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MaxwellTurnerFlag for Canada

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Dreamweaver with Flash Video Kit installed - can't get flash video to work

I decided to try a simple flash video page and it worked great on my local machine when I tested it, but when I uploaded the files to my server, I got nothing but a blank white page!  The player is there, but is invisible.  I know it is there because I can right click over where the player should be, and I get the Flash player options list, but I cannot see it!

MY SERVER: P4 3.06Ghz, Windows 2003 server,  ColdFusion MX 6.1 server, IIS web server

MY LOCAL MACHINE: P4 2.4Ghz, Windows XP, ColdFusion MX 6.1 server(developers edition), Dreamweaver, IIS web server, Flash Video Kit Extensions for Dreamweaver

The Flash Video Kit is an extension for Dreamweaver which allows me to insert flash video on a web page using Dreamweaver.

MY FLASH PAGE:
Basically, I created a new html page in Dreamweaver, clicked INSERT-MEDIA-FLASH VIDEO.  I chose "Progressive Download", browsed for a sample flv, chose a skin, detected the player size then clicked OK and saved the file.  I tested the page locally (127.0.0.1:8500) on my IE browser & it looked good . . . so I uploaded it to see if it would work on my server - it didn't.

The code that was created by Dreamweaver is:

<object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=7,0,0,0" width="480" height="360" id="FLVPlayer">
  <param name="movie" value="FLVPlayer_Progressive.swf" />
  <param name="salign" value="lt" />
  <param name="quality" value="high" />
  <param name="scale" value="noscale" />
  <param name="FlashVars" value="&skinName=clearSkin_1&streamName=go_away_spray&autoPlay=false&autoRewind=false" />
  <embed src="FLVPlayer_Progressive.swf" flashvars="&skinName=clearSkin_1&streamName=go_away_spray&autoPlay=false&autoRewind=false" quality="high" scale="noscale" width="480" height="360" name="FLVPlayer" salign="LT" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" />
</object>

. . . it also created 2 additional files in my sites directory:
clearSkin_1.swf
FLVPlayer_Progressive.swf

UPLOADING THE FILES
I uploaded the 4 following files:

TestFlash.htm - the html page I created with the flash video
sample.flv - the sample video encoded for flash
clearSkin_1.swf - the player skin
FLVPlayer_Progressive.swf - the player???

MY BIG QUESTION - Why does it work fine when I test it locally, but I get nothing when I upload it to the web server.  Do I need a Flash server installed on my web server?  If so why don't I need that on my local machine to make it work.

Max
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MaxwellTurner
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ASKER

. . . Anyone . . . . I didn't think this was a terribly difficult question!
Avatar of Billystyx
Billystyx

First question:
Is FLVPlayer_Progressive.swf in the same directory on your web folder as the html doc? Have you checked it?

Billystyx (I know it sounds like a stupid question, but sometimes yu think you put something somewhere and ...)
Hi,

I have the following files both locally and on the web(all in the same folder):

FLVPlayer_Progressive.swf
clearSkin_1.swf
go_away_spray.flv
TestPage.htm - the html page with the flash object

Max
I'm sorry- I really don't know past this... I haven't used the  Flash Video Kit so don't know a great deal about it.
Surely this is one for the dreamweaver experts - as a dreamweaver extra?
When you figure it out come and tell us all:)

Billystyx

Thanks for trying.  I don't know what is up with this question.  Usually I get responses within minutes from several people, but this one seems abit slow.

Side question:  If I am going to use Flash on my websites, do I require a Flash Server or a subscription to one of the Flash Services that are available in order for the flash to work?  I purchased the Macromedia Studio (with Flash Pro) bundle and CF server 6.1 and assumed that is all I needed to start using some Flash.

Max
Perhaps your web server does not allow access to port 8500???
No, the flash plugin on the client side is all that is needed to run flash. (so you rely on users having the plugin). That's not really a problem though, because most people have it now, and those that don't can download it free from macromedia, and its not that big.
Billystyx
mixart

I think that you are onto something.  I know for sure that my PORT 8500 is open locally, and I am also quite sure that it IS NOT OPEN on my server.  Unfortunately our server is off-site and I do not have access to it's firewall settings, so I have put the call in for that port to be opened.  Should be open later today - I will let you know if that solved the problem.

Max

Well,

Opening port 8500 did not solve my problem.  You can view this page at:

http://www.laservalley.com/testpage.htm

I placed an "x" above and below the flash video code, and when you go to the link above, you can see that the flash player is there, it's just invisible between the 2 x's.

Any other ideas?

Max
I have found the solution - it is a Server 2003 issue.  I thought I would post the solution incase anyone else has this problem in the future.

1.) On the Windows 2003 server, open the Internet Information Services Manager.
2.) Expand the Local Computer Server.
3.) Right-click the local computer server and select Properties.
4.) Select the MIME Types tab.
5.) Click the New... button and enter the following information:
6.) Associated Extension box: .FLV
7.) MIME Type box: flv-application/octet-stream
8.) Click Ok.
9.) Restart the World Wide Web Publishing service.

You can find the complete instructions here:

http://www.macromedia.com/cfusion/knowledgebase/index.cfm?id=tn_19439

Max
thanks for that, very considerate:)
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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Lunchy
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