I have 5 buttons but i only want the video to play on the ‘home’ button.
When i click on the other buttons i have added :

videoPlayer._alpha = 0
ns.close()

that hides the video and stops it, however when i click the ‘home’ the video is paused where i stopped it and the pause/play button doesn’t work (i want it to automatically start again).

What code should i add to my other buttons to- stop/hide/put video back to the start?
And what code do i use so that when the home button is pressed the video is at the start and plays automatically?

Many many thanks!

I wish to load a new movie thats a swf that streams a flv, size is 450 x 300 but when ever it loads it plays at 600 x 800

Your code looks basically okay, honestly. In a case like this, where it takes numerous steps to achieve your goal (unload one clip, load another; the new clip loads a video …) it’s generally best to test each step along the way. That way, you can verify that each step is happening as expected. If you do nothing else but unload your first clip, does your onUnload handler properly execute? If you load your new clip — just a SWF (one that doesn’t do anything) — does it properly load at the right dimensions?

It sounds to me like your SWF (the second one) might be getting resized somewhere, which in turn resizes its movie.

To Adam …

I have built a an FLV Player in ActionScript 3.0 using the VideoPlayer class. Do you have any experience with it?

Adam, your questions are all good and thoughtfully worded. Unfortunately, I haven’t toyed much with the AS3 VideoPlayer class — even in the year since you originally posted your questions — so I’m afraid I don’t have any insight for you. Sorry!

To Cesar …

My problem is the same as Jason Hone had (4 posts up), I would like to restart the video as soon as it completes.

[then later]

Nevermind! I got it. […] You have to make sure to put double quotes around NetStream.Play.Stop.

w00t! Glad you nailed that, Cesar. I’m so behind in these replies, it’s a relief to me when I see that a reader managed to navigate through a challenge alone. (Makes me feel less guilty for taking so long to reply.)

To Steve C …

Is there a way to loop the video? […] Nevermind … I was able to find the solution here: [CMX article]

Cool deal! I have vague memories about that particular CMX article (by Tom Green). It’s possible Tom consulted with me on that one before posting it. If so, that would be funny. Glad you found an answer!

To casimara …

found your site while trying to figure out a problem with the “go back to frame 1 after playing a FLV” via the netstream method. Do you have any idea why the last chunk of code below screws up my playhead positioning?

Your last chunk of code looks like this:

ns.onStatus = function(info:Object) {
  if (info.code == "NetStream.Play.Stop") {
  gotoAndPlay(1);
}

But I’m wondering if you should actually be using gotoAndStop(1) (stop, as opposed to play)?

To Jim J …

So if my code runs the external FLV on one server, but not the other, it seems a server adminstrator’s mime settings might need tweaking. Any further thoughts or suggestions?

Gosh, that’s a good question! To be honest, Jim, I’ve been lucky enough not to have to worry about MIME settings at all. I’m afraid I’m dry on this one.

To Kristi …

Can I have a listener.play [and listener.pause] function [for an FLVPlayback instance]? […] Am I completely on the wrong track?

Kristi, you’re not on the wrong track at all. The listener mechanism is no different from how you outlined, and you can re-use that same listener object (the Object instance named “listener”) for all your various events. Check it out:

var listener:Object = new Object();

listener.complete = function(evt:Object):Void {
  lastVideoFrame._visible = true;
  stills.stop();
};
videoPlayer.addEventListener("complete", listener);

listener.paused = function(evt:Object):Void {
  // insert event-handling code here
};
videoPlayer.addEventListener("paused", listener);

listener.playing = function(evt:Object):Void {
  // insert event-handling code here
};
videoPlayer.addEventListener("playing", listener);

Does that help? (Note, the above code is AS2. Not sure which version you need.)

To Land Onlong …

Have a fully functional SWF with external FLV. The swf includes scrolling text that plays simultaneously with the flv video content. The issue, is that as the videos get longer, the more chance there is for mismatches between the scrolling swf text and the flv video content.

Given the independance of video timelines from animation timelines, I’m not surprised to hear about the lack of synch, especially down the line. In a case like this, I would probably try to rely on the actual progress of the video as a reference for tweening the text programmatically. In AS3, use the NetStream.onMetaData event to derive the duration of the video (assuming it has metadata, which it probably does). Once you now how long the video is, you can use an Event.ENTER_FRAME event to track NetStream.time repeatedly to determine how far along the video has played. If the video is 10 seconds, for example, and the video has played 5 seconds so far, you know it’s halfway done (5 / 10 = 0.5). With that ratio, you’ll know how far to set the MovieClip.x or y property of your scrolling text.

At zero seconds it, for example, the text shouldn’t be scrolled at all. Assuming its default resting position is 0 and the text has a width of 500, that could be set up something like this:

scrollingText.x = -(ns.time / duration * scrollingText.width);
assuming …
scrollingText.x = -(0 / 10 * 500) (it sits there at 0)

Using the same formula, the text would be scrolled 250 pixels to the left (that is, scrolled halfway to the left) when ns.time is 5 seconds …

scrollingText.x = -(5 / 10 * 500) (now at -250)

Bear in mind, of course, that I’m showing a simplified principle. You’ll have to check if NetStream.time returns its value in seconds or milliseconds, and you’ll have to check the value of duration for the same. Be prepared to multiply or divide either value by 1,000 to potentially compensate, as the case might be. But that’s one basic approach, in a nutshell.

To Barbara Confino …

Can I make an flv invisible, and then visible when the mouse/mc rolls over it?

You sure can. The way you do it depends on how you’re playing the video itself (FLVPlayback or NetStream), but in either case, you can make it easy on yourself and wrap your chosen playback mechanism in a movie clip. In other words, convert your FLVPlayback instance to a movie clip symbol, or convert your Video symbol to a movie clip symbol. That way, you have easy access to the MovieClip properties, methods, and events.

Make sure to give your movie clip an instance name, because you’ll need that instance name to “talk” to your movie clip with ActionScript — and also to talk “through” it to the playback mechanism inside it (FLVPlayback or Video symbol). Once you have your movie clip in place — this container that holds your video — you can use, say, the MovieClip.onRollover and onRollOut events as your triggers to set the MovieClip._visible property of that clip. If you’re dragging, check out the MovieClip.onDragOver and onDragOut events.

What version of ActionScript are you using? I’ve been assuming AS2 in my reply so far, but if you let me know for sure, I can flesh out a better code sample for you.

Thanks for the insightful tutorials here, defiantely a help. Read through your posts here and havent come across this question. I am also a AS3 newbie and have two challenges that I am attempting to overcome.

Have a fully functional SWF with external FLV. The swf includes scrolling text that plays simultaneously with the flv video content. The issue, is that as the videos get longer, the more chance there is for mismatches between the scrolling swf text and the flv video content.

I am now attempting to:
- preload both the SWF and FLV together.
- insert player controls that control both the swf and flv simultaneously.

I have been chomping at this for a few days now, and cant seem to get it just right. Any assistance on this would be greatly appreciated. Also, Crackin Blog ~ Great resources and advice

lastVideoFrame._visible = false;

var listener:Object = new Object();
listener.complete = function(evt:Object):Void {
lastVideoFrame._visible = true;
stills.stop();
}
videoPlayer.addEventListener(”complete”, listener);

but if the viewer then clicks play again on flv once it’s completed, I need to have
lastVideoFrame._visible = false;
stills.play();

Can I have a listener.play function? If so, does this have to be a separate listener, such as
var PlayListener:Object

Am I completely on the wrong track? Should I be using NetStream instead for complete control? Your infinite wisdom and simple way of explaining things would be much appreciated for this ActionScript struggler

//——–NETCONNECTION SETUP————–
var nc:NetConnection = new NetConnection();
nc.connect(null);

//——–NETSTREAM SETUP——————
var ns:NetStream = new NetStream(nc);

ns.onStatus = function(info) {
if(info.code == “NetStream.Play.Start”) {
progressBar.onEnterFrame = videoUpdate;
}
if(info.code == “NetStream.Play.Stop”) {
delete progressBar.onEnterFrame;
}
}

ns.onMetaData = function(info) {
ns.duration = info.duration;
}

//——–ATTACHING NETSTREAM————–
video.attachVideo(ns);

//——–PLAYING EXTERNAL FLV————-
ns.play(”Settle.flv”);

//————LOADBAR————-
loadbar.onEnterFrame = function() {
this._xscale = (ns.bytesLoaded/ns.bytesTotal)*100;
if(this._xscale == 100) {
delete this.onEnterFrame;
}
}

//————VIDEO UPDATE———–
function videoUpdate() {
progressBar._xscale = (ns.time/ns.duration)*100;
timecode.text = getTimecode(ns.time);
}

//————VIDEO SCRUBBER———-
loadbar.onPress = function() {
progressBar.onEnterFrame = videoScrub;
}

loadbar.onRelease = loadbar.onReleaseOutside = function() {
progressBar.onEnterFrame = videoUpdate;
}

function videoScrub() {
var dist:Number = (_root._xmouse-loadbar._x)/loadbar._width;
ns.seek(Math.floor(ns.duration*dist));
progressBar._xscale = (ns.time/ns.duration)*100;

timecode.text = getTimecode(ns.time);
}

playHead.onEnterFrame = function() {
this._x = Math.floor(progressBar._width + loadbar._x);
}

//————–This code works but breaks the playhead location———
ns.onStatus = function(info:Object) {
if (info.code == “NetStream.Play.Stop”) {
gotoAndPlay(1);
}

}

stop();

Any insight is greatly appreciated.

Best,
casimara

Basically just add this to the same frame of actionscript:

ns.onStatus = function(info) {
if (info.code == “NetStream.Play.Stop”) {
ns.seek(0);
}
};

Still, many thanks to David for the great tutorial which has saved me once again!

Is there a way to loop the video?

Normally I would just apply this code to the component on the stage:
on (complete) {
this.autorewind =true;
this.play();
}

However, I cannot apply any code to the empty video player…