• Introduction
• Getting Started
• Acquiring your video source
• Bringing your video into Flix
• Preparing your video in Flix
  • Selecting a preset
  • Checking the export html box
• Encoding your video
• Playing your encoded files
• Placing your file in a web browser
• Issues to consider
• Other options

• 64MB RAM
• 10MB free disk space
• Processor:
  PC: Pentium II 233MHz
  Mac: Power PC
• Operating System:
  PC: Win 98/ME/2000/XP
  Mac: OS 9.x/10.x
• PC & Mac: Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher
• Internet connection for installation

The Video and Audio requirements are as follows:

• Free Flash Player 7+: http://www.flash.com
• Free QuickTime Player 6+ (you must use the complete "recommended" install mode): http://www.quicktime.com
• PC Only: Free Windows Media Player 9+: http://windowsmedia.com/download/download.asp
• PC Only: Direct X 8 or later: Download from Microsoft's site.
• To capture video, you will need a video capture card and video capture software (Flix does not have capture capabilities). Capture cards usually come with some type of capture software.

Flix exports four types of Flash video:

1. MX SWF Video: Wildform's high quality Flash MX SWF video with both 1-pass and 2-pass VBR, which plays in the Flash 6 player and higher, uses high quality video compression that is comparable to Quicktime, Windows Media Player, and Real. It can be brought into the Flash authoring tool with Load Movie.
2. MX FLV Video: Wildform's high quality Flash MX FLV video (both 1-pass and 2-pass VBR) that plays in the Flash 7 player (and higher) when loaded into the player using the correct streaming syntax. This syntax is automatically added when using one of Flix Pro's players. In addition, FLV video can be imported directly into the Macromedia Flash authoring tool (versions MX and higher) and used with the Macromedia Flashcom Server. Flix outputs FLV files with either MP3 audio, which is better when deploying the FLV files on the Web or locally, and uncompressed audio which is useful when creating files intended to be imported into the Macromedia Flash authoring tool.
   Note that FLV files have no 16,000 frame limit and they handle RAM in a different way than SWF files, so if you are creating large video files, it is strongly recommended that use FLV output. Also, when creating video for CD, you should use FLV video because it performs better.
3. Flash 3+ SWF Video: The ubiquitous Flash 3+ SWF video plays in any Flash player version 3 and higher (note: mp3 audio requires at least the Flash 4 player). It can be brought into Flash with Load Movie, or imported by selecting "Create importable SWF" in the SWF tab. While the MX SWF and FLV video output is much better quality, you may want to use the Flash 3+ SWF video for certain applications - such as advertising, homepages, etc. because you can be almost positive that viewers will be able to view the video without having to download any player.
4. Vector SWF Video: Flix Pro's one-of-a-kind vector video in the SWF format. Flix Pro is the only software available that turns standard video into a vector based animation. Flix Pro can output four different types of vector video from the same source: color, gray scale, two color (any two colors) and outline (also with any two colors). Flix Pro's vector video plays in any Flash player version 3 and higher. The vector video can be brought into Flash with Import and Load Movie.

1. SWF Audio: Flix's SWF audio plays in any Flash player versions 4 and higher. It can be brought into Flash with Load Movie, or imported by selecting "Create importable SWF" in the SWF tab. (Over 96% of all Web users have Flash 4 or higher installed.)
2. FLV Audio: Flix's FLV audio plays in the Flash 7 player (and higher) when loaded into the player using the correct streaming syntax. This syntax is automatically added when using one of Flix Pro's players. In addition, FLV files can be imported directly into the Macromedia Flash authoring tool (versions MX and higher) and can be streamed using the Macromedia Flashcom Server. Flix outputs FLV files with either MP3 audio, which is better for use when deploying the FLV files on the Web or CD, and uncompressed audio which is useful when creating files intended to be imported into the Macromedia Flash authoring tool.
   Note that FLV files have no 16,000 frame limit and they handle RAM in a different way than SWF files, so if you are creating large audio files, it is strongly recommended that use FLV output. Also, when creating audio for CD, you should use FLV video because it performs better.

Flix encodes the following video, audio and image formats into Flash.

• Video: avi, .dv, .mov/.qt, .mpeg, .mp4, .3gp, .asf/.wmv (Win only)
• Audio: .mp3, .wav, .wma (Win only)
• Still Image: jpg, .gif, .png, .bmp, .psd, .tif, .pic, .tga

In order to use Flix, your source video/audio/images need to be located on your computer’s hard drive, or be accessible by your computer.

If your video is on videotape you will have to capture it before encoding. If your source is DV and your computer has a firewire card, you can capture directly using a firewire digital transfer. If your source video is on an analog format such as VHS, you will need to use a video capture card. There are many capture cards available on the market. Some provide markedly better quality than others. We use an Osprey capture card (www.viewcast.com) with audio and video inputs. Though the Osprey card costs less than many other cards, we have found the quality to be quite good. Additionally, we recommend using a capture card with both audio and video inputs to help keep the video and audio in sync. For more information on capturing video check out this tutorial: http://www.wildform.com/support/tutorials/flashvideoquality/.

• Framerate: Flash SWF video has two framerates: 1) a video framerate, which is the number of distinct video frames per second in your video, and 2) a SWF framerate, which is the number of SWF frames in your final Flash video. These are not the same thing and you have to keep track of both - and how they relate to each other and to the source video framerate. Flash SWF video is different in this way then standard video which has only a single video framerate. The presets in Flix automatically select video and SWF framerates for your output and are based on the idea that most video is encoded at 30 fps. However, the preset values may not provide the smoothest playback or best audio sync for your output if your source video uses a different framerate. We advise that your Flix video framerate should be a factor of your source video framerate. A factor is a number that divides evenly (without a remainder) into another number. For example 1, 2, 3 and 6 are factors of 6; 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 10, 15, and 30 are factors of 30, and so on. Also the SWF framerate must be equal to, or a multiple of your Flix video framerate. So double check your video and SWF framerates and how they match up with your source video. Your source video framerate is shown in the “Input video properties” section of the Video tab (if this information is available).
  Note: Flash FLV video uses only one framerate - a video framerate.
• Image dimensions: The presets in Flix set default image dimensions (width and height) for your output video. These are based on aspect ratios of 3:2 (the aspect ratio is the width of your video divided by the height). However, if your source video uses a different aspect ratio, such as widescreen format (16:9), the video will look stretched when encoded using the default settings. So once you have selected your source video and a preset, you may want to go to the video tab and select the “Maintain source aspect ratios” option in the “Output video dimensions” section. Your source video dimensions are shown in the “Input video properties” section of the Video/Audio tab (if this information is available).