I've found several programs that will convert AVI and MOV files to SWF for PCs in the less than $100 range. Is there something similar out there for the Mac.


(My PC customer wants to upload flash movies to his website and I don't know how to make the conversion to flash. He wants SWF. I have FCP 5, Flip4Mac, Compressor)

verticalmoon.com
cheap. you can make decent files, but you need to experiment with the settings to make clean images.

on2.com
what i use. not as cheap as the above, but i like this program very much, and the standard settings are good.

I hadn't heard of vertical moon software before, and their applications appear to be very econimally priced.

I also use the on2 Flix application, and have done so since back when it was Wildform. Its somewhat more costly, but I love the QT plug-in system that allows for easy export right though QT Pro.

However, if you have Keynote installed on your Mac, and if your video files are simple enough to be presentable through a Keynote presentation (it does play video files quite easily) you can export a Keynote file as swf - although you won't be given any parameter control on screen size, bit-rate, etc.

Not very viable for anything complex, but for a simple, short swf video, it is possible - and free if you already have iWork loaded on your system.

-Jon

Forget what I said about that last post with regards to Keynote. I remember having tried it a coule of years ago when Keynote came out, and I remember having had some success with it on something with a little animation video - but I just tried it again to double check my advice, and I couldn't get the video to actually play beyond the poster frame.

Sorry.

-Jon

i would add that, if this is for commercial purposes, which it sounds like it is, you should use on2...or something equivalent. it's more of a pro app.

verticalmoon is probably more the way to go for personal use....

VisualHub is cheap and effective:
http://www.techspansion.com/visualhub/

Yeah, the results of on2 are pretty awesome. We use it in conjunction with Sorenson Squeeze for the videos on our Brightcove page. The cool thing about Brightcove is that its free hosting and they do not re-encode the .flv files like youtube would. Sorenson Squeeze and on2 together are pricey, but its worth it if you're looking for the best output. Here's a few examples if you have high speed http://dvestore.com/dvgeartalk.html

Thanks guys,
I bought the $40 Flix Standard from on2 after I read your posts. It worked for me. I'll see the guy this morning that I did it for and then I'll know if it worked for him.

So, am I right in assuming those of you who touted on2 use the pro version rather than the standard version?

Since Flash is a new requirement to me and doesn't seem to be going away for me, are there some good reasons I should be looking into the pro version?

For example, Guy, your stuff looks and plays great. Did you use Standard or Pro?

So while were on the subject of Flash video here...

If video is going to be presented over the internet in a Flash player, am I correct in assuming that performance will be increased if the file that is uploaded into the player is a FLV file to begin with? Would that help out with streaming/buffering issues?

Hope I'm not too off topic or hijacking your thread, Scott.

Thanks,
Kevin