Better to import FLV or SWF?

Feb 10, 2014

Hi there everyone.

I am importing some animations which a supplier is preparing for me.

There will be no interaction, just viewable movies.

My question is this; should I ask the supplier to provide me with swf, or flv files to import into Storyline?

For some reason I am under the impression it would be better to insert flv files into Storyline, and let Storyline compile them into swfs. Is this correct? If so, why?

Thanks a lot.

5 Replies
Michael Hinze

One consideration is whether or not you want the ability to use the built-in pause/continue button on the seekbar. An imported swf has its own timeline and will not respond to these controls, whereas a video like .flv will follow the slide's timeline and can be controlled with the seekbar's pause/continue buttons (or custom pause/play buttons)

Steve McAneney

Actually, I just discovered that it's the way the file is imported, not the file type that links the movie to the seekbar (Articulate's own instructions).

I don't like the way a flv causes the cursor to change to a hand when hovering over the moview, and clicking on it also stops the movie. I have also encountered the same issue as many, the end of the flv being cut-off (this seems to be a random error across many software applications). Therefore, I am reverting to swfs.

Mark Cairns

Hi Steve,

It may not matter in your situation but...

.swf's wont work in HTML5 output. (Desktop/Flash and Articulate iOS Player will work however)

If you use .flv instead of .swf I'm pretty sure the .flv gets converted to .mp4 and that "should" work in HTML5.

Also, If you place a transparent image/symbol in front of the video/flv it will prevent the user from pausing the video when clicked.

Regarding the end getting cut off, I've seen this as well. If you have access to the source add a 1/2 second before exporting to .flv.

-Mark

Steve McAneney

Mark Cairns said:

Hi Steve,

It may not matter in your situation but...

.swf's wont work in HTML5 output. (Desktop/Flash and Articulate iOS Player will work however)

If you use .flv instead of .swf I'm pretty sure the .flv gets converted to .mp4 and that "should" work in HTML5.

Also, If you place a transparent image/symbol in front of the video/flv it will prevent the user from pausing the video when clicked.

Regarding the end getting cut off, I've seen this as well. If you have access to the source add a 1/2 second before exporting to .flv.

-Mark


Thanks Mark. This e-learning will be run in a corporate, windows7/IE environment so I'll just stick with the swf format to make things easy. I simply don't have time to add 'blockers' over the movies or extend the flv's, but at least now I know for next time.

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