Parsing embedded Flash video in exported projects

Fred Thompson
12/20/2008 06:57 am
I found OE Pro now works great with some embeded video which was impossible to retrieve with the 4.x series. That discovery led to testing against the home pages of some of the popular (and not so popular) embedded Flash players. Results are mixed. at least half fo the time, OE Pro will retrieve the FLV but does not properly embed or co-ordinate local playback with an SWF player. These are the sites I''ve been testing:

JW Media Player http://www.jeroenwijering.com/?item=JW_Media_Player
FlowPlayer http://flowplayer.org/
FPlayer http://as3flvplayer.sourceforge.net/
FLV Player http://flv-player.net/
Highslide JS http://highslide.com/

These have Flash embeds that are puzzling. The ColorPicker page has a LOT of extra hidden junk at the bottom of the page which might be confusing:

ColorPicker http://blog.inlet-media.de/colorpicker/
DimDim http://www.dimdim.com

DimDim has a series of demostration videos which can be retreived but will not play at http://www.dimdim.com/products/what_is_dimdim.html

I used a URLSniffer 2 and can report these are the only linked URLs:

http://www.dimdim.com/demo/AttendeeControls_Dimdim_Flash.flv
http://www.dimdim.com/demo/demo_4.html?Dimdim_Overview
http://www.dimdim.com/demo/Dimdim45IntroVideo.flv
http://www.dimdim.com/demo/examples/img/block.jpg
http://www.dimdim.com/demo/examples/img/dots.png
http://www.dimdim.com/demo/examples/img/play.png
http://www.dimdim.com/demo/examples/js/flashembed.min.js
http://www.dimdim.com/demo/examples/js/flow.playlist.js
http://www.dimdim.com/demo/examples/js/jquery.mousewheel.js
http://www.dimdim.com/demo/examples/js/jquery.pack.js
http://www.dimdim.com/demo/examples/js/jquery.scrollable.min.js
http://www.dimdim.com/demo/FlowPlayerDark.swf
http://www.dimdim.com/demo/HostMeetingOptions_Dimdim_Flash.flv
http://www.dimdim.com/demo/img/3m.jpg
http://www.dimdim.com/demo/img/dimdim-logo.png
http://www.dimdim.com/demo/InvitingToMeeting_Dimdim_Flash.flv
http://www.dimdim.com/demo/MeetingSettings_Dimdim_Flash.flv
http://www.dimdim.com/demo/Menus_Dimdim_Flash.flv
http://www.dimdim.com/demo/MultiplePresenter_Dimdim_Flash.flv
http://www.dimdim.com/demo/OnScreenControls_Dimdim_Flash.flv
http://www.dimdim.com/demo/Preferences_Dimdim_Flash.flv
http://www.dimdim.com/demo/PublicPrivateChat_Dimdim_Flash.flv
http://www.dimdim.com/demo/RecordingSStop_Dimdim_Flash.flv
http://www.dimdim.com/demo/ShareDesktop_Dimdim_Flash.flv
http://www.dimdim.com/demo/SharePresentation_Dimdim_Flash.flv
http://www.dimdim.com/demo/ShareWhiteboard_Dimdim_Flash.flv
http://www.dimdim.com/demo/Synchrolive_Dimdim_Flash.flv
http://www.dimdim.com/demo/VoipPhones_Dimdim_Flash.flv
http://www.dimdim.com/products/what_is_dimdim.html

Are there special settings which can help or is the complexity of parsing SWF still a little elusive, requiring manual adjustments to exported projects?
Oleg Chernavin
12/21/2008 08:23 am
Yes, extracting FLVs is still a big puzzle. I am adding more support for extracting eal FLV URLs to almost each new version, but not all sites are supported.

So far, it is easier to use specialized tools, like our Flash and Media Capture to save Flash video. However I agree that for a total automated download of a big site it is not enough.

Best regards,
Oleg Chernavin
MP Staff