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Embedding binary video data in a swf file

Answer 1

+2 A:

You can import a flv into a swf file using the Flash IDE - I've done that before. You can drop it onto the timeline of a MovieClip just like a sound and then drop that movieclip onto the stage for it to play. In Flash CS3 do File>Import>Import Video and select the flv. Choose the video and then on the next stop of the wizard choose "Embed ..... ", Here is a link to an Adobe Developer center article on embedding flvs into swfs.

I have not done so myself, but I can see no reason why you could access the flv from the library of a loaded swf.

FYI: It looks like this was a bug that was deferred. It doesn't look like Adobe currently allows embedding using the Embed meta tag. Here is a forum post on the issue and a link to the bug tracker.

James Fassett 2008-10-13 21:41:29

Unfortunately that approach has a lot of caveats which I can't live with. The biggest one is the sound synchronization issue, but there are also framecount restrictions and other misc limitations. I've updated the question. Thanks for answering!

aaaidan 2008-10-15 03:23:29

Thanks for those links James, especially the kirupa.com thread. Makes me feel less insane.

aaaidan 2009-03-20 22:47:29

Answer 2

+1 A:

It's possible to embed video into SWFs with the Flash IDE but it's not a very good option:

"Playback is limited to simple play and stop commands, and the video framerate must match that of the host movie, an important consideration that will require authoring for the lowest-common-denominator download speed."

"The biggest limitations to embedded video are movies having a maximum of 16,000 frames and audio sync cannot be maintained beyond about two minutes."

Those quotes are from this article. It's a bit old but as far as I know, what is said there about embedding video still holds true.

hasseg 2008-10-14 15:45:05

That's a very good point. I know the "Import Video->Embed" feature of Flash CS3, but it's not an acceptable solution for those reasons.I'm looking out for _another_ way to embed video. I was imagining something like instantiating an `[Embed]`ed class and passing it to the video player.

aaaidan 2008-10-15 03:21:42

Answer 3

A:

Oh yeah, so apparently you can embed binary data in a swf using the Embed meta tag.

[Embed(
    source="local_data_file.flv",
    mimeType="application/octet-stream") ]
private static var __FlvClass123:Class;
protected static var flvData:ByteArray = new __FlvClass123();

Whether you can playback embedded video from a ByteArray or not is not something I cannot answer one way or another at this stage ...

aaaidan 2010-03-25 20:39:45

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Embedding binary video data in a swf file

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