Categories
Flash Open source / Freeware

Convert SWF to AVI – part 3

Update #1: when I wrote this post, this all worked… And I have good hope that the site will return. For now I can only say: try again later…. 🙁
Update #2: well the site didn’t return: it’s as dead as a doorknob … that’s too bad. I couldn’t find a place where you can download it now, so I searched my external harddrive if I had the original zip-file, and I did. So you can download the file at http://www.box.net/shared/u5utxytazn#swfdrop
Update #3: Today I needed this for a good export to AVI and found out that swfdrop only works if the animation is on the main (root) timeline… so I used the trick introduced by swf2avi > read more here

Flash is not very good in converting animations in to AVI’s because you lose the animations in the nested movieclips. You can export to .MOV but that’s not a native Windows video codex.

So you want to convert a SWF to AVI (SWF2AVI) or another videofile/codex (without spending any cash)?
As the title of this post suggest: I have written about this subject before: in part 1 and part 2.

And I found a new freeware tool to help you convert your SWF: www.swfdrop.com.
SWF DROP: Version 0.9c

Download: it think this program is very useful, but the creators think different and killed the original site. I still have the original swfdrop.zip and that one can be downloaded here:http://www.box.net/shared/u5utxytazn#swfdrop.
Remember: I have nothing to do with this program, I only think it’s useful.

This project is also freeware and more up-to-date: October 2007 (swf2avi is last updated in 27-08-2002 & swf>>avi is last update in 07.20.2005).

“SWFDROP” is the SWF converter for Windows to convert Flash SWF file format to AVI format. It’s the best tool to successfully convert any Flash 6/7/8/9 SWF file into a video AVI file that you can play with Windows Media Player (or any video player), where all other tools dont work. These, along with a variety of video encoding options, make SWFDROP the best choice for you productivity!

A little preview: you can figure it out, trust me.

It’s very easy to use, you can use the codex installed on you computer and it’s very fast

Create a movie that will load the movie that you want to export.

  • make this movie the same size as the original
  • use the same frame rate
  • only difference with to movie you want to load is the number of frames: use the number that you want (for example: 1000)

Because swf2avi is based upon as2, this code is also as2
[as]
// code in frame 1
loadMovieNum(‘name_of_the_movie_you_want_to_render.swf’, 1);
stopAllSounds();
[/as]

Categories
Animation Flash Open source / Freeware Tools of the trade

Convert SWF to AVI – part2

How to convert a SWF to an AVI (without spending any cash)? I have written about this question before [Covert SWF to AVI (SWF2AVI or SWFtoAVI)] and my answer was back then: swf2avi, a freeware project by Mario Pizzinini.
SWF2AVI is not an active project (last update from 2002-08-27), but does the job very well.
I’ve used it a couple of times, and when you know who this program works, you get the result you need.

Back then I didn’t have an alternative, but I do now!

And the alternative, in my opinion, is better and more user friendly: http://www.avi-swf-convert.com/
swf avi convert screenshot

SWF>>AVI

is a more recent project (the last update is from 2005-07-20), and does the same thing as swf2avi but has some extra very handy features:

  • Drag and drop files in the converter
  • Play the file in a small popup
  • Select an output folder
  • Set output frame rate
  • Batch Convert: convert more then one SWF to AVI
  • Profiles: you can create custom conversion profiles whereto the SWF can be exported (captures size, output size, frame rate and rotation)

But it doesn’t convert sound and interactive animations may not be properly converted

It’s an freeware program, which does what it says: it converts SWF to (uncompressed) AVI. So if you need a compressed version of your animation you need another program to do that (something to write about in another post). SWF>>AVI is a Windows program which needs Microsoft .Net Framework (it will be automatically downloaded and installed if required).

The same rules (code) apply to SWF>>AVI as it did with SWF2AVI
It’s smart to use frame based animation, although it seems that SWF>>AVI is faster in grabbing the images, so timebased animation is can be an option if you don’t care for an exact export.
Otherwise use the code posted here for you convenience:

Categories
Animation Flash Flash video player Open source / Freeware

Convert SWF to AVI (SWF2AVI or SWFtoAVI)

Update: are you looking for a userfriendly, free SWF>>AVI converter? Read also my post about SWF>>AVI

I was always under the assumption that you couldn’t export video with flash.
And yes I know …. there are couple ways to export video but they have some restrictions.

To export from Flash to Quicktime (MOV) means that you SWF can’t be higher than Flash 5 and in the standard export setting AVI and MOV can’t contain script, so everything has to be animated on root timeline even animation in movieclips don’t work.
There is also the possibility to export a sequence of images which has the same restriction…

swf2avi main

But since I use swf2avi I don’t have these restrictions no longer.
Swf2avi is very easy to use (what all programs with 1 aim should be). It’s quite intuitive! So no tutorial will be made by me, not even a small explanation.
Swf2avi will create a container (if necessary) to play your SWF frame-by-frame and creates screenshots of every frame in either BMP or JPG.
This sequence can be translated afterwards to AVI with swf2avi (with the possibility of compression), an AVI can be converted to FLV and play it with a flashVideoPlayer.