Converting .swf files into .mov or .mp4 files using After Effects

[Geo_HighEd_Editor]

I was browsing the internet trying to find a way to convert .swf files into .mp4 or .mov files. The only answers I was finding were how to convert using various other softwares besides the Adobe Creative Suite. I discovered that After Effects could perform this task.

How to convert an .swf file into a .mov or .mp4 file:

1. Open up After Effects and import the .swf file.

    - File > Import > Import File > (Choose .swf file)

2. Drag the .swf file into your Render queue, or send it through the tabs

    - Composition - Add to Render Queue

3. In the render queue set your settings in the Output module and Output the file to wherever you want it to go.

I hope this helps...good luck on converting your .swf file.

[J-Alan-L]

I've been trying unsuccessfully for some time now to convert my Flash SWF's correctly into MP4's.  Online converters won't do it right any more than Premiere or After Effects do, and it's the latter two software that surprise me, because if anything should be able to make a correct conversion, it should be Premiere and After Effects since they're part of the same Adobe suite of applications that Flash is.  But even they do not.

Here's the problem:  My animations have sprites in them.  The sprites do not function and do not even show up in Premiere's or After Effects' source or program windows, or in any video conversion exports I've tried to make with them.  All you see in video conversions of SWF files is whatever is happening on the main timeline of the original Flash animation.  All other overlying sprite animation timelines are ignored.  HOW do I get correct video exports with all sprites appearing and functioning correctly in them???

Jeff Lemke

[JoãoCésar]

Hi.

The ideal is to have the FLAs and from inside Animate go to File > Export > Export Video...

You can also try to decompile the SWfs and then, with the generated FLAs, export the videos like described in the previous step.

If you don't have the source files, you can try Newground's Swivel.

Finally, you can get a good screen recorder, like OBS Studio, and capture your SWF running.

I hope it helps.

Regards,

JC

[J-Alan-L]

I do have all the original FLAs since I made them all in Flash from 2000 to 2012 for my former employer.  What I don't have is Animate -- but getting that would undoubtedly put me on Adobe's Creative Cloud tether for at least a year, which I can't afford to do while I'm unemployed.  For now I'm still using the CS6 Production Premium Suite that I had purchased new, which still has Flash in it, not Animate.  However, an internship provider I recently worked for has the full CC2017 suite on one of their computers, so I'll use their Animate to convert my old FLAs to MP4s (if I can get them exported in high enough quality to prevent banding), or else AVIs if it turns out I'll need lossless video output.

Thanks for your help.

Jeff L.

[JoãoCésar]

That's nice.

I hope you can get Animate.

Anyway, I think you should at least try Swivel to convert your SWFs, because it usually gives excellent results and, best of all, it's free and open source.

[J-Alan-L]

I think I'll take a look at Swivel and OBS Studio too, because there are some things in my animations that I'd like to show responding to button clicks.  Straight video exports will remove all interactivity and blow right through any stops or button in the Flash timeline.

I will also keep in mind the stage.quality = "16x16" suggested for Animate.

[funny_goal5C8C]

I tried to conver a very small .swf file and it just said "converting swf to video" but there was no output.

I tried different options of render qualities, video codec's but there was no output. 

So I guess that Swivel does not work. 

[Heather_Mitchell]

I found Swivel very easy to install and navigate. However, it could not convert any of my swf files. It repeated said it was processing, but never output anything. Eventually i would have to 'cancel' and then it would create a file, but it was a single still image. I'm uncertain what the trouble was but ultimately i had to return to After Effects, which seems to only output in AVI, and since i must use Adobe Rush (for a course i am taking) i'm not sure what to do... i do not see any selections where i can change the output file in After Effects. It seems to default to avi as the only option .

[funny_goal5C8C]

Swivel does not work. I ended up with the same result as Heather Mitchel. Sorry I did not read it before I started.

[Colin Holgate]

Animate exports a lossless MOV. Whether that then ends up looking bad depends on what compression you go on to do to it.

The quality of the stage can affect how nice it looks. Putting this into the Actions panel of frame 1 will make it look as good as possible:

stage.quality = "16x16";

[defaultufkbqyr0a7re]

I wish, but thnaks. I've been trying to follow your steps with my looped animation. What I keep getting is a a static, almost black screen. Is there anything that I could be doing wrong? FYI, I included my sample file.

[Scrappy519]

On a similar but quite different note: I'm trying to rebuild a few FLA/SWF files that became corrupted ina computer crash. A .TXO file is part of one of these. Since Vertical Moon, the software supplier of Test-Osterone that I had used to create the .TXO file is not defunct, I'm trying to find a way to convert my .TXO file to .SWF. Text-Osterone performed that function quite well, but it won't let me log in a registered user anymore. Does anyone know of any other options? Does anyone still have a registered and working copy of Text-Osterone that could maybe do this for me? It would be a simple as opening up the .TXO file that I supply and then exporting it as .SWF (and maybe .FLA too). Thanks.

[kglad]

i've never heard of a txo file related to animate.  or not related, for that matter.

[Scrappy519]

Okay. Thanks for your response. I found some old backup files that may work. 🙂

[kglad]

as long as you understand what you're doing...