Digital Workshop

I am trying to add a flash demo (software simulation) made with another program and am having difficulty with playback in Opus Pro 04 XE. When I test the demo outside of Opus, it plays just fine, at the correct speed and timing. Once I add it to an Opus publication, it moves at super speed. It flies through the entire video ruining its playback viewing. I haven't found any way to slow down the playback in Opus.

Exporting the demo in asf, avi, animated gif produces poor quality images once inserted into the Opus publication. So flash is the best choice if only I can get the playback speed/timing fixed in Opus.

Thanks for any help.
Stephen

Hi there
could you tell me what is the name of the software you used to generate the swf?
Also, are you using docview or video to run the swf in Opus?
Cheers
German

Hi there
could you tell me what is the name of the software you used to generate the swf?
Also, are you using docview or video to run the swf in Opus?
Cheers
German

Hi,

Thank you for your enquiry.

Opus does not handle SWF files directly, but instead uses the QuickTime engine to play SWF files imported as video objects. I would therefore recommend opening the SWF file into QuickTime to see if the problem occurs.

If the problem is also evident in QuickTime, please try downloading and installing the very latest version of the QuickTime Player from www.quicktime.com, then test to see if this resolves the problem.

If the problem is still present in the latest version of QuickTime, I would recommend contacting the developers of the original SWF demo software to see if this is a known issue.

It may be that they have only tested the outputted files with the Flash Player browser plug-in and not with QuickTime. If this is the case, please try importing the SWF file using the DocView object. This will force Opus to use the Flash Player browser plug-in to handle the file and the demo should play back at the correct speed.

I hope this helps. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any further queries.

Kind regards,

Have a look in download.com or Tucows where you will come across utilities that will convert swf files to avi.

I have successfully used Magic SWF2AVI for years. I find it useful in the following case. I can prepare a demonstration using Flex, and take the Flex swf file and convert it to avi, which then plays as a video in an Opus pub.

Might be worth looking into.

HTH

A lot of utilities I tried Flash to Video Encoder showed to me the best quality and result.
http://www.geovid.com/Flash_To_Video_Encoder/

After seeing posting after posting about using Flash, I've got to ask, "what am I missing?"

When I build software simulations, I simply do screen shots, then add a cursor image which I can move/propel around the screen, anywhere I want. If there are drop down windows, I do another screen grab, then either use the entire shot, or simply crop the new drop-down and add another image where the real drop-down should go. I can move the cursor/pointer to the new area. I don't see an advantage to making a software simulation in another tool, then fighting/trying to make it work in OPUS. OPUS is ideally suited to do a fantastic simulation by itself. I usually have text boxes (with borders/shadows, etc) which I "fly" into explain what's happening. I add voice narration to really make an impact.

So to all of you who are making Flash simulations, then using OPUS -- What am I missing? Wouldn't you be better off just building your whole presentation in Flash? This is just a question -- not a social comment.