Before you even think about adding video to Flash, you should spend a significant amount of time filming, editing and optimizing your video in a separate video program (Avid, Final Cut Pro, etc.). Flash is not a video editor.

One other thing: For the purposes of this tutorial, I'm assuming your movie is saved in Quicktime format (.mov).

With these caveats out of the way, let's get to it!

1. Import your video into Flash by going to File > Import > Import to Library.

2. In the box that pops up, navigate to the folder containing your video, click on your video file and then click the Import to Library button.

3. Depending on your version of Flash, you'll be presented with a variety of options for importing your video. The key settings you want are:
   • Progressive download from a Web server. You do not want to embed your video in Flash.

   • Quality level: DSL/Cable or Medium Quality (you should look for a setting that's 400kbps or lower).

4. Once your settings are complete, your movie will be imported into the Flash library. This process can take a while if your movie is long.

5. When the movie has fully imported, confirm that it is in the library.

6. This next step is somewhat confusing, so pay careful attention. Go to the library and right click on your movie file. Go to the properties option. In the box that appears, press the Export button and save the exported file to the same folder as your .fla file.

7. Once the exported file is saved, go back to the library and delete your movie file. That's right. Delete it.

8. You're probably wondering: What am I doing? This is the weird part. You imported your movie, and then you exported a special Flash version of your movie (it's a .flv file). This special Flash version of your movie is the one we're going to use. The old version -- the .mov file -- isn't necessary anymore, so we deleted it.

9. Go to Window > Development Panels > Components (in some versions of Flash you should go to Window > Components). Look for the Media Components section. Under this section, click once on the MediaPlayback component and drag an instance of this component to the stage. (Note: I'm assuming you have already determined where you want your video to appear within your Flash project; if you haven't, you should go back and build your layers, keyframes and frame labels).

10. Click on the MediaPlayback component on the stage. In the Properties box, look for the "Instance Name" text area. You should type in a relevant name in this box ("Video" is a good one).

11. In the properties box, click on the Parameters tab. Then click the Launch Component Inspector button.

12. A window will pop up. You should select the following options in this window:
    • Check the FLV box (if it's not already checked).

    • Video Length: Don't change this.

    • Milliseconds: Don't change this.

    • FPS: Don't change this.

    • URL: This is an important one. You need to type in the name of the special exported Flash movie you created in Step No. 6. Type the exact file name in this box. If you used capitilzation in the file name, use the same capitalization in the name you insert into the URL area. Your file name should have the extension .flv.

    • Automatically Play: Uncheck this box.

    • Use Preferred Media Size: If this is checked, leave it. If it's not checked, leave it. We're not going to worry about this one.

    • Respect Aspect Ratio: If this is checked, leave it. If it's not checked, leave it. We're not going to worry about this one.

    • Control Placement: Bottom.

    • Control Visibility: On.

    • That's it for the Component Inspector. Close the window and return to the Stage.

13. Test your movie (CTRL + Enter or Control > Test Movie). Your video should now be on the screen. Press the "Play" button to start the clip.

14. Troubleshooting: Why won't my movie work?

    You need to be completely sure that all of your files are in the same folder. If they aren't, Flash won't know where to look for your .flv file.

15. That's it! You can see the output from this tutorial here