I blogged earlier that the VideoDisplay component in Flex was lacking a few methods and properties. Specifically I missed the clear() method and other properties found with the NetStrem object. I found out that if you do a little hacking, you can expose more functionality.
Adobe supplies the source code for mx.controls.VideoDisplay. In there you will see a mx_internal property called videoPlayer. Jedi Master Lanny McNie (gskinner.com) pointed me to this site as a clue to how I can access this property. Example:
myVideoDisplay.mx_internal::videoPlayer.playheadTime = 30;
You will notice that the VideoPlayer class extends flash.media.Video and it has the private NetStream property and public methods/getters/setters to expose the NetStream functionality. For example, you can seek() through the NetStream object using a setter called playheadTime.
Ryan Stewart announced today that Adobe has released a new version of the Flash Player called “MovieStar” that supports h.264 codec. This means mpeg4 compatibility and is a huge development for video deployment over the web using Flash. Without it Flash would no doubt lose it’s crown as the king of web video.
I see on Adobe Labs that they have released a beta version of an update for Flash CS3 that will enabled users to build and package AIR applications from Flash. One word. Wicked.
A few weeks ago I was invited to be a guest on The Lab with Leo Laporte which is a tech based TV show that airs in Canada on G4TechTV (also airs in Australia and will be available on Google video). They wanted to showcase my website Runningmap.com. I am a big fan of Leo’s shows and podcasts and I was giddy wih excitement with the chance to meet him. Chris (runningmap President) and I flew out to Vancouver last Thursday for the Friday taping.
I have very little experience with the “live to tape” operation involved in making a show like this, so it was really interesting to see it all happen and to be part of it. We arrived through the back door of the studio, signed the release papers, did the makeup thing and then sat and waited for the big call. We chatted with staff and other guests. I had a nice chat with Alex Lindsay who’s voice I recognized (I listen to his podcasts. Check out the latest MacBreak weekly … it’s a good one) before I saw him. Then came the call: “Runningmap is next” and in we went, onto the set, with a brand new (borrowed) Mac Book Pro and a wireless mightymouse. I set the laptop down, opened the lid, brought it out of sleep, tested the wireless internet and mouse connections. They gave us some mics and did a levels check. Leo stood beside me and BOOM we were on. Previously I fretted about how to get in the points I wanted to, but Leo was an absolute PRO and it all went as smooth as butter. He asked all the perfect questions. Its because HE GETS IT. And by it I mean Tech. It was 7 minutes which is a lot of time, but it went by so fast.
The segment airs September 28.
The video controller is done (well … in beta stage) and using the FlexComponent kit it was easy to bring it into Flex where it indeed acted as a “first class citizen”. Events, traces, setters …. the works. One problem was that when I selected the VideoController movieclip in the library and then selected the “Make Flex Component” command it changed the base class to “mx.flash.UIMovieClip” which caused it to break since the videoController needs to be bound to my custom VideoController class. I ended up putting the VideoController movieclip into a “wrapper” movieclip. This worked fine, but required an extra level to dig into it from within Flex. Example wrapper.video.clear();
