Flash

I was recently looking at the winners of the Clio Awards and the Cannes Lions - annual awards that recognize excellence in the advertising industry. As I went through the winners in the Internet category, several things stood out prominently:

• An ad isn't always an ad. Many of the winners are not ads at all, at least not banner ads or pop-ups. Rather, they are Web sites that blur the distinction between advertising, product information, and entertainment.
• Sales and marketing sites lead the pack. Some of the most compelling Flash sites I have ever come across are being created for sales and marketing purposes. As I visited the sites of the agencies that won and examined their portfolios, I saw that they had created an amazing number of really compelling sites.
• Flash and Flash video were in every winning site. Every winner and runner-up I saw was created with Flash. Quite a number of them also made use of Flash video.

The Hottest Trend: Video on the Web
We have been tracking the progression of the use of Flash video on Web sites for some time. Lately we have noticed an explosion in the number of sites that integrate video. Some are straightforward implementations with strictly video clips like Discovery Broadband, while others use video as just another element of their rich interactive experience, like Vodafone Future Vision.

A number of trends seem to be driving this explosion:

• Rich Internet advertising delivers. Rich media advertising delivers results that are orders of magnitude better than almost anything else out there. Increasingly this means integrating video into rich ads.
• Broadband adoption is exploding. A recent Pew Internet and American Life study claimed that more than half of American adults have broadband at home or the office - and prices for broadband service keep plummeting, driving the trend further.
• Flash helps you get video on the Web. Flash MX Professional 2004 provides a complete feature set for integrating video.
• Flash Player lets everyone see video on the Web. Flash Player 7 improves performance and offers progressive downloading of video from Web servers.
• Flash Player is ubiquitous. Flash Player 6, required to view Flash video, has reached a 94% adoption level among Web-connected computers - a full 30% better than any other video player out there. Even the new Flash Player 7 is at a 67% adoption level.
• Flash Video Streaming Service makes streaming a reality. Macromedia's partnerships with Speedera Networks and VitalStream - which provide customers with huge, scalable Flash video streaming services - make it possible for large media companies like Comcast to build out large Flash video implementations.

What You Think About Video
Because we are inherently interested in the overall video trend, we ran a survey in May asking what you are doing now - and what you are planning to do - with video. Frankly, the results surprised us. According to you, video is hot!

• Nearly fifty percent of you are putting video on Web sites today, and another tenty-five percent plan to do so soon.
• Almost sixty percent of you told us you simply want to put existing video on your site.
• Eighty-five percent of you told us that having full creative control over how your video is integrated into your site is important.
• Seventy-nine percent of you are interested in building interactive video experiences by tying video to various elements on your Web pages.
• Seventy-four percent of you are so interested in building rich video experiences that you are willing to learn Flash in order to achieve that end.

Despite this being a heady time for those of us who follow the trends in Flash video, we do have some concerns. As much as you want to use Flash video, you may not have the tools and knowledge to apply it effectively:

• Over Sixty-seven percent of you told us that your understanding of Flash video is poor.
• Eighty pecent of you told us that you wanted to use embedded video in Flash, which is the worst option for all but niche cases.

Flash Video Kit: The Easiest Way to Get Video on the Web
We combined what we saw in the market trends with what you told us you were doing - and planning to do - with Flash video and developed the Flash Video Kit. Available through September 30 when you purchase Studio MX 2004 with Flash MX Professional 2004, the Flash Video Kit includes the following:

• Dreamweaver MX 2004 extension for quickly adding Flash video (streaming or progressive download) to your HTML pages
• Special version of Sorenson Squeeze to help you convert your video resources easily into the Flash video (FLV) format

Find out more about Studio MX 2004 with Flash MX Professional 2004.

Note: If you currently have Flash MX Professional 2004, you can purchase the Flash Video Kit separately through the Macromedia Online Store - and get a discount because you already own Studio MX 2004 with Flash MX Professional 2004.

Other Flash Video Improvements
We worked with VitalStream to create a new "lite" version of the Flash Video Streaming Service, designed especially to work with the Flash Video Dreamweaver extension included in the Flash Video Kit. While this isn't a free subscription, it is reasonably priced and comes with a 15-day free trial. It is perfect for streaming all those videos your boss has been after you to put up on the company Web site.

To improve your knowledge and understanding of Flash video, we have made a commitment to improve the educational materials supporting it. We have completely revamped the Flash Video Topic Center, adding new tutorials and updating existing ones.

This is just the beginning. In the months ahead, you will see many new tutorials and articles on Flash video on the Macromedia Web site (www.macromedia.com).

Finally, I'd like to invite you to visit our latest iteration of the Flash Video Gallery, which features some of the most compelling customer examples of using Flash video. See if you don't agree with me that we are in the middle of a creative explosion.