The day for lovers is approaching fast. This year you should surprise that special person in your life with a very public declaration of your love and affection! It’s easy with SWiSH Max3 … record a little video, decorate it and put it on your website, blog, facebook page etc., or convert it to video and upload to Youtube or another video site.

To show you how easy this is we’ve supplied this example file. Edit it to replace the embedded video with your own video clip. The example file is configured with a preloader and a final message. All of the shapes used were obtained from the included shape components (see Components | Shapes | 2D | Artwork). Alter the colors and substitute artwork however you want.

The movie consists of three scenes. Scene_1 is the preloader, Scene_2 is the video container and Scene_3 is the final message.

The preloader was created using the same technique as described for the spinning chicken tutorial so I won’t go into any great detail about that here.

To change the video, use a webcam, digital camera or anything else handy to record your message. An output size of 320×240 pixels works well. The example movie has been optimized for that size. Keep the video very short as we’ll be embedding the video and this can be very CPU intensive, and a short message has better impact.

Once you have recorded your message, open the example file in Max3. As miniMax3 has no video import capability, the supplied example file cannot be updated with miniMax3.

Expand Scene_2 in the Outline panel, delete the existing video clip. Then with Scene_2 selected, from the main menu go: Insert | Import Video, you should see a dialog like the one below:

The following options are important:

Import As: Embedded Video

Quality: Cable (for a 320×240 video cable quality should be ok)

Frame Size for compressed video: Set to < 100% if your video was recorded larger than 320×240. The layout within the movie has be created assuming a 320×240 video.

Then press the Import Video button.

Once the video import process is complete, move the video so that it is below the frame. The Outline panel should look like the one on the right. You may also need to center the video within the frame.

Save your movie then press the Preview button to see what it looks like.

If it looks OK, publish your movie to ‘HTML+SWF’ and upload it to your website. Now send your loved one a mysterious link in an email or instant messaging conversation.

Alternatively, you can export to AVI and upload it to Youtube. If you export to video you don’t need the preloader or the play again button – post a comment if you want help making these changes.

Do you need free web space? For tips on how to upload your published movie and how to obtain a free SWiSHspace web area, see the Seasons Greetings tutorial.

Have fun and share the love this Valentine’s day!

Tags: valentines, video

This entry was posted on Monday, February 8th, 2010 at 9:11 am and is filed under Max3, tutorials. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.