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ccPlayer Help

ccPlayer New Features (AS3 version)

v2.0.2

Scrub bar button bug fix

PLEASE NOTE: THIS FIX BREAKS CUSTOMIZED CONTROLS USED WITH THE PREVIOUS VERSION OF CCPLAYERAS3 (VERSION 2.0.1).

This fix impacts all controls used with ccPlayerAS3. In order to ensure the forward and reverse buttons which may be embedded inside the scrub bar button (see Special scrub bar accessibility feature) are read by screen reading software, it is necessary to add an additional button inside. This is necessary for all controls, even if the forward and reverse buttons are not included.

All of the controls, which are included in the package for this version of ccPlayerAS3, have been modified with the new object that is needed for the scrub bar button to work. In order to fix custom controls used with the previous version of ccPlayerAS3 (version 2.0.1), see Creating ccPlayer Customized Controls, Scrub bar.

Video playback display size changed

This version of the player changes the way the video size is determined, giving priority to the ccMediaWidth and ccMediaHeight parameters. In the previous versions (1.0.1 and 2.0.1) of ccPlayerAS3, if the video height was smaller than the height given by ccMediaHeight, the height of the player was reduced when the video was loaded. In this version, if the video is smaller then the dimensions given, the video will be centered in the media display area.

ccScaleVideo parameter

The ccScaleVideo has been added to identify whether the video should be scaled to fit the dimensions of the values given in the ccMediaWidth and ccMediaHeight parameters. When the value of this parameter is true and the video size is different than what was specified in the above parameters, the video will either shrink or expand to fit the area, maintaining the aspect ratio of the video.

Video remains in fullscreen view when playback is completed

In prior versions of ccPlayerAS3, if the user had selected fullscreen view and the end of the video was reached, the view would default to normal view. With this version, the player remains in fullscreen view. This allows for seamless fullscreen playback, when ccPlayerAS3 is embedded within another swf and multiple videos are played consecutively.

New methods added for embedding ccPlayerAS3 in another swf

The following methods have been added to the player for use when it is embedded in another swf:

Bug fixes

The following bugs were fixed:

v2.0.1

MP3 audio playback

This version of the player will playback MP3 audio files, along with Flash video (flv) and H264 (mp4). Using the ccAudioImage parameter, an image can be specific which is displayed in the media area.

Changes in some parameter names

Any parameters with the word “Video” have been updated with “Media” which reflects that both video and audio media content can be played through the player. Legacy parameters with the "Video" name will continue to be recognized in this version.

Streaming parameters change

In order to separate the streaming name from the full url to streaming content, ccMediaStream is used to indicate the stream, while ccMediaName is used to identify the path to media file.

Base color setting

The color of the windows, tooltips, and progress bar can be changed using the ccBaseColor parameter.

Customized controls

An external swf can be imported with customized controls for the player. The new parameter is ccPlayerControls. Due the way the customized controls are implemented, all of the accessibility features of the player are maintained. It is also possible to use ccPlayer without controls, however, users will no longer be able to access the keyboard shortcuts.

Special accessibility features for the scrub bar

ccPlayer has added two accessibility features that help keyboard and screen-reader users scrub or jump to various points in the media. When the focus is on the scrub bar button, by tabbing to it, the keyboard user can press the comma key (,) to scrub backwards in the media and the period key (.) to scrub forwards in the media.

When customized controls are used, the forward and reverse buttons can be incorporated into the scrub bar, so they are not visible unless the user has tabbed to the scrub bar button. This is useful in situations where there may not be enough room in the controls to house the regular forward and reverse buttons.

Accessible forward and reverse buttons included in scrub bar button

When using custom controls, it might be necessary to minimize the number of buttons in the control area. However, the forward and reverse buttons are needed for keyboard and screen-reader users, who are not able to use drag feature of the scrub bar. Instead, these buttons can be placed inside the scrub bar button, so they become available only when the scrub bar button has focus; otherwise, they are hidden. See Creating ccPlayer Customized Controls for more information.

Time remaining option added to customized controls

Customize controls have the option of displaying any combination of the three time properties: time remaining, current time and media duration.

Dimensions are flexible

In the previous version of the player, only the height of the player was flexible. In this version both the height and width are flexible. The height of the player is determined by the height of the media being displayed, plus the caption area (when captions are provided) and the control area. The width of the player is either the width of the media or the width of the controls, whichever is larger. If the control area width is smaller than the media, the controls are centered and the control area background is expanded to reach the edges.

Media is not loaded until play is selected or media is set to autostart

In order to eliminate unnecessary server requests, when ccPlayer is not set to autostart, the media is no longer loaded until play is started by the user.

Fullscreen view modified

The layout of the fullscreen view has been modified so the media has more room to fit in the monitor's display. The captions continue to appear over the bottom of the media. If there is room for the controls underneath the media, they are placed there. If the media fills the bottom of the screen, the controls slide up from the bottom when they are needed. When this happends, the caption area is also raised, so the controls do not appear on top of the captions.

Fullscreen controls disappear when inactive

In the fullscreen view, the controls are faded out of view after a period of inactivity. When the mouse is moved (for some browsers and earlier versions of Flash Player, a mouse click is needed) the controls are faded back into view. If the media fills the bottom of the screen, the controls slide up and down as they are faded in and out of view.

Can be embedded in another SWF

This version of the player can be embedded and played inside other swfs.

Embedded ccPlayer can be modified on the fly

New public methods have been included for starting new media and changing the controls on the fly, so the player can be used as the root media player in a chapterized Flash-based media environment. To assist with playlist playback, ccPlayer provides an event that is broadcast when the current media has completed playing.

Maintains fullscreen view when embedded in a SWF

When ccPlayer switches to fullscreen view while it is embedded inside another swf, it determines where it is in the hierarchy of all the possible parent holders and adjusts its position to maintain the full media view.

Clickable scrub bar

Users can now click on any area of the scrub bar and have the media jump to that position in time. If the media has not loaded to that point, nothing happens.

Rewind options

The ccMediaRewind parameter has been added to control whether the media should be returned to the beginning once playback is complete (true).

Controls blocked

The controls can be blocked using the ccBlockControls, so they are visible with a slightly transparent covering, but inactive. This parameter is helpful when ccPlayer is included in another swf which controls a playlist.

v1.0.1

Conversion to ActionScript 3

This is the first version of the ccPlayer built in AS3.

CCforFlashAS3 component updated

ccPlayer has been updated with the current 1.0.1 version of the CCforFlashAS3 component.

Streaming videos

ccPlayer can playback videos being streamed from an ActionScript 3 Flash Media Server (FMS).

Larger video viewing area

The video region of ccPlayer has been expanded to a maximum height and width of 480px by 360px.

Vertical resizing

When ccPlayer detects a video height smaller than its maximum height, it will resize itself vertically. This is done after receiving the height and the width of the video from the video's metadata. In order to prevent visible resizing of the player when its parent HTML page is launched, two new parameters ccVideoHeight and ccVideoWidth can be used to preset the size of the video region.

ccRewind

The default action of ccPlayer is to stop when the end of the video is reached. The new ccVideoRewind parameter can be used to indicate that ccPlayer should return the playhead to the beginning of the video when the end is reached (ccVideoRewind=true).

ccPosterImage

ccPlayer can load an external image to use as the poster image in the player.

ccCaptSourceType defaults to 'external'

The default value of ccCaptSourceType is now external. This means external caption files can be identified using just the ccCaptionSource parameter.

Last updated: January 30, 2010