High Quality FLV from any media file?

[Dave Johnson]

On2 Technologies Flix Pro and/or Flix Exporter … although its not cheap software, its the only software I use for FLVs for the same reason I use After Effects instead of some freeware wannabe … a cheap solution is not always a good solution (in my humble opinion).

With that said, because I don’t know whether “high quality FLV from almost any media file” is just loose wording, I’ll also mention …

As with any web video format, FLVs are highly compressed so by “high quality”, I hope you mean much better quality than the poorly compressed files on some websites, rather than expecting quality even remotely comparable to truly “high quality” video.

As far as “from almost any media file”, remember garbage-in-garbage-out. So, the quality of the media files you put into any software is equally (if not more) important to the quality of the output file as the compression software you use.

[Christopher Rotter]

That was the answer I was looking for since there are so many programs out there some commercial some freeware, and they all very I’m trying to find the one that does it well. And since I have heard in the past how well On2 Codec is I will probably get the Flix Exporter for use in After Effects.

[David Johnson]

I’m very glad you found my reply helpful, Christopher. I don’t recall the prices, which are obviously an important factor too, but in deciding whether to get Flix Exporter or Flix Pro, you might also consider your workflow …

When I’m in an extreme time crunch, it’s very nice to be able to render good FLVs straight out of AE without the need to render an uncompressed QuickTime first. However, I always render uncompressed QuickTime files too anyway and it’s also very nice to be able to run sources that did’t originate in AE through Flix Pro.

For me, the amount of web video I do now justified both … especially since a repeat client basically bought the software for me, but I also know choosing one is difficult when paying directly. Depending on your circumstance and budget, you might also ask yourself whether it’s likely the FLV format will really be dominant indefinitely … based on history, my guess is no.

[Christopher Rotter]

Depending on your circumstance and budget, you might also ask yourself whether it’s likely the FLV format will really be dominant indefinitely … based on history, my guess is no.

– What do you mean by the follow statement ? Also do you know any others that I could consider before making a final decision that are just as good as the On2 Flix software ? Something just as good and cheaper in price or what have you. If there is nothing else I’m willing to go with the after effects add-on but I’d like to know if there are more options before making my final decision.

[Dave Johnson]

What I meant is that the On2 products only make FLVs. Granted FLVs are the dominant web video format right now, but in a business where things change frequently and sometimes drastically, it is questionable whether and how long FLVs will remain the dominant web video format. So, I just meant that whether it is really feasible for you to spend the money on software that only makes that format is a choice only you can make based on your particular circumstances and budget.

I’m not aware of any software or codecs comparable to On2’s products for generating good quality FLVs. In fact, although I don’t know this to be concrete fact, my understanding is that On2 (and their predecessor WildForm) actually developed or helped develop the FLV format. And, this part I know to be fact … the VP6 and VP7 codecs On2’s products use to generate better FLVs than any other software I’ve used are proprietary codecs developed by On2 and the codec is what is really responsible for the output … the software interfaces just add additional features.

[Christopher Rotter]

Oh, I understand ! Well then I will probably get the Flix program. I honestly don’t see FLV going away anytime soon not for a long shot so I’ll put the money into it, then again I don’t own a crystal ball but it’s just a hutch 🙂

[Dave Johnson]

If u need to make a lot of FLVs and quality matters to you, you can’t go wrong with Flix. I don’t see the FLV format going away in the near future either … just another factor to consider since for some people paying $400 for a piece of software is worthwhile if we only get a few years use out of it, but others may need it to last much longer in order for it to be a worthwhile purchase.

[Christopher Rotter]

Well the add-on for After Effects is $200 which is a cheaper alternative, even though I have to load the videos into AE first, oh well.

[Christopher Rotter]

High Quality is what I’m looking for the other two recommendations seem more along the lines I’m looking for. I’m not debunking your choice but as we are both aware the amount of converters for flash out there are almost endless.