May 15, 2004

Curious George: Converting Flash Are there any utilities (preferably free or shareware) that convert .SWF Flash animation to Quicktime or MPEG? I've been wanting to put some of the funnier Flash stuff posted here onto DVD where I can more easily show them to friends and family... but I haven't been able to find a utility that can do the conversion.
posted by rolypolyman 20 years ago
  • http://www.macromedia.com/support/flash/how/expert/flashontv/flashontv04.html
  • whoops, sorry about the long link.
  • That requires Macromedia Flash. Macromedia Flash is $499.
  • that's the whole point.
  • QuickTime supports swf file types natively, including much of the interactivity. You could simply open the swf in the quicktime player - no conversion needed. Note: QuickTime 6 supports Flash 5 and lower, so if the animation was exported as a MX (6) or MX 2004 (7), you are out of luck.
  • Hmm... that might work. I'll have to give it a try. Thanks.
  • schadenfreude: how does that play out converting things for use on DVDs?
  • Any application that supports QuickTime can manipulate the swf file. Assuming you have a video editor -Final Cut, Premier or After Effects will do - as will QuickTime Pro, you can create a DVD project and import the swf file as a track and export it as a mov file to be integrated into a DVD package. If the flash file is pure vector it should scale without issue, though bitmaps may look a little hideous. disclaimer: this is guesswork on my part as I have never actually done this specific task. I have in the past used Premiere to re-edit some of my flash projects and export them as QuickTime movies without a hitch, so it should work. Aw hell let me try it out and I'll get back to you.
  • Any screen capture software that can capture the screen an save as a movie can be used to play the Flash piece and record it to your choice of movie format. For the Mac there are Snapz Pro (69 $) and Copernicus (15 $), for windows there are a few others.
  • Works like I though - sort of. My Process - Mac. Open file in QuickTime Pro - resize to your liking - export as a mov file. Open DVD Studio Pro - import file. I don't have iDVD installed, but i assume it would be the same deal. PC Open file in QuickTime Pro - resize to your liking - export as a avi file Open Encore import file. I don't have a spare DVD kicking around so I did not test this in a set top device, but it worked in simulation mode so it should work.