Flash Video is a type of video that can be played by Flash Player. A Flash Video file can be a separated FLV file or a video stream in a SWF file. It has various video encoding methods. Flash Player 6 only supports Sorenson Spark encoding method; Flash Player 7 supports one more encoding method, Screen Video that can compress files without losing the original quality. Apart from the two above-mentioned encoding methods, Flash Player 8 supports On2 VP6, which is currently the best encoder available. Its video quality is superior to MPEG4, H264, and DIVX. As Flash Video becoming more and more popular, it will be the major built-in web video file in the near future.

In addition to the Flash Video encoder from the Macromedia company, there are different other Flash Video encoders such as SwishVideo, Flash Video MX, and On2 Flix. Now I am going to compare these different Flash Video encoders in various different aspects:

      

I. Features

A．Interface Style:

Macromedia Flash Video Encoder: Traditional Windows style and paging method. 

Swish Video: Traditional Windows style and paging method.

Flash Video MX: Windows XP style and Wizard method. Batch Encoder is traditional Windows style and paging method. 

On2 Flix: Traditional Windows style and paging method. 

B. Video Input Type

Macromedia Flash Video Encoder: Windows Media (Windows Media Player required), QuickTime (QuickTime Player required)

Swish Video: Windows Media (Windows Media Player required), QuickTime (QuickTime Player required)

Flash Video MX: Windows Media (Windows Media Player required), QuickTime (QuickTime Player required), Real Media (RealPlayer and RealMedia Splitter required).

On2 Flix: Windows Media (Windows Media Player required), QuickTime (QuickTime Player required)

C. Output Type

Macromedia Flash Video Encoder: FLV

Swish Video: FLV，SWF，HTML

Flash Video MX: FLV，SWF，HTML

On2 Flix: FLV，SWF，HTML

D. Video Capture & Split

Macromedia Flash Video Encoder: Input video preview by frame, rough video capture, and video split.

Swish Video: Input video preview by frame and rough video capture.

Flash Video MX: Input video preview by frame, accurate video capture, and video preview playback.

On2 Flix: Input video preview by frame, difficult and rough video capture, and video split.

E.      Video Conversion Settings

Macromedia Flash Video Encoder: Output size adjustment, frame adjustment, byte rate adjustment, and key frame rate adjustment.

Swish Video: Output size adjustment, frame split, output quality adjustment, and key frame rate adjustment.

Flash Video MX: Output size adjustment, frame adjustment, byte rate adjustment, automatic key frame rate, and video fade in/out.

On2 Flix: Output size adjustment, frame rate adjustment, byte rate adjustment, and key frame rate adjustment.

F. Output Video Codec

Macromedia Flash Video Encoder:Sorenson Spark,  On2 VP6

Swish Video:Sorenson Spark

Flash Video MX: Sorenson Spark

On2 Flix:Sorenson Spark, On2 VP6

H. LOGO Settings :

Macromedia Flash Video Encoder: No

Swish Video: No

Flash Video MX: Text Subject, GIF animation LOGO supported, and transparent background color supported.

On2 Flix: No

H.     Other SWF Functions

Macromedia Flash Video Encoder: No

Swish Video: Control bar

Flash Video MX: Control bar (different styles available and can be previewed), special video effect (can be previewed), movie beginning and movie end.

On2 Flix: Movie preload bar

I. Audio Settings

Macromedia Flash Video Encoder: MP3，sample rate settings, byte rate settings, and audio channel settings.

Swish Video: MP3，sample rate settings, byte rate settings, audio channel settings, and audio file replacement.

Flash Video MX: MP3，sample rate settings, byte rate settings, audio channel settings, audio file replacement, and audio fade in/out.

On2 Flix: MP3 / RAW, ample rate settings, byte rate settings, and audio channel settings.

J. Batch Processing

Macromedia Flash Video Encoder: Professional

Swish Video: Simple

Flash Video MX: Professional

On2 Flix: Simple

K.     Conversion Speed

Macromedia Flash Video Encoder: encoder: Sorenson Spark (fast), encoder: On2 VP6 (slow).

Swish Video: encoder: Sorenson Spark (fast)

Flash Video MX: encoder: Sorenson Spark (fast), encoder: On2 VP6 (slow).

On2 Flix: encoder: Sorenson Spark (slow), encoder: On2 VP6 (slow).

L. Encoding Quality & Output File Size

Macromedia Flash Video Encoder: encoder: Sorenson Spark (low quality and big file size); encoder: On2 VP6 (average quality and big file size).

Swish Video: encoder: Sorenson Spark (average quality and big file size)

Flash Video MX: encoder: Sorenson Spark (high quality and small file size); encoder: On2 VP6 (high quality and small file size).

On2 Flix: encoder: Sorenson Spark (average quality and average file size); encoder: On2 VP6 (high quality and small file size).

M. Cue Point Support

Macromedia Flash Video Encoder: Yes

Swish Video: Yes

Flash Video MX: Yes

On2 Flix: No

N.      Unregistered Version Limitation

Macromedia Flash Video Encoder: Sold along with Macromedia Flash MX; 30-day trial period.

Swish Video: 15-day trial period

Flash Video MX: Watermark on output video.

On2 Flix: Watermark on output video.

II. User Preference Analysis

1.        If you are a beginner of Flash files and you want to convert your video files to SWF files to play them on the Internet, Flash Video MX will be a good choice. It has a very easy interface and allows you to preview the main settings you have done. Macromedia Flash Video Encoder cannot create SWF files. SwishVideo and On2 Flix are both complicated for beginners.

2.         If you only want to convert a video file to a SWF file, SwishVideo, Flash Video MX and On2 Flix are all fine. However, if you want good quality and small file size, Flash Video MX will be the best choice.

3.         If you want to convert multiple video files to SWF files all at a time, Flash Video MX is also the best choice. Because Macromedia Flash Video Encoder does not support video file to SWF file conversion, and SwishVideo and On2 Flix have too simple batch processing functions and sometimes those functions do not work very well.

4.         If you want to convert your video files to FLV files and you prefer On2 VP6 conversion, Macromedia Flash Video Encoder, Flash Video MX, and On2 Flix all work well for you.

5.        If you are a professional Flash designer and you need to add Cue Point to your Flash files, you should choose Macromedia Flash 8 Video Encoder. It was released together with Flash 8 Professional by the Macromedia company. If you have already bought Flash 8 Professional, you should have got Macromedia Flash 8 Video Encoder along with it. On2Flix not supports Cue Point.

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