This section is all about the addition of multimedia elements. More particularly, this section will present the information about the addition of Flash animation, a sound and a video.

Flash Movies

Animations, which contain an SWF extension are the Flash movies. Flash movies are used to give an attractive look to a website, however, they can be used for any purpose where animations are needed. Flash movies can be created through Flash Macromedia, and the users are required to have a plug in installed on his/her computer in order to view the movies.

You can inset flash movies in a Page via the Insert menu, Media Flash option, or by pressing short keys Ctrl+Alt+F. You can also insert them by clicking the Flash option that you may find in the Common tab of the Insert panel, Media button. The Flash movies Properties inspector is similar to the button and text of the flash, but by two new options, a reference to the movie view can be made.

The Loop – used to set a restart of a movie at the end of it.

Autoplay – defines that the movie flash with be initiated when its page is loaded.

Only the first frame of the movie would be displayed if this option is unmarked. In order to activate the reproduction then disable this option. 

Sound Files

In general, a webpage doesn't contain sounds. That is because some listeners might be listening to their on music. It is also due to the fact that sometimes a user finds the page's music unpleasant and unwanted. On the other hand, you can include a nice and soft sound clip to the page contents to make it more attractive.

Many WebPages which are containing the sound clips are available with the option of disabling it. The commonest sound formats which are used on the internet are MP3, WAV and sometimes MIDI, however, there are various other formats that can be used, as well. The best idea is to include a soft and good quality audio file. In order to add an audio file, go to Insert menu, Media, Plugin option. Audio controls do not appear in Dreamweaver in the form of an image.

You can establish the width of the audio controller through the W and H from the properties inspector. In case if you don't want to set a size, the controls will appear with its default size. If you ant to hear the sound only and don't want to see the audio controls, set the field value W and H to zero. When the page is loaded completely, sounds will be played automatically.

Movies and Video files

You need much space in a website if you want to add a video and it may also take long time to download. In order to insert a video file in a document, you need to go to the Insert menu, Media, and Plug-in option. It is to remember that both the audio and video files are inserted as the Plug-in by the properties inspector. Those values can only be changed through the code. The commonly used formats of the video are AVI, MPEG, and MOV.

When the page is loaded completely, videos are reproduced automatically, but they are reproduced only once. You can change these values through the code just as the audio files are changed, by adding autostart="false" and loop="true". Users are required to have a relevant player installed in their system or plug-in to reproduce the files which are inserted through the Plug-ins. In the Src field of properties inspector, the linked audio or video file is set. If the use doesn't contain the plug-in system, then a Page will be established in Plg URL field where the user can find this Plug-in.