Page 1 of 2 When Flash Professional 8 was released at the end of summer 2005, its Flash 8 Video Encoder (and Video Import wizard) was the only tool available to add cue points to your Flash Video (.flv) files. While the Flash 8 Video Encoder can produce some amazing results, several options necessary for professional video compression are not available, such as deinterlacing, image contrast, brightness controls, and advanced compression settings. Luckily, if you want a full-featured Flash Video compression tool, you can turn to Sorenson Squeeze 4.3. Released at the end of January 2006, Sorenson Squeeze 4.3 provides a cross-platform solution for compressing Flash Video, including support for the new On2 VP6 codec and Flash Video cue points.
You can download a trial version of Sorenson Squeeze 4.3 on the Sorenson Media site. The trial version adds an "Evaluation Copy" watermark to any compressed video files created by the program. Note that you can use either the Sorenson Squeeze 4.3 Compression Suite or the Sorenson Squeeze 4.3 for Flash version to create FLV files with cue points.
CAUTION: You'll need to upgrade from Sorenson Squeeze 4.0, 4.1, or 4.2 to enable support for Flash Video cue points. For more information on updaters, check Sorenson Media's downloads page.
Sorenson Squeeze 4.3 uses the term "markers" to refer to points within your video clip that you want to be recognized as divisions within your final compressed video files. Because Squeeze 4.3 can output formats other than Flash Video, markers can be applied to DVD Video output for chapter navigation on a regular DVD player. For Flash Video purposes, markers are synonymous with Flash 8 Video Encoder's cue points. Specifically, Sorenson Squeeze has chapter and keyframe markers. Chapter markers are recognized as navigation cue points in Flash Video, and keyframe markers are recognized as event cue points.
TIP: If you need a refresher on navigation and event cue points, read Part 1 of this series.
You can add navigation cue points (as chapter markers) in Sorenson Squeeze 4.3 by following these steps. You can use the sample time-lapse footage, shot on location from my Sheraton Hotel room at FlashForward Seattle, included with the source files of this tutorial.
NOTE: The sample video file used in this tutorial has already been deinterlaced. If you are compressing footage that was shot on an NTSC DV camcorder, you should create a new filter in Sorenson Squeeze that has the Deinterlace check box selected. Add this filter to the job window to apply it to your source video clips.
Figure 1 The default marker type button.
NOTE: Depending on your operating system and source file, you may not be able to enter exact decimal values. Any values close to the second integer will suffice.
Figure 2 The Edit Markers dialog box.
Keywords
Sorenson Squeeze, cue points, navigation cue points, encoding, FLVPlayback component
