Playing FLV Videos

Page history last edited by Doug Peterson 16 years, 2 months ago

FLV or Flash Videos are the hottest commodities on the internet. This is the native format for video that is playable through YouTube and other video sharing services. Typically, these may be played through a web browser. You may also wish to download any of a number of free video players that support the FLV format. Personally, I use RichFLV.

How do you display them in class though?

You have a number of options. But, first of all, make sure that the author or the service allows you to play the video in public. That isn't always the case.

Assuming that you have the rights to do so, how do you play them to get the best results?

1) First, go for quality. Typically, video sharing services have a "normal" or "default" way to show videos. Most people just show them in that mode and they end up looking grainy and have muffled sound quality. Look for a toggle that will let you play the video in "high quality" mode. Provided you have enough bandwidth, you'll get the same video but at a much higher quality. This is particularly important if you are going to display your movie on a data projector on a SMART Board or a big screen. Little artifacts will become big artifacts!

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2) Don't squint. Most videos will play in a windowed environment on the host site. Look for the ability to grab a corner of the player with your mouse or even look for a button that will let you play the movie full screen. Your audience will thank you.

3) Avoid audio and video problems. There's something nice about being able to just click and play a video. You look knowledgeable and you just take the internet as it comes. But, in a classroom, that's not always feasible. The internet connection may have good days and bad days! We've all seen them. If you have a chance, go to the video that you'd like to play and load it in advance of the class. That way, the entire video will be cached, in advance of show time, and you play it from the cache and not live, subject to an iffy internet connection. If you need to do some setup, before you play the video, open another tab in your Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Safari browser and work there. Then, at the appropriate moment, switch to the tab with the video and it should play without a hitch.

4) Test your audio. The same volume setting that you use on your computer at home may not be appropriate for your presentation. Adding to that the fact that you may be using a shared computer with someone using it just before you and you have a recipe for an audio disaster. Test your audio before you go live. Play something from iTunes or your media software as you're setting up your classroom. Then, when you seemlessly play your video, you come across so polished. Think of the times where you're in a presentation and the presenter is diddling with controls and check with folks at the back to see if they can hear the video... You don't want to me like them!

5) Use the pause button and the scrubber bar. Unless the movie that you're showing is a shortie, there may be times where you'll want to pause the movie to start a classroom discussion. Or, perhaps you'd like to pause and replay parts of the movie. Your player will have those controls and they may be used quite effectively to get more bang from the movie than just simply playing it.

A little planning goes a long way towards a successful production.

More Tips...

Live Showing Chances are, your video should never be a standalone event. Consider making it part of your Wiki for presentation purposes. Learn how to use the <embed> </embed> tags. They are your friends!

Included Videos It may be that you're showing your own FLV video or you have legally downloaded a video from another source that lets you keep a copy on your computer for playback. See Using Zamzar to Collect Movies Offline on this Wiki for tips about how to get yourself a local copy. How do you show the movie? You have an awesome tool in the SMART Notebook software. From the Insert Menu, insert your Flash Video File and it's now part of a terrific Notebook lesson.

Your video will be added as just another object into a Notebook page. Stretch it with the bottom right corner and click on the play button. You tested your audio in advance, right?

So, thus armed, turn your next lessons into the total multimedia experience for you and your students. It raises things to the next level. Consider the great and inspirational movies that are available.

Do You Believe?