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F4V Questions – Encoding – Compression with AME
I have a team of Flash users who have built out a Flash program that used video files (originally encoded as .flv’s), and even though I’ve read that the new Flash supports “H.264” video, why do they only want and require “.F4V”, not .MOV files?
Is there a definite reason why, or are they not wanting to have to re-program and re-code a ton of media over again, of 200 media files that are currently on the Flash site are in .FLV, and now we want to completely re-encode them to “h.264”, but they do not want h.264, they want .F4V, so it this because of the way it is built out in Flash or how it is coded then? Or is this because they are PC people, not ‘mac’ people, trying to avoid Apple video of any sort in Flash? Or they have an architecture that they want to keep, and they do not want to modify it with new media file extensions? We gave them some H.264 files, .movs, and they said “they didn’t work”, whatever that means.
Also, we used to shoot in Standard Definition video, and now we shoot in HD, so to take the same settings to encode to .flv, and apply that same setting to HD video, makes the new HD video look awful! So, they want us to not only re-encode to F4V, the flash wrapper, but also, they want us to match the file size for the new file encoded. We were able to get some good results with the Adobe Media Encoder, using 640×360, low bit-rates, but it’s still not the quality we want.
bitrates: 0.5 _ 7 VBR
640X360
29.97Anyone help me with these questions?
Tom Laughlin
Producer/Editor
Salt Lake City, UT
FCP7/Sony EX-3/Mac Quad-Core Intel -
1 Reply
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1. why do they only want and require “.F4V”, not .MOV files?
As you’ve stated lower in your post, F4V is the flash wrapper for the H.264 codec, as .MOV is the quicktime wrapper for H.264. Same codec as heart, different wrapper for compatibility with 2 different players. So to directly answer this question, it’s because they want to use the video within the flash player and not quicktime.2. so is this because of the way it is built out in Flash or how it is coded then?
See above.3. is this because they are PC people, not ‘mac’ people, trying to avoid Apple video of any sort in Flash?
Nope.4. Or they have an architecture that they want to keep, and they do not want to modify it with new media file extensions?
Bingo. This would be my guess. If there system is setup to deliver flash, they’re going to stick with it.5. We gave them some H.264 files, .movs, and they said “they didn’t work”, whatever that means.
.Mov wrapper not compatible in Adobe Flash Player.6.they want us to match the file size for the new file encoded.
I’m assuming you mean resolution? If they mean physical (even though it’s digital) size, h.264 should result in less space (megabytes).To answer the resolution problem, it’ll take some playing around to find out what works best with what you’ve got but some tips would be to
a. scale the video resolution down proportionally (resulting in black bars) OR
b. crop out the sides of the video with the HD footage if it can be.Hopefully this helps. By the way, you’re doing a great job in asking questions. I’ve seen other posts of yours and you’re definitely milking the community for all it’s worth. It’s why we’re all here! To tell other beggars where bread can be found.
Drew Jensen
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