TodCon8: Producing Flash Video for the Web

I'm sitting in another session by Scott Fegette, this time on the productions requirements for creating video that will be output to Flash video.

As Scott explains, there are some particular things to think about when working with video that will be published in Flash. Convergence between Flash video includes features such as transparency and masking, Flash compositing and video compositing, and cue points.

Some things to think about on the client side, or the users computer, that can impact file sizes and cause a hit in file sizes. Some recommendations:

1. Shoot against simple backgrounds. Complex backgrounds require more work on the encoders part and can inflate file sizes.
2. Avoid excessive shakes, zooms, and pans.
3. Soft focus and soft lighting can have a huge impact on file sizes and on the quality of the output.
4. Eliminate hum and buzz from your audio. Although the impact on file size isn't quite as large, that sort of noise does impact file size.

Next, think through your shots and consider your shots and lighting and voice overs. Yes, that means storyboards and some things to keep in mine are the framing and layout of the shot. Although they don't have to be complex or pretty, they should provide enough information so that your initial shooting can be streamlined.

Scott also recommends an audio plan to go along with the visual storyboard. This might inlcude the use of pre-recorded sounds or sound effects, how you'll incorporate different microphone set ups, and how you might need to work on audio edits.

For web-based video production Scott provides us with a workflow that takes you from video capture to output to Flash. His process goes something like this:

1. Acquisition
2: Editorial and post production
3. Compression and cropping/resizing. This includes the conversion of the video to a FlashFLV format.
4. Delivery, including the final assembly of your video in the Flash Player and choices for Flash output or conversion to other formats.