Importing embedded video files

The Video Import wizard provides a streamlined interface for importing video into a Flash document. The wizard lets you choose whether to import a video clip as an embedded or a linked file.

When you import a video clip as an embedded file, you choose options in the wizard for encoding and editing the video. Click the Next button to advance through panes in the wizard, and click the Back button to return to previous panes.

You can import video clips as embedded files in a variety of file formats, depending on your system. For information on supported file formats, see About file formats for imported video. You can preview frames of an imported video by dragging the playhead along the Timeline. However, the sound will not play back. To preview the video with sound, use the Test Movie command. See Testing document download performance

When you import a video as an embedded file, you have the option to edit the video before importing it. You can also apply customized compression settings, including bandwidth or quality settings, as well as advanced settings for color correction, cropping, and other options. You choose editing and encoding options in the Video Import wizard. After a video clip is imported, it cannot be edited.

Using the Property inspector, you can give an embedded clip an instance name; change its width, height, and position on the Stage; and swap the embedded clip with another video clip. You can use the Embedded Video Properties dialog box to rename a video clip, update an imported video clip that you have edited in an external application, or import another video to replace the selected clip. See Changing the properties of a video clip.

You can export an embedded video as a Macromedia Flash Video (FLV) file, which retains the compression settings applied when the FLV file was created. See Macromedia Flash Video (FLV).

For lessons on working with video, see Help > How Do I > Quick Tasks > Create a Document or Import and Edit Video.

To import an embedded video clip:

Do one of the following:
- To import the video clip directly to the Stage in the current Flash document, select File > Import > Import to Stage.
- To import the video clip into the library for the current Flash document, select File > Import > Import to Library.
Do one of the following:
- To import the entire video clip without editing it, select Import the Entire Video. Click Next. Proceed to step 3 to continue selecting compression options for the video.
- To edit the video clip before importing it, select Edit the Video First. Click Next. To select editing options for the video, see the instructions under Editing video clips in the Video Import wizard.
Do one of the following:
- To apply a predefined Compression Profile, select a Bandwidth option from the pop-up menu.
- To create a custom compression profile, select Create New Profile or a predefined compression rate from the Compression profile pop-up menu and click Edit. For more information, see Editing video clips in the Video Import wizard.
To apply advanced video encoding to specify color, dimensions, track, and audio options, select Create New Profile from the Advanced Settings pop-up menu. For more information, see Selecting advanced settings in the Video Import wizard.
Click Finish to close the Video Import wizard and complete the video import procedure.

To update an embedded video clip after editing it in an external editor:

Select the video clip in the Library panel.
In the options menu in the upper right corner of the Library panel, select Properties.
In the Embedded Video Properties dialog box, click Update.
The embedded video clip is updated with the edited file. The compression settings you chose when you first imported the video are reapplied to the updated clip.