Flash Video Encoder User Guide

Flash Video Encoder User Guide > Customizing video encoding settings > Defining and embedding cue points

Defining and embedding cue points

Cue points cause the video playback to start other actions within the presentation. For example, you can create a Flash presentation that has video playing in one area of the screen while text and graphics appear in another area. A cue point placed in the video starts an update to the text and graphic, while they remain relevant to the content of the video.

Each cue point consists of a name and the time at which it occurs. You specify cue point times using the format hour:minute:second:millisecond.

To create a cue point:

1. From the encoding queue, select a video in which you want to embed cue points.

   To select a video in the encoding list, click the video name in the video encoding queue.

2. Click Settings.

   The Flash Video Encoding Settings dialog box is displayed.

3. If you haven't specified encoding settings for the video clip, do so now. To learn more, see Encoding video with Flash Video Encoder.
4. Click the Cue Points tab to display the cue point controls.

   
   
   

   Cue Points tab

   
   
5. Use the playhead to locate a specific point in the video where you want to embed a cue point. For greater precision, you can use the Left and Right Arrow keys to move the playhead in millisecond increments. To do this, select the playhead, and then use the arrow keys to further adjust its position.

   To locate a specific time, drag the playhead to the point in the video where you want to embed a cue point. The video preview window lets you visually identify points in the video at which to insert a cue point. You can also use the elapsed time counter (located beneath the video preview window) to locate specific points in time at which to embed cue points.

6. When the playhead is positioned at a place in the video where you want to embed a cue point, click the (+) button on the left side of the Cue Points tab.

   Flash Video Encoder embeds a cue point at the time indicated by the counter beneath the video preview window, and populates the cue point list with a placeholder for the name of the new cue point and the elapsed time at which the cue point is located (this is the time during playback when the event will be triggered), and displays a pop-up menu that lets you select the type of cue point to embed.

   A cue point marker is displayed on the slider control at the point where the cue point was embedded. You can use the cue point marker to further adjust the placement of the cue point. For greater precision, you can use the Left and Right Arrow keys to move the cue point marker in millisecond increments. To do this, select the cue point marker, and then use the arrow keys to further adjust its position.

   NOTE

   Only one cue point can be embedded at a specified time code within the video clip.

7. Specify the type of cue point you want to embed. You can embed either a navigation or event cue point.
   • Event cue points are used to trigger ActionScript methods when the cue point is reached, and let you synchronize the video playback to other events within the Flash presentation.
   • Navigation cue points are used for navigation and seeking, and to trigger ActionScript methods when the cue point is reached. Embedding a navigation cue point inserts a keyframe at that point in the video clip to enable viewers to seek to that place in the video.

     NOTE

     Adding additional keyframes can lower the overall quality of a video clip. For this reason, navigation cue points should only be used when users will need to seek to a particular place within the video. For more information on keyframes, and their effect on video playback, see Keyframes.

8. Enter parameters for the selected cue point.

   Parameters are a set of key-value pairs that you can add to the cue point. The parameters are passed to the cue point event handler as members of the single parameter object.

   To learn more about using cue points, and the parameter values they can use, see the following:

   • Information on working with video in Using Flash
   • FLVPlayback information in the ActionScript 2.0 Components Language Reference or the ActionScript 3.0 Components Language Reference
9. (Optional) Save the cue points you've created so that you can apply them to other video clips. Click the Save Cue Points button (the disk icon) on the cue points tab, and save the file to a location on your computer.

To remove a cue point:

1. Select the cue point in the cue point list.
2. Click the Delete Cue Point button (-), or press the Delete key.

   The cue point is deleted from the cue point list.

To load previously saved cue point data

1. Click the Load Cue Points button (the folder icon) on the cue points tab.
2. Select the cue point file you want to import, and click OK.

   The cue point file loads, and populates the cue point list with the cue points specified in the file.

   NOTE

   When you load cue points from a file, any cue points you may have created in the cue points list are replaced by the cue points in the file.

   To learn more about using cue points, and the cue points XML file, see About cue points.

Flash CS3

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