Inputing Video on Webpages

AllHale,

I'm not sure you want to embed Maya video unless there is a free player that most people can download to handle it.  Instead, you should convert it to one of the more basic formats such as Quicktime, Windows Media, or Flash Video.  Not only does it become easier on your users, it probably is more bandwidth friendly.

As far as which one to choose, that depends on your hosting setup.  If you have access to a dedicated streaming server, go with that.  If you are going to be streaming the video via HTTP, I would seriously consider converting it to Flash Video (flv).  It's easy, the quality can be relatively high with good file compression, and everyone already has the player installed.

Thanks. What program do I need to convert to a .flv? Also, I've attempted to load the video in Flash but the quality is diminished severely. Are there ways to avoid that? Thanks.

Flash Video and loading the video into a normal Flash movie are two different things.  The latter does degrade the quality.  The former is a relatively new application that does a good job of things.

If you have Studio 8, you already have the encoder.  If not, go to:

http://www.adobe.com/products/flash/flashpro/productinfo/features/#section-2
and
http://store1.adobe.com/products/flash/flashpro/productinfo/encoder/

for more info.  I think you have to buy Flash 8 Pro to get the encoder, though.  There are third party solutions popping up, but I have no experience with them so I hesitate to recommend them.

What options are available in the Maya EXPORT menu?  I presume Maya can export to other video formats...?

Export only allows you to convert to mov, mb and ma. Neither of which appears to be very helpful. But, I'm trying to focus on the video quality after I import the maya video into a Flash document. Does anyone know if Flash 8 has better video compression than Flash MX 2004? Or more options?

The Flash 8 Video encoder has better compression than plain flash.

Is that included with Flash 8 or do I have to order that separately?

Comes with Flash 8

Do you think that will solve my video quality problem or do I need any other software? Because I know that Flash uses Sodexho to import video, and I figure that might be the cause of my problem altogether.