Member Avatar for lifeworks

Hi

I need to play some flv files out of my database on a website... I heard that it is possible to create an FLV player (which as far as I know is actually an SWF file - the player) using the Flash software from Adobe... is this true, and if so, is there a tutorial you can direct me to?

Thanks
lworks

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asked about playing FLV files from a database; correctly noted the Flash plugin requirement and pointed to Flash CS3/ActionScript. Important context for anyone reading this now: Adobe ended Flash Player support (Dec 31, 2020), and modern browsers no longer run third‑party Flash content. Relying on a new SWF-based player is not recommended. See Adobe's Flash end-of-life notice: Adobe Flash Player end-of-life.

If the goal is to serve video on the web today, the practical path is to transcode FLV into modern web formats (MP4/H.264 and/or WebM) and use HTML5 playback. A common quick step with ffmpeg:

ffmpeg -i input.flv -c:v libx264 -crf 23 -preset medium -c:a aac -b:a 128k output.mp4

For details on embedding, use the HTML5 <video> element and a lightweight player (or Video.js) for fallbacks and controls. See the <video> docs: MDN — HTML <video> element and tools: FFmpeg.

If you must support legacy FLV/Flash (maintenance of old sites), these practical tips matter: build the SWF with the FLVPlayback component or NetConnection/NetStream in AS3; make sure the server serves video/x-flv, supports HTTP Range requests (or use RTMP/Wowza/Red5 for true streaming), and provide a proper crossdomain.xml if streaming across domains. Expect many users to be unable to play Flash today.

About storing files in a database: avoid streaming raw BLOBs directly when possible. Store files on disk or object storage (S3), keep paths/metadata in the DB, and expose a streaming endpoint that sets correct headers, supports byte ranges, caching, and a CDN. For production, transcode to MP4 and consider HLS/DASH for adaptive delivery.

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Member Avatar for MidiMagic

Are you playing them on your own computer, or are you serving these files to people using the Internet?

Just download a free player. Your viewers on the Internet must do this too, in the form of a plugin.

Member Avatar for dream party

Are you playing them on your own computer, or are you serving these files to people using the Internet?

Apparently, he wants the

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