FAQ - Flix Desktop Products - On2 Technologies

Frequently Asked Questions

Many questions about Flix Pro, Flix Standard, Flix Exporter, and Flix Live have similar answers, so the questions are grouped here. There are separate FAQ lists for Flix Engine Windows, Flix Engine Linux, and Flix Publisher.

Answers

Why can't I use Flix Exporter with Apple's Compressor application?

There are a few things to be aware of when using Flix Exporter with Compressor:

Flix Exporter must be installed after Final Cut Pro and Compressor. If not, then re-install Flix Exporter and choose Custom and then Enable Compressor Support.
Assuming everything is installed correctly, the option for Flix Exporter is actually labeled On2 Flash Video - FLV and On2 Flash Video - SWF within the list of codecs. (You won't see the text "Flix Exporter" within the FCP or Compressor user interface.)

Why does FlixFLVPlayer crash when I try to play an FLV file (Macintosh)?

We currently have a bug in our FlixFLVPlayer.app utility that causes it to crash if you have the latest version of Flash Player plug-in installed.

Until we release a fix, you can download and install one of the following FLV player applications:

VLC Player (VideoLan)
Adobe Media Player (AMP)
Perian (enables FLV playback in QuickTime Player)

Are Flix Pro and Flix Standard supported on MacOS X 10.6 "Snow Leopard"?

Yes, Flix Pro and Flix Standard have been tested and work fine in Snow Leopard.

Is Flix Exporter supported on MacOS X 10.6 "Snow Leopard"?

Yes, Flix Exporter works in Snow Leopard. However, if you use it with QuickTime Player, then read the following notes:

The new QuickTime Player (version 10.0) application that is installed with "Snow Leopard" (Mac OS X 10.6) does not support Flix Exporter (or any other QuickTime Movie Export Component for that matter). It does not support Export using QuickTime Components, and it does not offer a "Pro" upgrade like previous versions. To continue using Flix Exporter under Snow Leopard, you will need to install QuickTime 7 and use the QuickTime Player 7 application. (You can have both versions of QuickTime Player installed at the same time.)

If you previously had QuickTime Pro (the $30 upgrade that enables Export functionality) then the Snow Leopard installer should automatically install the QuickTime Player 7 app to maintain the Export features.

However, if you installed Snow Leopard to a new harddrive, it will not install QuickTime 7 by default. In that case, follow these steps to restore export functionality:

Insert your Snow Leopard "Mac OS X Install DVD"
Double-click to open the Optional Installs folder
Double-click to run the Optional Installs.mpkg installer
Click to turn on checkbox for package QuickTime 7
Click Continue and Install buttons to proceed with installation

After install is finished, run the application:

"/Harddrive/Applications/Utilities/QuickTime Player 7.app"

Choose Registration ... from the QuickTime Player 7 menu
Enter your QuickTime Pro license information to unlock the "Pro" features

To use Flix Exporter:

Open a video in QuickTime Player 7
Choose Export ... from the File menu
Choose Movie to On2 Flash Video - FLV from the Export popup menu
Hit the Options ... button to reveal the Flix Exporter settings
Press OK and Save to proceed with the encode

When I try to install On2 Flix, I see a message that I've exceeded my install quota. How can I increase my quota?

To reset your quota, visit our Install Quota Reset page. When you submit the form, your number of allowed installation attempts will increase from zero to two. (Does not apply to On2 Flix Pro 8.5 for Windows and later.)

Where can I download the latest version of my On2 Flix product?

Visit our On2 Flix Download page. You will need your registered On2 Flix username and serial number.

On2 Flix Exporter is listed in the Windows Start menu, but the program group doesn't contain a shortcut for On2 Flix Exporter. How can I use Exporter?

The Flix Exporter program is a Quicktime plug-in, not a stand-alone program. In other words, you need a host program to actually 'see' and use the Exporter. It won't appear in a directory or in the Start drop-down menu. Instead, it appears when you use the host program's Export option.

When I double-click a Flash FLV file in Windows, I see an error message and am told to download the Macromedia Flash Player. Why?

If you have decided to encode your file in FLV format, your PC requires an FLV player to view your file. On2 Flix Exporter includes a player program named FlixFlvPlayer.exe, and FLV output can be viewed within Flix Pro and Flix Standard by clicking the Play button when encoding is finished.

There are also standalone FLV players available on the Internet. A popular one is Martijn de Visser's FLV Player. If you are using Flix Pro, you can also take the FLV and create a SWF player. In that case ,the resulting SWF player file should play on your PC, but you will still require the Adobe Flash Player.

When I try to run On2 Flix I see the error 0x01A4 or Error 7. How do I fix it?

Both of these result from the On2 Flix licensing system. In the first case, your computer has remnants of a previous Flix installation — especially in the registry (PC) or preferences (Mac) — and the prior version's serial number does not match your current version. The newer versions of On2 Flix remedy this issue, but if you still see the error, contact On2 Technical Support.

An Error 7 only occurs when you enter a serial number from an On2 product into the wrong product. For example, you will see Error 7 if you own Flix Pro and Flix PowerPlayers and enter the PowerPlayers' serial number into Flix Pro.

Can I use Flix SWFs for CD-ROM applications?

Yes, you can use Flix to create video for CD-ROM applications.

However, there are certain issues that you should consider. Because of the way Flash works, when you have a SWF on CD, the Flash player loads the entire file into memory before it starts to play. Depending on your computer's CPU, RAM, CD player speed, etc., performance will vary. We suggest creating SWF files no larger than 25MB for use on a CD-ROM. If you want to have larger files, we suggest breaking them up and loading one after the previous one is finished and unloaded.

There are several programs available that will create projector files for both PC and Mac (including Macromedia Flash).

Is there a demo version of Flix?

Yes. It can be downloaded from our Flix Demo Software page.

Why am I having problems encoding?

If you're having problems encoding, the first thing to do is to make sure you have a current and complete installation of the free Apple Quicktime player installed. Windows users must also have a complete installation of the free Windows Media Player.

How do I know when my Flix-encoded SWF is done playing?

The Flix encoded SWF video file will have a variable DONE=1 on the last frame. If loop movie and unload at end are unchecked, the movie will stop at the last frame and set the variable DONE from DONE=0 to DONE=1. That's the best way of telling when the movie ends without importing it into Flash and setting the action in the last frame. Another method is to use properties. If the movie clip instance that the Flix video was loaded into is named "video", then this code for Flash4 will work (Flash5 code is similar):

if ( GetProperty( "video", _currentframe) >= GetProperty("video", _totalframes))
  MOVIE HAS ENDED
else
  MOVIE IS STILL PLAYING

How do I make a video player for my Flix-encoded videos?

Flix comes with two sample players, located in your Flix > SamplePlayers directory. One is Flash4 and the other Flash5 (Flash5 has a volume control).

How large are Flix-encoded video files?

The only way to know what the bitrate of a Flix-encoded SWF movie will be, is by setting a maximum bitrate (in the video tab). Here are the approximate files sizes for the preset bitrates that come with Flix:

14k - 75KB/min
28k - 150KB/min
56k - 300KB/min
128k - 800KB/min
256k - 1.8MB/min
384k - 2.6MB/min
512k - 3.5MB/min

These file sizes are determined by the maximum target bitrate for your movie, and are comparable to any other format. If you do not select a maximum bitrate, it is impossible to pre-determine what size the final video file will be. Of course, you can set whatever bitrate you want. Flix also allows you to edit the existing presets, and to create your own.

How does Flix-encoded SWF video compare to Quicktime, Real, and Windows Media?

Flix provides excellent 2-pass VBR video quality. In addition, Flix-encoded Flash video offers many advantages over other formats, such as the ability to: (1) easily place the video in a customized player, (2) create videos with mouseovers, (3) create links and other interactivity, (4) export video with preloaders and other useful Flash functions, etc. Flix-encoded video also plays on all platforms and browsers and it streams through firewalls. And because of the widespread distribution of the free Adobe Flash Player, Flix video is viewable by almost everyone surfing the Web — even viewers on PDAs

How do I use Flix-encoded video with Microsoft FrontPage?

To use your Flix-encoded video with MS FrontPage, use the same <object><embed> tags as you would for any SWF.

Example:

<object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" 
  codebase="http://active.macromedia.com/flash2/cabs/swflash.cab#version=4,0,0,0" 
  id="banner_2000_08_15_b"
  width="468" 
  height="60">
  <param name="movie" value="/SDD.swf" /> 
  <param name="quality" value="high" />
  <param name="bgcolor" value="#000099" />
  <embed src="/SDD.swf"
    quality="high"
    bgcolor="#000099"
    width="468"
    height="60"
    type="application/x-shockwave-flash"
    pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash">
  </embed>
</object>

Change the filename (in two places), the width and height (in two places), and the background color (in two places). Copy the entire code block.
In FrontPage, open the HTML file to embed the SWF in. Make sure the SWF file and HTML file are in the same folder.
Select Insert > Advanced > HTML from the FrontPage main menu.
Paste the code you copied above into the HTML Markup window, and click OK.
Change to the HTML tab in FrontPage. Your HTML code should be inserted into your web page.

Again, be sure to save the page in the same directory as the SWF that you are embedding. Your HTML and SWF files must be in the same folder in order for your Flix movie to play. FrontPage needs to know where the SWF is before it can display it, and assumes it is in the same folder as the HTML page.

To see your Flix movie playing, change to the Preview tab in FrontPage.

What is FLV?

Flix software can produce FLV files which contain Flash Video, both 1-pass and 2-pass VBR. These FLV files can be imported into the Adobe Flash CS3 authoring tool in order to design a SWF interface to play the file on a website. FLV files can also be played with our FlixFLV Player utility, or FLV Player from Martin Devisser. Flix uses MP3 for the audio within FLV, and on Windows it can also use uncompressed (WAV) audio.

If I own Adobe Flash CS3 why do I need Flix?

Flix has many advantages over the video import functions in Adobe's Flash authoring tools. Flix provides 2-pass VBR encoding, which delivers significantly better video quality than single-pass. Flix also contains features not available in the Adobe tools (or are much faster to use), such as batch encoding, automatic player output, automatic preloaders, and automatic Flash functions. In addition, Flix Pro is the only software available that will convert video files to a vector-based SWF animation.

Why can't I encode my video even though it's on the list of Flix's supported formats?

There are several possible reasons, but the most likely is that you do not have the required codecs installed. You can see if Flix reads the source video codec by checking the "Input Video Properties" in the upper left portion of the Video tab. If nothing appears in that box, you may not have the required codecs installed. You should make sure you have a current and complete installation of the free Apple Quicktime Player. Also make sure you have the free Windows Media Player installed.

To encode MPEG4 AVI files you may need to install some software that will automatically install the codec for you.

For more information on using codecs, check out our Codecs Resource page.

Why should my SWF framerate always be equal to or a multiple of my video framerate?

In Flix the SWF framerate should always be equal to or a multiple of the video framerate to prevent problems with encoding such as loss of audio sync and audio distortion.

I can compress my Quicktime MOV file with Flix, but in the compressed output all I see is a blank white frame. Why?

The MOV file is likely compressed with the Quicktime H.264 codec, which is only available in Quicktime Player 7 or newer. To upgrade, visit http://www.apple.com/quicktime.

Why isn't my source video playing properly?

You may not have all the necessary media components installed. If your source video plays in its native player (e.g., MOV files in the Quicktime player and WMV files in the Windows Media Player), it should play in the Flix source player and encode into SWF without problems.

If the native player cannot play the source video, either you need to download more components or additional codecs, or your source media is corrupt. The free Apple Quicktime and Windows Media players will often auto-install any necessary components. You should have a current and complete installation of the Quicktime and Windows Media players.

How can I get smoother motion in my video?

Increase the video framerate under Output Video Options on the Video tab.

How do I capture video?

To capture video you will need a video capture card and video capture software that enable your computer to encode video from an external video player or camera. Capture cards usually come with some type of capture software. In addition, as with all computer-based video encoding, the faster your processor and the more RAM you have, the better your encoding experience will be. Remember that you will also need plenty of disk space for your video files.

Why does the motion in my video look jerky?

The video framerate (Video tab) you selected for your SWF video may not correlate well with the framerate of the source material. The video motion looks smoothest when the video framerate you set (Video tab) is equal to or a factor of the source video framerate (a factor of a Variable Number is a whole number which can be multiplied by another whole number to equal the Variable Number). You should also be aware that the source video framerate that appears in the Input video properties (Video tab) only reflects the framerate of that video - and not necessarily the framerate of earlier versions of the same video (for instance a 12 fps source might have been re-encoded at 30 fps, but there will still be only 12 distinct frames of video every second, even though 30 frames will appear). Usually you can find the right framerate with some experimentation.

How can I improve the quality of my audio?

Under the Audio tab, increasing the sampling rate and especially the bitrate will increase the quality of the audio in your SWF. It will also increase the SWF file size.

Using mono instead of stereo, especially at lower bitrates, may also improve quality.

Does exporting stereo audio increase my file size?

Usually not, but it may decrease quality at lower bitrates. We suggest using minimum audio settings of 22 kHz and 40 kbps when outputting a stereo file.

Why does my audio sound distorted?

There may be problems with your source audio. In addition, some combinations of output audio options (Audio tab), the sampling rate, bitrate, and stereo/mono can cause your sound to distort. You may have to adjust these settings.

Why is my audio losing sync?

There are many issues that can cause loss of audio sync. Below are just a few. To start, it may be helpful to explain a couple of things:

Flash video has two framerates:

A video framerate, which is the number of distinct video frames per second in your video
A SWF framerate, which is the number of SWF frames in your final Flash video

These are not the same thing and you have to keep track of both — and how they relate to each other and to the source video framerate. Flash Video is different from standard video, which has only a single video framerate.

A factor is a mathematical term that describes one of two or more quantities that divides a given quantity without a remainder. For example 1, 2, 3 and 6 are factors of 6; 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 10, 15, and 30 are factors of 30, and so on. Potential reasons for loss of audio sync:

The video framerate of your output SWF conflicts with the video framerate of your source video. The video framerate of your SWF video should be a factor of your source video framerate.
The SWF framerate of your output SWF conflicts with the video framerate. The SWF framerate of your SWF video should be equal to or a multiple of your video framerate.
The video SWF file created uses up too much RAM for the system it is running on, resulting in a loss of sync.
The SWF file that the video is embedded in (or loaded into) uses up too much processor power for the system it is running on, resulting in a loss of sync.
The source has errors.
The source codec used is not 100% supported.
The computer used to encode lacks the processing power and/or RAM required to encode with sync.
There may be a conflict between the audio settings you are using (frequency and bitrate) and the audio settings of your source video. Experiment by altering your settings. Often, increasing the frequency and bitrate can solve this problem.
The video framerate being used is very low and the resulting video appears to have audio and video out of sync (especially with talking mouths), but in fact it is in sync and the appearance of sync loss is caused by the very low framerate.
The audio and video of the source material was captured with separate cards, which results in a loss of sync that gets worse with subsequent generations. We recommend using a capture card with both audio and video inputs to help keep the video and audio in sync, such as an Osprey capture card.
Try updating your Flash Player to the latest version. You may also want to consider upgrading to the latest versions of Quicktime and Windows Media Player.

How do I access the clip information and variables I put into my SWF?

Flix stores any variables you input on the first frame of the SWF output. To see your variables and their structure, drag the SWF into Macromedia Flash and select Control > List Variables to list the variables in the Output window.

If you load your Flix-encoded SWF into a larger Flash movie with the Load Movie command, you may access your variables the same way you would any variable in a movie clip. For example, if you load SWF into a movie clip called empty on the top level and you want to access the title variable, the structure would be _level0/empty:title.

My Flix-encoded SWF is playing back in a larger Flash movie at the incorrect speed. Why?

Most likely the SWF framerate of your output SWF file is different from that of the larger Flash movie. When you load a Flix-generated SWF with audio into a larger Flash movie, the larger movie will play at the framerate of the Flix movie. When you load a Flix-generated SWF without audio into a larger Flash movie, the Flix movie will play at the framerate of the larger movie.

If you load multiple SWFs with audio into a larger movie, the framerate will match the framerate of the movie loaded into the lowest level of the SWF.

How many characters can be in one item of clip information?

A variable in Flash can contain up to 255 characters. Characters may be letters, numbers, or underscores. Do not use spaces, punctuation or other special characters.

How can I get a link in my SWF media file to open in a new browser window?

In the File tab, to the right of the Link field where you type your URL, there is a Target field, where you may enter any browser target, or choose from a list of the most common. If no target is specified, the link will open in the current browser window.

My output SWF has no video and/or audio track, when I know the input media does. What's wrong?

On the File tab, make certain that the Export options are set properly. That is, if you want video in your output SWF, check "Export Video". If you want the source audio to be encoded into the SWF, check "Export Audio".

If you still cannot encode the audio and/or video, please make certain that you have all the proper media components for the input format. If your source file does not play properly in its native player (for example, MOV files in the Quicktime player), then you most likely do not have the proper components.

Why is "Beep when finished" not working for me?

If you have checked the "Beep when finished" option in the Encoding Status box but there is no notification sound, please check the sounds settings in your Control Panel and verify that your Default Sounds setting is activated.

I can't see my files in the Open File dialog box. What's wrong?

Please ensure that the "Files of type:" field is correct. For instance, if "Apple Quicktime Movie" is selected you will only see MOV and QT files. Selecting "All Files (*.*)" will display all files in the directory.

I want to add additional items of clip information. Is this possible?

Yes. Under the SWF tab you may enter any number of custom variables, which may then be accessed by a larger Flash movie like any variable.

What is the problem with exceeding 50MB of SWF Player RAM?

Video files are large and therefore take up large amounts of RAM. Flix tells you how much RAM your finished video will use on an end user's computer, and it will warn you if it will exceed 50MB. The 50MB value is based on certain assumptions and is designed to work on the majority of users' computers, but it may exceed the capabilities of some users' computers.

The key factor in RAM consumption is file size. If your output file size exceeds 50MB, you may want to reduce the size by reducing one or more of the following: image size, framerate, quality, audio bitrate, and maximum bitrate. You can also cut your movie into smaller files and load them separately.

You can use the "Unload movie at end" check-box (SWF tab) to instruct the Flash player to unload the SWF video when it is finished playing. Unloading the video frees up any of the RAM it used.

How do I change the encoding presets?

Select View > Options > Edit Presets. The presets file will open in an editor where you can edit the existing presets and add new ones. To add new presets, just use the exact same format that is used in the EncodingPresets file. Make sure to enter your information exactly, as even a small typo can cause the presets not to be read by Flix. Once you're finished making changes, save the file. Then click "Reload Presets" and "OK", and the presets should be updated.

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Support tickets for On2 Flix Pro, Flix Standard and Flix Exporter customers must be opened through Wildform at http://wildform.com/eTicket/.

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