How to loop FLV seamlessly

Question

I am playing looped FLVs in the "standard way":

    netstream.addEventListener(NetStatusEvent.NET_STATUS, onStatus);

...

    public function onStatus(item:Object):void {
        if (item.info.code == "NetStream.Play.Stop") {
            if (loop) netstream.seek(0);
        }

When played through Flash CS 5.5 authoring tool (Test Movie or Debug Movie), the videos loop seamlessly. But! When played in the browser or standalone debug Flash player (both v.11.2.202.233) there is an abnormal pause of about 1 sec before the video "rewinds".

Is this a bug with the latest Flash player?

Solution 1

The only way to loop an flv seamlessly is to embed inside the swf. It is converted to a MovieClip and you then handle it with play(), stop(), nextFrame(), prevFrame() etc.

When embedding in Flash Authoring tool (dragging flv file on stage), make sure that you select:

• "Embed FLV in SWF..."
• Symbol Type : "Movie clip"
• All checked : "Place instance on stage", "Expand timeline...", "Include audio"

Solution 2

For People who have the same issue, try changing the aforementioned code to this:

public function onStatus(item:Object):void {
    if (item.info.code == "NetStream.Buffer.Empty") {
        if (loop) netstream.seek(0);
    }

It will get rid of the flicker. If you listen to "NetStream.Play.Stop", it will cause a flicker.

You don't need to embed anything. This works just fine on IOS, Android and PC.

Solution 3

This is a known bug with Flash Player 11+ and AIR 3+. Bug report is here, and you should upvote & : https://bugbase.adobe.com/index.cfm?event=bug&id=3349340

Known workarounds that will create a seamless loop:

1) Embed the video in the SWF. Not ideal, and not possible in some cases.

2) Create dual NetSteam objects and switch between them. An example of the event fired when ns1, the first of two NetStreams objects, reaches it's end:

if (e.info.code == "NetStream.Play.Stop"){
 vid.attachNetStream(ns2);
 ns2.resume();
 activeNs = ns2;
 ns1.seek(0);
 ns1.pause();
}

Replace ns1 with ns2 on the other event listener. A useless duplication of objects and handlers, but there you go.

3) Use AIR 2.x / Flash Player 10.x (not really a solution at all, except for Linux users)

Solution 4

We noticed this on the transition from Flash 10 to to Flash 11. Flash 10 loops seamlessly, but Flash 11 has a ~1 second stall when calling seek(0) from NetStream.Play.Stop.

Embedding the media in the SWF is not an option for us.

The following code provides a more seamless loop - still not perfect, but much better.

var mStream:NetStream;
var mDuration:Number;

...

addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, onEnterFrame);

...

function onEnterFrame(e:Event):void
{
    if( mStream.time > (mDuration-0.05) )
    { 
        if( mLooping )
        {
            mStream.seek(0);
        }
    }
}

function onMetaData(info:Object)
{
    mDuration = info.duration;
}

Hope it helps.

Solution 5

I seem to have achieved this using an FLVPlayback component along with a few tips.

What's more, it's running seamlessly on desktop, iPhone 4S and 3GS! (via an AIR app)

_videoFLV = new FLVPlayback();
_videoFLV.fullScreenTakeOver = false;
_videoFLV.autoPlay = false;
_videoFLV.autoRewind = true;
_videoFLV.isLive = false;
_videoFLV.skin = null;
_videoFLV.y = 150;
_videoFLV.bufferTime = .1;
_videoFLV.width = 320;
_videoFLV.height = 320;
_videoFLV.addEventListener(MetadataEvent.CUE_POINT, video_cp_listener, false, 0, true);
_videoFLV.source = "includes/10sec.flv"; 
addChild(_videoFLV);

With the listener function...

function video_cp_listener(eventObject:MetadataEvent):void {
    if (eventObject.info.name == "endpoint") {
    _videoFLV.seek(0);
    _videoFLV.play();
    }
}

Importantly I think you must set the width and height to match your flv file. i.e. no scaling whatsoever.

The flv has a cue point named 'endpoint' added 1 frame before the end of the file (assuming your start and end frame are the same this will be required).I added this using Adobe Media Encoder.

View more solutions