AfterEffects

About render and export of Flash formats

You can render and export movies from After Effects as Adobe Flash (SWF) files or Flash Video (FLV) files. Incorporating these movies into web pages and adding interactivity is typically accomplished using the Flash authoring application.

To see a video tutorial on rendering and exporting to Flash formats, visit the Adobe website at www.adobe.com/go/vid0261.

Flash (SWF)

SWF files are small files that are often used to deliver animated vector graphics (such as cartoons), audio, and other data types over the Internet. SWF files also allow viewer interaction, such as following a web link or controlling animation. To play SWF files, you need Adobe Flash Player, a plug-in for your web browser. SWF files exported from After Effects can be played by Flash Player or imported into the Flash authoring application for additional editing.

Flash Video (FLV)

FLV files contain only pixel-based (rasterized) video, not vector graphics, and they aren’t interactive. To play a movie in the FLV format, you must import the FLV file into Flash and publish it in a SWF file.

After Effects markers can be included as cue points in an output FLV file. To transfer keyframes or global property values into Flash from After Effects, run the Convert Selected Properties To Markers.jsx script before rendering and exporting an FLV file.

You render and export a movie to the FLV format using the render queue, just as you do with other formats. (See Render and export a movie using the render queue.)

Important: Some applications install a QuickTime export component for Flash Video that appears as an entry in the File > Export menu for Flash Video (FLV). Adobe recommends that you not use this command, but instead render and export Flash Video files using the Render Queue panel. Some features, such as export of cue points from After Effects, only work for render and export through the Render Queue panel.

To include the alpha channel in the FLV output, use the On2 VP6 codec and select Encode Alpha Channel in the Video tab of the Adobe Flash Video export settings dialog box.