Play multiple video files

You can also open multiple video players within a single instance of the FLVPlayback component to play multiple videos and switch between them as they play.

You create the initial video player when you drag the FLVPlayback component to the Stage. The component automatically assigns the initial video player the number 0 and makes it the default player. To create an additional video player, simply set the activeVideoPlayerIndex property to a new number. Setting the activeVideoPlayerIndex property also makes the specified video player the active video player, which is the one that will be affected by the properties and methods of the FLVPlayback class. Setting the activeVideoPlayerIndex property does not make the video player visible, however. To make the video player visible, set the visibleVideoPlayerIndex property to the video player’s number. For more information on how these properties interact with the methods and properties of the FLVPlayback class, see the FLVPlayback.activeVideoPlayerIndex and FLVPlayback.visibleVideoPlayerIndex properties in the ActionScript 3.0 Reference for the Adobe Flash Platform .

The following ActionScript code loads the source property to play a video file in the default video player and adds a cue point for it. When the ready event occurs, the event handler opens a second video player by setting the activeVideoPlayerIndex property to the number 1. It specifies a FLV file and a cue point for the second video player and then makes the default player (0) the active video player again.

/** 
    Requires: 
- FLVPlayback component on the Stage with an instance name of my_FLVPlybk 
*/ 
// add a cue point to the default player 
import fl.video.*; 
my_FLVPlybk.source = "http://www.helpexamples.com/flash/video/clouds.flv"; 
my_FLVPlybk.addASCuePoint(3, "1st_switch"); 
my_FLVPlybk.addEventListener(VideoEvent.READY, ready_listener); 
function ready_listener(eventObject:VideoEvent):void { 
    // add a second video player and create a cue point for it 
    my_FLVPlybk.activeVideoPlayerIndex = 1; 
    my_FLVPlybk.source = "http://www.helpexamples.com/flash/video/water.flv"; 
    my_FLVPlybk.addASCuePoint(3, "2nd_switch"); 
    my_FLVPlybk.activeVideoPlayerIndex = 0; 
};

To switch to another FLV file while one is playing, you must make the switch in your ActionScript code. Cue points allow you to intervene at specific points in the FLV file using a cuePoint event. The following code creates a listener for the cuePoint event and calls a handler function that pauses the active video player (0), switches to the second player (1), and plays its FLV file:

import fl.video.*; 
// add listener for a cuePoint event 
my_FLVPlybk.addEventListener(MetadataEvent.CUE_POINT, cp_listener); 
// add the handler function for the cuePoint event 
function cp_listener(eventObject:MetadataEvent):void { 
        // display the no. of the video player causing the event 
        trace("Hit cuePoint event for player: " + eventObject.vp); 
        // test for the video player and switch FLV files accordingly 
        if (eventObject.vp == 0) { 
            my_FLVPlybk.pause();     //pause the first FLV file 
            my_FLVPlybk.activeVideoPlayerIndex = 1; // make the 2nd player active 
            my_FLVPlybk.visibleVideoPlayerIndex = 1; // make the 2nd player visible 
            my_FLVPlybk.play(); // begin playing the new player/FLV 
        } else if (eventObject.vp == 1) { 
            my_FLVPlybk.pause(); // pause the 2nd FLV 
            my_FLVPlybk.activeVideoPlayerIndex = 0; // make the 1st player active 
            my_FLVPlybk.visibleVideoPlayerIndex = 0; // make the 1st player visible 
            my_FLVPlybk.play(); // begin playing the 1st player 
        } 
} 
my_FLVPlybk.addEventListener(VideoEvent.COMPLETE, complete_listener); 
function complete_listener(eventObject:VideoEvent):void { 
        trace("Hit complete event for player: " + eventObject.vp); 
        if (eventObject.vp == 0) { 
            my_FLVPlybk.activeVideoPlayerIndex = 1; 
            my_FLVPlybk.visibleVideoPlayerIndex = 1; 
            my_FLVPlybk.play(); 
        } else { 
            my_FLVPlybk.closeVideoPlayer(1); 
        } 
};

When you create a new video player, the FLVPlayback instance sets its properties to the value of the default video player, except for the source , totalTime, and isLive properties, which the FLVPlayback instance always sets to the default values: empty string, 0, and false , respectively. It sets the autoPlay property, which defaults to true for the default video player, to false . The cuePoints property has no effect, and it has no effect on a subsequent load into the default video player.

The methods and properties that control volume, positioning, dimensions, visibility, and the user interface controls are always global and their behavior is not affected by setting the activeVideoPlayerIndex property. For more information on these methods and properties and the effect of setting the activeVideoPlayerIndex property, see the FLVPlayback.activeVideoPlayerIndex property in the ActionScript 3.0 Reference for the Adobe Flash Platform . The remaining properties and methods target the video player identified by the value of the activeVideoPlayerIndex property.

Properties and methods that control dimensions do interact with the visibleVideoPlayerIndex property, however. For more information, see the FLVPlayback.visibleVideoPlayerIndex property in the ActionScript 3.0 Reference for the Adobe Flash Platform .