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Playing FLV files

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kisakarina:
I had to download a FLV player, and it works fine.  BUT:

Can someone explain why it takes a dedicated FLV player to play downloaded Flash files?

Why can't they simply be played using a browser?

What's the difference between a downloaded FLV file and one that resides on a website, in other words, why does Flash open up when you go to the website, but if you paste the downloaded file in the URL window, it just does nothing?

Is there a way to invoke Flash without using the browser?

Thanks!

kisakarina:
It's me again. I see this posting has had 89 views and no responses.   Is the question so basic I should know the answer already,  or is it that no one who knows the answers is reading this posting?  Inquiring mind wants to know, thanks.

Kisakarina

JavaJones:
Well, as far as I understand it .flv is just another "container format" like .avi or .mov/.qt. Neither one specifies a codec for audio or video, only basic formatting info and whatnot. Yet you need specific players to play each. It's what's inside the video - the audio and video codecs used to compress the file and thus the format of the data - that matters to a player.

Anyway since Internet Explorer (and other browsers) are not video players, they can't just play an .flv. Just like you can't drag a .avi to your browser and expect it to play without launching a 3rd party app. So why they work server-side is either the server hints your browser to use Flash to view/play, or they use some wrapper on their end to serve it through a .swf or something. Some kind of player is involved, anyway. And the file just sitting on your HD doesn't properly associate with the browser Flash plugin for whatever reason. It may be possible to set this up via content types or associations in the browser though.

More info here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FLV

- Oshyan

Black Mamba:
If you can wait a little longer, Media Player Classic will support .flv files in next version.

Or you can try a CVS version of MPC.

Deozaan:
I had to download a FLV player, and it works fine.  BUT:

Can someone explain why it takes a dedicated FLV player to play downloaded Flash files?

Why can't they simply be played using a browser?

What's the difference between a downloaded FLV file and one that resides on a website, in other words, why does Flash open up when you go to the website, but if you paste the downloaded file in the URL window, it just does nothing?

Is there a way to invoke Flash without using the browser?

Thanks!
-kisakarina (October 03, 2006, 01:40 PM)
--- End quote ---

Generally speaking, what you see in your browser is embedded into the website via html. That's why you can see it on a web page but not if you download it and try to run it on your computer. Flash does have a Stand-Alone player, but I'm not sure how to get it. It comes with Flash when you install it. However, if I'm not mistaken, you can construct your own dummy html page that embeds the file so you can watch it in your browser offline.

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