybe around 5,000 to 10,000 kbps but you won’t be able to play them on the internet without a Flash Media Server.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE COLOR Apple Color Training DVD available now!
Read my Blog!
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This video will be viewed online, so in that case don’t I have to change the dimension to 640 X 480 to maintain the correct aspect ratio?
Would you mind expanding a little on the last bit of info?
“You have to create ultra high quality Flash files to get them clean, maybe around 5,000 to 10,000 kbps but you won’t be able to play them on the internet without a Flash Media Server.”And lastly,…I’m not knowledgeable about our server type, but I imagine that because we do nearly all web video we are on a Flash Media Server.
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[Ian Smith] “This video will be viewed online, so in that case don’t I have to change the dimension to 640 X 480 to maintain the correct aspect ratio?”
No, you can output any size you want and still maintain 4:3. I use 480×360 on our website, but I make that change in Compressor when making the final Web QT, not prior to compression.
[Ian Smith] “Would you mind expanding a little on the last bit of info?
“You have to create ultra high quality Flash files to get them clean, maybe around 5,000 to 10,000 kbps but you won’t be able to play them on the internet without a Flash Media Server.””You need the really high data rate to get high quality from Flash unlike Quicktime 7. With QT 7 you can make a relatively small H.264 file and maintain very high quality. With Flash, you have to up the data rate to a very high number.
[Ian Smith] “And lastly,…I’m not knowledgeable about our server type, but I imagine that because we do nearly all web video we are on a Flash Media Server.”
Nope, can’t assume anything. This is a particular set up to allow for high speed / high data rate Flash playback like you see on Disney.com I asked my new web developer about this and it’s a paid service which I’m not going to pay for, we’re going to stick with Quicktime even on our new website. Better quality, smaller files.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE COLOR Apple Color Training DVD available now!
Read my Blog!
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I just did a project that ended up as Flash movies. For my final renders, I changed my sequence settings to Uncompressed 10 Bit and did Export>Quicktime Movie and converted the movie to Flash. The results, particularly on graphics, were not very satisfying. The edges weren’t crisp. Then, purely by chance, I changed my sequence settings to Animation and converted that Quicktime movie to Flash. The result was MUCH better. The edges were really sharp. We got some pretty good looking video using the Flash CS3 Encoder at 400×300, 24fps, Medium Bandwidth (I think that’s 700kbps).
– David
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[walter biscardi] “[Ian Smith] “Would you mind expanding a little on the last bit of info?
“You have to create ultra high quality Flash files to get them clean, maybe around 5,000 to 10,000 kbps but you won’t be able to play them on the internet without a Flash Media Server.””You need the really high data rate to get high quality from Flash unlike Quicktime 7. With QT 7 you can make a relatively small H.264 file and maintain very high quality. With Flash, you have to up the data rate to a very high number.”
This is not true if you use the on2 encoder which is even better than Adobe own encoder.
I encode with 2-pass 356 kbps and get pristine A/V quality with crisp text. only on2 can provide this
at this small a size.We have replaced every quicktime file on our site with flash
because the file size is smaller, looks better and works
for everyone since it plays through a browser plugin -
I think the size/quality ratio for On2 VP6 is really, really good.
If you want even better, Flash 9 supports h264. You can link a Quicktime h264 mov to a swf player and it will work in Flash 9. No flv required.
Sean
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Here’s an excellent article on encoding practice with some interesting surprises. It’s definitely worth reading.
https://digitalcontentproducer.com/videoencodvd/revfeat/encoding_best_practices_0609/
John
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Have to agree with Sean and Chris. Walter, what are you smoking? 🙂
Flash is terrible for video? Remember all those people who would say “I made
a QuickTime and it looks terrible”? And the standard reply was that QuickTime is
a wrapper and that there were different codecs you could choose, and if you chose the
Sorenson SV3Pro, the QT will look its best. It’s the same thing with Flash, it’s many things,
it’s Spark, it’s ON2VP6, and now it’s H.264. To say Flash is terrible for video is also saying
that H.264 is terrible for video (and I don’t think you believe that…. or do you?).
We haven’t started using H.264 for our Flash encodes yet, but do use it for QTs (the same exact file
can be both) and they look great.
Ed -
We now typically export a self-contained QT using Current Settings, and compress to a data rate usually around 700kbs total (650 for video and 50 for audio). Size is often 480×360 or 480×270 for 16:9 (no flames for the 16 pixel thing please!).
Ed -
Look at it this way. Pretend you have a client that doesn’t have QT installed (not unusual at all). They have to go to a crowded and confusing web page and find the download link. Then by default the option is to download iTunes along with QT (which is humongous and makes the long process longer). It asks for your email and you can’t tell that entering the email address isn’t necessary. Then after a rather large download, they need to navigate to where the downloaded installer is, run it, and wait several more minutes for the installation. Then when it’s finished and it launches, they are spammed with “Go Pro” to buy the pro version. To top it all off, if they’re paranoid about spyware (which anyone who uses Windows will be) they may notice the QT logo in the system tray, and the Apple Update app running in the background – eating into their system memory and resources while unexpectedly nagging them to update each time a new version is available.
Long ass paragraph, but that’s exactly what a PC user has to go through. Us Mac users may not always realize it.
Now on the other hand, if they don’t have Flash (which is beyond unlikely) the installation is a thousand times quicker and less annoying. The browser informs them that there is a missing plugin. One or two clicks, and about 5-10 seconds later they’re done. That’s it. They now have Adobe Flash installed.
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