Web Design in a Nutshell, 3rd Edition

Flash and QuickTime

QuickTime is a multitrack container format. Traditionally, this meant tracks for audio and video. In the evolution of QuickTime, support has been added for other tracks such as text, timecode, and (starting with QuickTime 4) Flash content.

To add a Flash track to a QuickTime movie, use the Flash authoring tool and export the file to the QuickTime format (.mov). The resulting file is a QuickTime movie that can simultaneously play video, audio, and Flash media elements.

The QuickTime 4 Player or higher is required to view QuickTime Flash. QuickTime 5 supports most of the functions of Flash 4. QuickTime 6 supports ActionScript and most Flash 5 player features.

As an alternative to using the Flash authoring tool, you can also import an existing .swf file into QuickTime Player (or Player Pro) and save it as a QuickTime movie. Plus, as mentioned in the "Advantages" section previously, you can import and trim QuickTime movies in the Flash 8 Professional authoring environment and output them as FLV files using the new On2 VP6 codec.