There is a way (but I'm not sure how) to make it into blu-ray format so that it has interactivity like the menu of a DVD, but that utilizes java and lots of programming.
Think of file formats in this way:
1) Container
2) Codec
swf is a container, it has actionscript and timeline, but also contains graphics, flv files (potentially), text files, xml files, etc.
flv is also a container, but it can only hold one type of stream and that is video in vp8 or h.264 format. No actionscript, nothing else.
mp4, avi, xvid, wmv, etc. are also containers but only for video/audio streams, no scripting or interactivity. Now, there is a couple exceptions and that is codecs offered for use in quicktime and WMV containers: apple and microsoft each have allowed a 3rd-party codec which actually integrates some interactivity in the video stream, but that interactivity is one-way (encoded similar to macrovision, non-interactive instructions to the player to perform a command but no feedback on the result of that command to the video) and are limited to opening a web page or running calls on system libraries that are already installed and pre-approved by the player. However, these codecs are not supported by flash nor browsers that claim to be HTML5 compliant are are essentially useless as they have been run out of market share by flash's swf format.
For internet-related stuff, your only hope for interactive videos is flash or the upcoming HTML5 spec, but HTML5 video is not yet supported by IE which eliminates 3/4 of the internet from utilizing it.
As for "third party tools that let me put hot spots on the flv", those hotspots would have to be recorded seperately from the flv file and then you need an swf player to load both the flv and hotspots to have interactivity again, defeating the purpose.
This is by design, imagine if flv allowed the same type of scripting as swf... YouTube videos would be opening malware sites all the time and would end up looking more like the flash section of ebaumsworld then the classier video-only site it is now. Sure even YouTube needs an swf to play the flv files you upload, but at least they keep control over it and limit what actions and scripting 3rd parties can send to their player.
Hope this helps.
