How to make a progressive download Flash Video file From a DVD

I have created several flash videos using a DVD as a source, which use progressive downloading not streaming) for viewing. Flash video is great because basically everyone has the flash viewer, and because no special server is needed for progressive downloading. Here are the 3 steps I took to create these online videos.

1. The original video file was copied off of a DVD and trans-coded to an MPEG video file. I used a program called "DVD2SVCD" to do this. I tried all sorts of other programs, but DVD2SVCD was the only one that ended up working, and didn't cost any money (even VirtualDubMod did not work). This was one of the longest parts because the transcoding is not straight-forward (DVD2SVCD has 14 tabs of options to fiddle with). (side comment: If you have a WMV file, I have used Stoik Video Converter to create an AVI file that Riva FLV Encoder can use. All other converters seem to barf at various WMV files.)

2. With the MPEG file created at a fairly high quality, I used the "Riva FLV Encoder" to convert the MPEG file into a FLV file (I chose Riva because their FLV encoder is free). Configuring Riva FLV encoder tkes a fair amount of time trying to play with resolution, framerate, bitrate, and audio settings. In the end, I used 320 x 240 as the resolution with mono 11K audio, but I can't remember any of the other settings.

3. With the FLV file at a decent size, I went home and opened up Flash MX 2004. I have Flash MX at work, but that version is too old and doesn't contain the all-important MediaPlayback Component. In Flash MX 2004, all you do is drop a MediaPlayback Component onto the stage, and point that component to the FLV file. Make sure the "Control Visibility" is set to "on" so that people can have their "pause" button available. With that component configured, publish the HTML and SWF file and voila - you have your progressive download video file that can be viewed by anyone with flash installed! (this step is well documented by macromedia - just skip the section about exporting your video using the FLV exporter.)