This may have been around for a little while, but if we missed it until now perhaps you did too — a very cool Flash video encoding comparison tool.

It’s called the Flash Video FAQ but, amusingly, there’s only one Q:

Q: What Flash video encoding solution is the best?
A: You be the judge — Compare the samples below.

Note that unlike some “side by side” comparisons you might have seen, this tool includes not just a matrix of many different types of video in each format, but a draggable divider so you can see a split view of any two videos you choose. Very useful.

This tool is focused on letting you see the differences for yourself without editorial comment, but there is also a companion article in the April edge newsletter that goes into more detail about workflow, price and other considerations. (There are other great contributions in edge as well, including a nice one on the Flash community by Flashforward Austin speaker Chris Georgenes, so keep browsing when you finish this article!)

(via Alan Musselman.)

In this Podcast, Lynda Weinman conducts an interview with Jonathan Blank of Wildform. Lynda and Jonathan discuss Wildform’s products, especially WildPresenter, and talk a bit about the upcoming Flashforward2006 Austin Conference & Film Festival. Enjoy!

• iTunes — Subscribe to our Podcast via the iTunes Music Store. (enhanced AAC)
• RSS — Direct link to the RSS for other aggregators. (enhanced AAC)
• Interview with Jonathan Blank (AAC) — download the interview (enhanced AAC)
• Interview with Jonathan Blank (MP3) — download the interview (MP3)

We confirmed another excellent bunch of speakers this week for Flashforward2006 Austin — the complete list appears below.

But we still have many spaces in the schedule left left to fill, and today is the final day to submit a speaking proposal. We will review all the proposals next week and have more announcements soon!

• Beau Ambur, Metaliq
• Aral Balkan, Ariaware
• Veronique Brossier
• Mike Chambers, Adobe
• Matt Chapman, homestarrunner.com
• Mike Chapman, homestarrunner.com
• Sandro Corsaro, Crest Digital
• Hillman Curtis, hillmancurtis, Inc.
• Brendan Dawes, magneticNorth
• Julian Dolce, Fuel Industries
• Chris Georgenes, Mudbubble
• Gary Goldberger, FableVision
• Moses Gunesch, MosesSupposes.com
• Branden Hall, Automata Studios
• Cris Ippolite, iSolutions
• Steve Kilisky, Adobe
• Chafic Kazoun, Atellis
• Kevin Lynch, Adobe
• Chris Meyer, CyberMotion
• Trish Meyer, CyberMotion
• Garrett Nantz, Big Spaceship
• Erik Natzke, Natzke Design
• Michael Ninness, lynda.com
• Chris Orwig, Brooks Institute of Photography
• Dave Schroeder, pilotvibe
• Rich Shupe, FMA
• Aaron Simpson, JibJab Media
• Grant Skinner, gskinner.com
• Evan Spiridellis, JibJab Media
• Craig Swann, CRASH!MEDIA
• Jeremy Thorp, blprnt design

Many of you have asked about these, and here they are at last: three iMixes full of music from Flashforward2006 Seattle.

AM playlist
Noon playlist
PM playlist

You’ll also want to check out the 2005 and 2004 iMixes, since any songs that appeared in one of those are not included in the 2006 versions.

Some quick FAQs:

What is a Flashforward iMix? We love music. During breaks, lunch and parties, we can’t stand having all that expensive audio equipment sit idle, so we play some of our favorite tunes. For several years now, Kevin Skoglund has compiled the playlists for those interludes, spending FAR longer than he probably should fine-tuning the placement of every song to match the time of day and the songs around it. No “shuffle” mode for us! The iMix is a way for us to share many of those songs with you — you can listen to previews until you find a few you like and/or remember.

Is the iMix an exact copy of what was played at the conference, in the same order? No. iTunes does not yet sell every song we like (maybe some day!) and even though we’ll often repeat our favorites from one show to the next, we try not to duplicate songs across iMixes. So each iMix is created from scratch using the conference playlists as its source.

Why three playlists for Seattle instead of one? Because we had so much more music to choose from this time! Unlike previous shows, at which the audio crew would pop in the designated mix disc for a particular break, this time we streamed a continuous mix to a computer in each of the session rooms. That way whenever a session broke, the music was already playing, and as you walked from room to room the music would continue more or less in sync with the room you just left. But this meant planning for FAR more music than usual, most of which was never heard!

So let us know: did you find the song you were looking for? Any requests for Austin?

We have already received many excellent proposals from potential speakers new and old, but we are greedy: give us more! We want to build the most solid and well-rounded program ever, so we’re looking for depth as well as breadth. If you’d enjoy teaching your peers about anything to do with the Flash platform, other tools you use, or any subject that inspires you, please share your ideas no later than this Friday, April 7. If you have five ideas, submit five proposals; we’ll read them all!

http://www.flashforwardconference.com/speaker_proposal