Flash Files

A media file with the extension .swf - Shockwave Flash - can be played in any browser that has the Adobe® Flash Player plugin. The other less common extension is .flv - Flash Video.

The plugin can be downloaded for free by clicking the Flash icon.

You can also get a free flash player to play the files on your Mac by clicking the SWF & FLV Player icon. 

Statistics

The fact of the matter is that the Adobe Flash Player is installed in more browsers than any other type of media player.

I’m not a great believer of statistics but most sources seem to put flash at above 90% whereas Quicktime is in third place at about 67%.

A lot of PC users download the combination to get iTunes and end up with QuickTime player by default rather than design.

Easy

I like to use flash because I can store all the files in folders on my server where I can easily locate them and this makes creating the URLs a snap.

I have folders for Images, Audio, Movies, MP3s etc and can add or delete the individual files easily.

As we will see, the code to get a flash file to “play” on your website can be downright simple.

Fast Loading

Flash movies can utilize pre loaders and buffers for large files so that movies don’t stutter and stop the way they do with QuickTime when the file size is large and the internet download speed is slow.

Ripoff

When you load your photos, audio tracks and movies straight onto an iWeb page it is very easy for people to rip them off. Flash presentations make this a lot harder and the average surfer doesn’t seem to bother to try or learn how to do it.

Tech Stuff

I’m not going to get into technical stuff here about compression, frame rates and such like because I don’t know to much about them - nor to I care to.

The purpose here is to get your media out on the internet as quickly and easily as possible and leave all the other stuff to the “professional” nerds.

Building websites with media presentation should be fun - not a headache.

iWeb for Musicians E Book

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