Converting SWF to MP4 or MOV

[ericbnpusa]

Hey community,

I need some help.  I am currently trying (but massively failing) to take an InDesign file that is animated and covert it final over to an mp4 or mov file so I can import it into Premiere Pro.   As usual, Adobe has made this relatively impossible to do such an easy task since all swf imports are no longer supported. 

Indesign animated file to the only movie formated export of SWF.  (It would be nice if they could at least give an option for something supported in other Adobe software)  From the SWF to MOV.  What can I do?  Thanks for any help. 

[bjarte_arnesen]

I think I've found a way. I just tried to import a .swf file into After Effects, and then exporting through Media Encoder into a .mp4 file. It worked!

[michaelt60882075]

this works 🙂

[Jeffrey_Smith]

Play animation in Indesign and use a screen recording utility to capture it. Quicktime Player is one of many utilities that can be used.

[ericbnpusa]

Is screen capture recording the only way?  I tried AE exporting, but it doesn't keep the animations in tack from the SWF when importing. 

[Jeffrey_Smith]

Is screen capture recording the only way? 

No, there are video format converters available that can convert swf to mp4. But, in any conversion process, it may not be a perfect conversion.

[ericbnpusa]

Is there any way that Adobe can add this feature in the future for InDesign?  It's highly limited to have great software like this which can animate but can't use the animations in a movie format for post production use and the only option is a format not supported by 99% of all adobe software.  I recommend to Adobe that it add this format for exporting.  Otherwise I have to go back to Powerpoint and recreate this thing and use Powerpoint because it has the option to export in MP4. 

[Steve Werner]

These days everyone is using HTML5 for animations. There are very few people still using Flash because it's because it's not supported on mobile devices and many desktop computers where users have refused to install Flash.

It's highly unlikely that Adobe would do that. You should probably check out the video format converters Jeffrey mentioned.

[Warren Heaton]

Is there any way that Adobe can add this feature in the future for InDesign?  

Have you tried Publish Online yet?  Even though it's a technology preview, it might do the trick.

[ericbnpusa]

I'll try it today and see if that does the trick. 

[ericbnpusa]

Ok, then is there a way to convert HTML5 into a mp4 or mov format?  I need the animation for post production. 

[ericbnpusa]

I have tried to use some converters, but most of them are stating that they can't see a timeline.  The SWF plays fine in Flash player like it's supposed to, but the converters are saying that there is no timeline?  Is there a reason for this?  Am I not exporting the files correctly from InDesign? 

[BobLevine]

InDesign is not the right tool for this, IMO.

Try After Effects.

[stunamii]

It's because your SWF was animated with Actionscript not the timeline. Screen recorder is the only way to convert because you need the shockwave player to run the scripted animation. If an export exists it would be a modified standalone shockwave player.

[Warren Heaton]

Hi Eric:

Did you try After Effects yet?  Since I haven't imported a SWF in years, I tried again real quick just now.  It worked fine on my end.  Of course, then you have to export it.  I'd be happy to do a quick rundown of the steps involved if needed.

Did you try a screen recording yet?  That's really your quickest way.  QuickTime Player X's record movie is pretty straight forward, but there's also SnapZPro or Camtasia for more control.

Export to MOV or MP4 from InDesign is good idea.  Maybe submit a feature request?  (Feature Request/Bug Report Form)

Regarding this comment:

As usual, Adobe has made this relatively impossible to do such an easy task

While it's definitely frustrating to not be able to get directly from one format (SWF) to another (MOV), the reason you can't do this goes beyond just Adobe.  There was a time the SWFs and MOVs were easy to covert (back when QuickTime 5 was the latest version of QuickTime); however, QuickTime has changed.  And while support for SWF was pretty broad at one point, that isn't the case now.

I see Adobe as making anything possible.  With their applications, if you can imagine it you can create it.

-Warren

[ericbnpusa]

So if nothing I've tried so far has worked, then would any of you have a suggestion of a software that can convert this format while maintaining the interactive pieces? 

[BobLevine]

What does “while maintaining the interactive pieces” mean?

[ericbnpusa]

Maintaining the original animations created in InDesign.

[rob day]

Maintaining the original animations created in InDesign.

Do you mean animation or interaction? When you publish a SWF from Flash it is generically referred to as a Movie—Flash does have timeline(s) that can act like a movie—but any interactions (like a page flip or button click) are coded (ActionScript) and that coding would not be included in any conversion to a video format.

[Warren Heaton]

Hi Eric:

For interactivity, SWF is pretty much the format you'd want.  While you could go with a PDF, the interactivity is very limited.

So... what is it about SWF that isn't working as expected?  You could import the SWF into an FLA (Flash project) and then publish a projector file (one for Mac and one for Windows) or you could embed the SWF into an HTML document using Dreamweaver (or manually coding it) and then publish that online or to an intranet (of course, the browser will have to support the Flash plug-in).  With either approach, the animation and interaction should be maintained.

As far as interactive MOV files go, applications like Electrifier Pro and Adobe GoLive that supported creating "wired" movies are no longer being published.

-Warren

[Guest]

What Is SWF Format?

SWF, an Adobe Flash file format and stands for Small Web Format, capacitates users to watch graphics or videos from a storage drive or online. Currently, SWF is the dominant format for displaying "animated" vector graphics on the Web. It may also be used for programs, commonly browser games, using ActionScript. Besides, SWF are commonly used when embedding video in websites, either as large animations or small effects buttons.

There are two kinds of SWF, vector based animation and raster based video. Strictly speaking, vector based animation is not video, most of them need user interaction, so it's hard to convert them to other video format. Raster based video, is the same as FLV format, you can easily convert to any other format.

Why Convert SWF to MP4?

However, most devices and players including Mac system, iTunes, iPhone, iPod, iPad, iMovie, QuickTime, PS3, Xbox 360, Android, Windows Media Player, PowerPoint and Windows Movie Maker etc, don't natively support SWF format, so that, it failed when you tried to play SWF files on the above devices or players. In this case, you have no choice but to convert SWF to MP4 for playback anywhere with any hassle.

More info:

SWF to MP4 - How to Convert SWF to MP4?

[windj92137408]

As we all know, premiere pro supported formats include H.265, H.264, DNxHR, Apple ProRes, ASF, AVI, DV, MOV, M4V, MXF, etc. and SWF is not included. so you need to convert SWF to MP4 or MOV, that is right. During this process, you need the help of third-party software, you can try this. it can help you solve the problem.

[JonathanArias]

Adobe media converter works great. i have also use this program a lot:

Miro Video Converter FREE - Convert any video to MP4, WebM (vp8), iPhone, Android, iPod, iPad, and m...

HOWEVER, adobe media converter is faster. Miro is simpler to use, but it uses more of the computer resources.

[stunamii]

Can it handle converting SWF with ACTIONSCRIPT animations (not timeline ones)? Media converter can encode SWF videos but can't run actionscripts to a movie file. That would require Adobe Flash Player and a screen recorder like Quicktime. If your SWF is a web banner or other non-video standard then you need to use .MOV because it supports custom dimensions. MP4 codecs do not.

[JonathanArias]

i don't now. read the product website.