QuickTime - Tutorials

Flash is a popular graphics animation authoring application from Macromedia. Flash is also the common term for Macromedia’s Shockwave Flash (.swf) file format, widely used on many web sites for animation. An .swf file can contain both vector and bitmap animation, as well as interactive elements.

Native Flash animation is in vector format; it is compact, scalable, and lossless. Flash files can also include bitmaps; these are not vectorized unless a bitmap tracing function is invoked from within the Flash application.

The Flash application can save images directly as a QuickTime movie, either as a movie with a video (bitmapped) track or as movie with a Flash track.

The Flash track retains its native format--Flash vectors are not converted into bitmaps or QuickTime vectors. Bitmapped graphics embedded in a Flash .swf remain bitmaps after import into QuickTime.

To convert the Flash track to bitmaps, export the movie in a QuickTime video format. The Flash vector images will be converted into cel animations. These movies are typically much larger than they would be if they retained the Flash graphics in their compact vector format.

One reason to create a Flash track in a QuickTime movie is to include graphics in formats that are not directly supported by QuickTime. For example, the Flash application can directly import vector graphics from Adobe Illustrator, Macromedia Freehand, and Autodesk AutoCAD (release 10 ASCII DXF). An easy way to incorporate these graphics into QuickTime is to import them into Flash and then import the Flash .swf as a new QuickTime track.

Another thing you can do with Flash is create animated sprite graphics.

Adding a Flash track

You can also create a movie with a Flash track with QuickTime Player. Flash .swf files can be directly opened and played by QuickTime Player or the QuickTime plug-in, but this is not quite the same thing as creating a movie with a Flash track. Here’s how to do that--the process is simple:

• In QuickTime Player, choose Import from the File menu.

• Open the Flash .swf and choose Convert.

• Save it as a self-contained movie.

The resulting QuickTime movie contains a Flash track. This can be mixed and composited with other QuickTime tracks in the usual ways.

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