How to edit swf file on computer. The best SWF editor: program review. Opening SWF files using Flash player

→Sothink SWF Quicker

Sothink SWF Quicker - powerful utility to work 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 standard set 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 context menu click on Export Movie. Then we save it to a new file or replace the one that is open.

Most users computer systems, one way or another, came across 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 SWF editor-files. 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 kind of software player that supports this format(KMPlayer), or start playback in a web browser.

In the second case, for correct reproduction, a prerequisite is the presence installed plugin Flash Player from Adobe company or its analogue in the form of an extension Macromedia Flash, which is basically the same thing.

The principle of editing a finished Flash video

Now a few words about how general outline editing is in progress finished project. 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 they use special utilities, 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, the most simple applications, and entire professional-level software packages.

It will not be possible to describe all of them, 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 animation of this type.

SWiSH Max

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

With it you can create more professional work 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 software In this direction, it is the Adobe Flash applications of the CS and CC series 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, 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 The following can be noted:

• 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 most simple 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 mandatory installation. Adobe plugins and Macromedia.

Sothink SWF Decompiler

This program is also a decompiler-editor, albeit a paid one. Its capabilities are very interesting. It is focused on quick creation 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 reference information, which 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.

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 programs for decompilation.

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:

• Ability to search in source code Action Script - 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.
• Opportunity detailed settings converting SWF to FLA
• 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.

Animate can import the SWF file format. However, SWF files are processed and many types of data within a SWF file cannot be re-imported into Animate.

SWF format

The SWF format is a special compressed format designed for files small size with the ability to scale. To keep the file size small, several elements from Animate's original format are compressed into such data that Animate cannot re-import them.

If you select the "protect from import" option when creating a SWF file, Animate will not allow you to re-import the file. Trying to import a protected SWF results in an error message.

Opening and Importing

Opening a SWF file (File > Open) opens the clip in Clip Test mode.

Importing a SWF file (File > Import) produces the following results:

• Sounds are not imported.
• Graphics containing animation are imported with each animation keyframe in a new keyframe. The contents of each frame in the source animation are converted into a new graphic symbol, one for each frame in the source symbol.
• The entire layout is lost. Import adds keyframes to the layer that was active when you chose File > Import, but the original layout structure and layer names are not preserved.
• Clip timelines are not imported. Individual elements from the first frame of the clip's timeline are imported, but converted to graphics. All other frames of the clip are lost.
• Buttons are now treated as clips. Graphics are in good condition key frame“Not pressed” is converted to graphic symbols. Everything else is lost.
• Animation is not imported.
• Motion paths are not imported. However, the images from each tween frame of the motion path are imported as separate images in separate keyframes.
• Imported raster images, used in the clip, are imported successfully, but their original library names are not preserved. They are renamed "Bitmap 1", "Bitmap 2", etc.

A free program for creating flash videos of almost any degree of complexity! Includes almost everything necessary tools For daily work with flash and can be used by both beginners and professionals. The main difference and advantage of this program is its support for ActionScript 2.0, without which it is simply impossible to imagine creating professional Flash content.

It seems that Dima Bilan is right when he says that the impossible is possible :). Until recently, web developers had to either pirate or pay quite a lot of money for the opportunity to work with Flash animation. And now, finally, the hour has come when a third full-fledged option has appeared - to use a free flash editor.

Previously, there was already one similar program on our site, but its disadvantage was that it was somewhat outdated, had a limited set of tools, and lacked support for the ActionScript programming language, which is so necessary for creating somewhat functional websites, games, etc.

Today I will introduce you to a completely modern flash editor, which can compete almost on an equal footing with the famous Adobe Flash - Vectorian Giotto.

Comparison of Vectorian Giotto with a paid analogue

As you can see, the developers of Vectorian Giotto did their best and tried to fit into their program the maximum possible set of functions similar to Adobe Flash. In addition, most of the hotkeys are also the same, so those who are used to working with the Adobe editor will not have much difficulty switching to the free Vectorian Giotto platform!

Well, and for “dessert” in free editor there is also something that the “big brother” sometimes lacks - a built-in library of animation effects that will appeal especially to those who create flash banners.

Preparing for work

To start working with Vectorian Giotto, we need to download the archive with the installer, which, by the way, weighs only 8 megabytes! When the archive is downloaded, open it and run the file VectorianGiotto.exe.

Despite the fact that the installation (and the program itself, unfortunately :)) is in English, it should not cause any difficulties, since it is not necessary to change anything in the default settings. Just click the “Next” button several times and wait for the installation process to complete;).

First acquaintance with the interface

Upon completion of the installation, if we did not change anything in standard settings, the Vectorian Giotto working window will appear in full screen:

As I already said, the program interface is in English, so in order to avoid misunderstandings and rumors when performing further actions described in the article, I would like to introduce some conceptual apparatus :). Let's start, as usual, from top to bottom and left to right.

Menu bar. This is the panel on which all the menus of the Vectorian Giotto program are located. When working with animation, you may need such sections as “File” (for saving and exporting your animation to SWF), “View” (for setting workspace display parameters), “Modify” (for managing parameters current document and working with the effects library) and “Window” (for customizing the displayed modules and program panels).

Main toolbar. Here are buttons for managing project actions and an animation playback panel.

Drawing panel (occupies the entire left side of the program window). Here you will find all the necessary tools for creating any desired objects of your animation, as well as buttons that allow you to configure the parameters of the necessary tools.

Storyboard (or timeline). Allows you to manage frame cells and created layers.

Color control panel. With its help, you can quickly change the color of previously created shapes. It is also used to select the type of fill for your animation objects (solid, gradient, etc.).

Workspace. It is a virtual sheet of “paper” designed for drawing your animations :).

ActionScript editor. If you need to create not simple banners, but something more complex, including buttons and all kinds of interactive objects, then you cannot do without a script editor.

Clip structure panel. Displays all the shapes that are “in the frame” and allows you to quickly switch between them and manage their sequence.

Properties panel. Each object in flash has certain properties. This panel is used to manage them.

Transformation panel. Allows you to quickly change the size and position of the selected animation element.

Library of elements. Represents a list of created or imported objects that can be (and are repeatedly!) inserted into an animation.