README: FLASH VIDEO PLAYER 2.4

thanks for downloading my flash flv player. this flv player can be used standalone, without the need for flash mx 2004. the player allows you to show your videos more controlled and to a broader audience as with quicktime, windows media or real media. if you do work with flash mx 2004, this player is also smaller and easier to adjust than the components that accompany flash mx 2004. Contents of this readme:

LICENSING INFORMATION

This script is licensed under a Creative Commons License. It allows you to use, modify and redistribute the script as long as you use it non-commercially and credit me as the author. For commercial use, I distribute licenses of the script at a fee of 15 euros. One license applies to a single project, and you don't have to credit me as the author anymore. Please contact me for obtaining licenses!

INSTALLING FOR HTML

if you only have one flv file, name it "video.flv" and put it in the same directory as your webpage and the flvplayer.swf. now put this code in your html page on the place you want the player to appear:

<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" height="220" 
	wmode="transparent" data="flvplayer.swf">
	<param name="movie" value="flvplayer.swf" />
	<param name="wmode" value="transparent" />
<object/>

you can adjust the width and height values to suit your video dimensions. the width should be the width of your video and the height should be your video's width + 20 (for the controlbar).

VARIABLES

you can give the flash movie two variables, both through the html code. the first one is the video file you want to play. if you want to play another file than the default video. for example if you have a movie "holiday.flv" inside the "movies" subdirectory, you can tell this to the flvplayer:

<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" height="220" 
	wmode="transparent data="flvplayer.swf?file=movies/holiday.flv">
	<param name="movie" value="flvplayer.swf?file=movies/holiday.flv" />
	<param name="wmode" value="transparent" />
</object>

you can play movies from another website if you include the entire http:// path. great for saving bandwidth !

the second variable is autostart. the movie starts automatically by default, but you might want the user to press the play button. this is the code:

<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" height="220" 
	wmode="transparent" data="flvplayer.swf?autoStart=false">
	<param name="movie" value="flvplayer.swf?autoStart=false" />
	<param name="wmode" value="transparent" />
</object>

when you've set the autoStart to false, the video display shows a black screen with the words "click to play". if you put a jpg file with the same name and in the same folder as your flv file online, that jpg file will be shown as a placehoder instead. the default is, as with the flv, the name video.jpg

last but not least you can combine these variables if you put a "&" sign in between them. example:

<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" height="220" wmode="transparent" data="flvplayer.swf?file=movies/holiday.flv&autoStart=false"> <param name="movie" value="flvplayer.swf?file=movies/holiday.flv&autoStart=false" /> <param name="wmode" value="transparent" /> </object>

INSTALLING INSIDE A FLASH MOVIE

if you have flash mx 2004, you can also choose to embed the player into a flash project. just copy-paste the movieclip from flvplayer.fla to your movie. at the top of the actionscript in the movieclip you can set the variables for the filename, autostart (true/false), width and height of the movie. you can also easily change the look and colors of the player, as long as you keep the symbol nesting intact.

SOME HINTS

VERSION HISTORY

SUPPORT

For extras, tips and tricks you can always have a look at my forum's Flash Video Player threads!