Editing and importing SWF files. The best SWF editor: program review How to edit swf files in Adobe Flash


Most users of computer systems have, one way or another, encountered Flash animation. Many cartoons, banners on websites, or even simple Internet games are made in this format. But what are SWF files and how are they created or edited if some changes need to be made to the finished project? This and much more will be discussed further.

What are SWF files?

Few people think about what a SWF animation file actually is, considering it an ordinary video.

In fact, the files themselves are compiled derivatives of the original FLA format, which in turn is a project in which the original structure can be seen and modified. Naturally, this requires some kind of SWF file editor. But which one? Today, so many programs have been created for creating and editing Flash animation that it is quite easy to get confused in them.

How to open a SWF file?

We'll get back to the editors a little later. For now, let's look at how to open a SWF file in the simplest situation. There are at least two options: either use some software player that supports this format (KMPlayer), or start playback in a web browser.

In the second case, for correct playback, a prerequisite is the presence of the installed Flash Player plugin from Adobe or its equivalent in the form of a Macromedia Flash extension, which is, in general, the same thing.

The principle of editing a finished Flash video

Now a few words about how the finished project is edited in general terms. An editor for SWF projects of the most primitive type will not be able to simply open a file, since the finished SWF file, as already mentioned, is compiled and contains a minimum of information about the initial structure.

Thus, before using the simplest SWF file editor, the finished file must first be converted, so to speak, into readable form. In other words, it needs to be decompiled into its original FLA form. For this purpose, special utilities are used, which will be discussed separately.

The best editors for creating animation from scratch

Nevertheless, to create a video (and not edit it) at the initial stage, both the simplest applications and entire professional-level software packages can be used.

It will not be possible to describe them all, but among the programs designed for this purpose, several of the most popular can be identified:

  • Alligator Flash Designer.
  • SWiSH Max.
  • Adobe Flash Professional.
  • Corel R.A.V.E.
  • Sony Vegas Pro.

Alligator Flash Designer

This SWF editor in Russian is the simplest of all those presented below and is intended mainly for quickly creating animated banners that will be used on websites on the Internet.

There are not so many tools at the disposal of a novice web designer, however, there are about one hundred and thirty different effects, the ability to create animated text, drawings or insert sound. The interface is extremely simple and clear, so this application is very well suited for mastering the basics of creating this type of animation.

SWiSH Max

This animation file editor is very similar to the previous utility, although it looks a little more complex for a beginner.

With its help you can create more professional works of good quality. Any user can figure it out thanks to the fact that the application itself includes video tutorials that explain the basics of creating animated videos.

Adobe Flash Professional

The Adobe Flash SWF file editor is a professional-level software package that not everyone can master the first time.

He has so many tools in his arsenal that, according to many professional web designers and animators, you can use them to realize any fantasy. By the way, if you look at the world rankings of software in this area, it is the Adobe Flash CS and CC series applications that are the undisputed leaders.

Corel R.A.V.E.

Here we have another professional SWF editor with capabilities comparable to the previous package from Adobe.

The most interesting thing is the ability to draw two-dimensional objects, determine their movement along a predetermined path, snap to the specified path, create a double of the animated object to change only the size, color or location, after which the program automatically performs the necessary transformations and animates the image. Naturally, this is not all that this application is capable of. You can study it and admire more and more new possibilities for a very long time.

Sony Vegas Pro

This video processing package certainly needs no introduction. Even those who have never worked with this type of multimedia know about it. Of course, this is not a SWF editor as such, but it does have tools for creating animation, and they are very worthy of attention.

The program allows you to create and edit animation videos (in this case the emphasis is on them) using more than 200 effects, editing can be done based on 8-bit mode, and at the finalization stage you can switch to 32-bit to improve quality. You can also apply color filters to eliminate differences in different fragments, set the storyboard frequency at 30 fps or higher, and also set a variety of image aspect ratios, including even transformations and transitions between them (4:3, 16:9, 16: 10), etc. In general, there are enough tools.

Additional utilities for working with Flash

Speaking about creating and editing animated videos, we cannot ignore some additional utilities that may be useful in your work. This includes converting the final SWF file to the original FLA project format through decompilation (formatting the code), as well as some additional tools used to improve image quality and reduce the size of the final file without losing quality.

Among the most necessary programs are the following:

  • Flash Decompiler Trillix.
  • Sothink SWF Decompiler.
  • Flash Optimizer.
  • Sparkle SWF Optimizer.

Flash Decompiler Trillix

A novice user will need this program to convert a SWF file to FLA format so that the project can be opened even in the simplest editor and make the necessary changes to it.

Essentially, this is an advanced converter with editor capabilities in which changes can be made on the fly. You can also use it to perform batch conversions. And all this is done without the mandatory installation of Adobe and Macromedia plugins.

Sothink SWF Decompiler

This program is also a decompiler-editor, albeit a paid one. Its capabilities are very interesting. It is aimed at quickly creating or editing banners, videos and even Flash games.

For beginners, the application provides a special “Wizard” based on the choice of the type and structure of the future project from the available templates. In addition, you can work with the source code, apply all kinds of filters, effects, or create vector images in a special WYSIWYG environment.

Flash Optimizer and Sparkle SWF Optimizer

These two small utilities, as the name suggests, are some kind of optimizers that allow you to reduce the size of the finished SWF file to save space without losing quality. They will be especially useful to all those who post their work on the Internet or create banners and online games in Flash format.

As stated on the official websites of the developers, these utilities allow you to perform compression and reduce the size of the original object by as much as 70%. They have several types of optimization using automatic conversion after setting the necessary parameters.

What to use?

Finally, the most important question: “What to choose from all this?” We think that novice animators and web designers should start with the simplest utilities. For those who have at least a little knowledge of creating and editing SWF videos, professional utilities will undoubtedly be suitable. Here the choice is up to the user. However, if you wish and study the reference information that is available in most of the applications presented, you can master working with them very simply. But which editor is better? The palm rightfully belongs to the developments of Adobe, although other editors and decompilers should not be discounted.

Probably everyone has seen some kind of advertising animation on websites, when you hover the mouse cursor over it, something begins to change in it. Or played online applications/games on websites (social networks or others). Even if you go to this site using a non-existent link like this, you will be taken to approximately the same page, created based on flash animation technology. And their file has a SWF extension. This article describes what this file is, how to open it (for example, play a toy offline) and how to change it (for amateurs).

What is this .swf file?
SWF file - Flash animation created using Adobe Flash or other program for developing flash applications. Flash videos can contain both plain text and vector, raster images, 3D graphics (limited), audio, video, and scripts in ActionScript.

The Flash platform has become very widespread in the field of creating interactive applications. These can be flash cartoons, games, videos (.FLV files), websites created in whole or in part using this technology.


Well, then follow the instructions from the site.

To open, launch the browser (it is advisable to create a new tab in it), “take” LMB over your swf file and drag it into the browser.

Option 2
Through the program.
There are 2 good programs for opening such files - this (I couldn’t find the official site) and .


As for the second one - it’s free, but it’s in English and the developers have forgotten something and stopped releasing updates for it and it will only work for XP at most.
If you get lost on the manufacturer’s website and don’t find how to download this program:
select the Downloads tab in the top menu A situation often arises when it is necessary to make changes to a finished “creation” without having the original FLA file. This can be anything: changing text, pictures, sounds, etc., and in some cases it is not at all necessary to resort to exactly the tools with which the file was created. The main difficulty is that the SWF file is already a compiled FLA file. If the latter is present, the user has the opportunity to see the entire file structure, while SWF contains a minimum of information. Once compiled, the SWF file can be imported into Flash, but without additional software it is unlikely that it will be possible to restore its structure. Accordingly, to make changes you need to decompile the SWF file.

This situation gave rise to a lot of programs, such as: Sothink SWF Decompiler, Eltima Flash Decompiler Trillix, Power Flash Decompiler and a great many other utilities. In this article we will give examples and parameters of some decompilers, and also consider the decompilation process itself using the example of the Sothink SWF Decompiler program.

Sothink SWF Decompiler is a program for capturing and decompiling a SWF file into FLA, as well as extracting various resources from it. The program allows you to extract images, fonts, sounds, etc. from ready-made SWF files and is considered one of the best decompilation programs.

For a person familiar with such a system, it will not be difficult to “disassemble” and then “assemble” a SWF file using a program. For amateurs, this can be a very difficult task. So, what does the decompilation process look like in Sothink SWF Decompiler?

Let's start with the interface. Actually, the main program window looks like this:

Cost: $79.99

Possibilities:

  • Searchable Action Script source code - Convert SWF to FLA and FLEX
  • Extracting SWF from EXE
  • Preview and export file assets
  • Export ActionScript file to AS and HTML formats
  • There is a player for playing flash files
  • Detailed viewing of element properties in a Flash movie
  • Support scanning IE cache and listing all Flash files you've viewed

Cost: $79.95

Possibilities:

  • Supports Action Script v. 2.0 and v.3.0
  • Ability to export flash videos to formats such as AVI, MPEG, etc.
  • Possibility of detailed customization of SWF to FLA conversion
  • Ability to decompile and convert multiple Flash videos at the same time
  • Ability to edit file objects without converting to FLA
  • Extract file resources into various formats
  • Has a built-in Flash file player
  • Ability to save Flash videos online
  • User-friendly interface: scalable, toolbar ribbon

Cost: $44.95

  • Convert SWF to FLV and EXE
  • Ability to export data from a flash file to a FLA file:
    • Export sounds and videos from a flash file
    • Export text, shapes, buttons, images, fonts and frames from a flash file
    • Exporting scripts from a flash file
  • Review and preview assets before export
  • Support for editing dynamic text in flash file
  • Support moving images in flash file
  • View detailed information about each object from the flash movie

What else would you like to add about flash decompilers? At first glance, working with them is quite simple, and to a certain extent it is so. However, difficulties may arise when decompiling SWF files, since when using such programs, errors may occur in the code that will have to be corrected manually. And for a user unfamiliar with the Action Script language, this can be a very difficult task.

→ Sothink SWF Quicker

Sothink SWF Quicker- a powerful utility for working with flash. If we consider it for animation, it is better to look towards the Adobe product line. But for working with flash applications it is indispensable. In essence, this is a full-fledged editor for flash, but its main feature is convenient work with swf format. With its help you can open a swf file and edit it Action-script and save. It is very convenient if you need to change the mp3 player to flash to suit your needs by introducing a couple of your own functions into its source code.

Here is how it was. An mp3 player for online listening to music was introduced on one of the entertainment portals. The customer's requirements were completely achievable. The player had to be able to work with a playlist and have a standard set of buttons. The choice fell on Dewplayer. Everything was going great, cross-browser compatibility was excellent and the work was nearing completion. But suddenly a minor problem arose - the player was made by the French and apparently they did not expect to include support for the Cyrillic alphabet. That is, when playing the track, the Russian characters in the running line with the name of the song were “krokozyabla”. I didn’t want to give up the work I had done and a solution was found.

Dewplayer has a wide range of features, including javascript support. This means you can access the player’s methods through js. Therefore, if you implement your methods in Action-script, the output will be all the necessary functionality. And it was necessary to create a function that would return the name of the current track.

So download and install Sothink SWF Quicker. Let's launch. In the tab File choose a position import.

In the window that opens, set the file type .swf and click on “patient”.

After selecting a file, the program may warn that the file is protected and ask: should I import anyway? The answer is yes. After the swf file is opened, look at the lower right corner. Click on the tab Action. We get an Action-script available for editing. I won’t read lectures on flash programming, I’ll continue on my own)).


After making changes, we perform the reverse procedure - export. On the top panel we find the tab Export. In the context menu, click on Export Movie. Then we save it to a new file or replace the one that is open.


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