streaming media into flash

[pelachrum]

i'm trying to stream a movie right into the flash movie (using the media component I'm guessing?)

can I do it right through actionscript?

[inhan]

Yes, but you need to have that component in your library.

[pelachrum]

...actually correction, based on some digging around I see that I don't want the controls visible... I don't know much about this nook of Flash... here's what i have

import mx.video.*;
this.attachMovie("FLVPlayback", "my_FLVPlybk", 1000, {width:345, height:296, x:100, y:100});
my_FLVPlybk.contentPath = "testFile.flv";

...few things, i'm guessing the 1000 is the length of the video it will buffer before it plays, right?
also, even though width:345, height:296 are the dimensions of my flv file, the video is smaller when i test it and playing with those numbers has no effect on the size...

[inhan]

1000 is the depth and every other value is what you think it is.
The reason of that problem/issue is, the default for a FLVPlayback instance is autoSize=true. And it is recommended to set the size after attaching it. Check the example:

import mx.video.FLVPlayback;

var flv:FLVPlayback = this.attachMovie("FLVPlayback", "my_flv", 100);
flv.setSize(400, 200);
flv.autoSize = false;
//flv.maintainAspectRatio = false;
// comment and uncomment the previous line to see the difference.
flv.contentPath = "video1.flv";

var listener:Object = new Object();
listener.ready = function(evtObj:Object) {
    trace("width:"+evtObj.target.width+", height:"+evtObj.target.height);
};
flv.addEventListener("ready", listener);

[dannyhouk]

Originally Posted by pelachrum

...actually correction, based on some digging around I see that I don't want the controls visible... I don't know much about this nook of Flash... here's what i have

You're basically using actionscript to build your flv playback component, whereas you could as Inhan suggested just drag the FLVPlayback component onto the stage, give it an instance name, and then use actionscript to control how you use it. Whether the flv has its own buttons or not depends on how you published your flv. For the playback controls you can select "none" when publishing in which case the flv you call will not have its own controls, only what you select from the components library.

[pelachrum]

yeah that explain everything, thanks guys
how do I loop this movie to start from the beginning when it's done?

[inhan]

A correction to Danny is, I'm not creating an instance on the stage. I'm just keeping a FLVPlayback instance in the library. The reason you use attachMovie rather than createClassObject is the fact that the FLVPlayback class extends the MovieClip class.

Additionally, to make it loop, use the 'complete' event handler:

var listener:Object = new Object();
listener.complete = function(evtObj:Object) {
    evtObj.target.play();
};
flv.addEventListener("complete", listener);

[pelachrum]

thanks Inhan, works like a charm

[inhan]

You're welcome. You might need to check the documentation for aditional features.

Cheers.

[pelachrum]

do you know by any chance if there is a way to dictate how much of this media file is streamed before it is played? I'm getting pretty decent performance but it does get a bit choppy in the beginning... I'm wondering if I could delay the play a tad or buffer somehow?