how to play swf files?

[mikehende]

Hey guys, someone's house got robbed a few days ago. She has an outdoor security camera system run from a regular desktop, 4 cameras attached to it. When she tried to view the footage from the night before, the Pc started powering off everytime she moved the mouse and would restart on it's own.

So she doesn't know if the pc was working at all before then or when it started malfunctioning. She took the HDD out and brought it to me to attempt data recovery which I have done and now seeing 170 SWF files totaling 330gb.

I was told The SWF files need to be viewed with Adobe Flash together with an SWF standalone player but when I try to open any of the may SWF files in the different players I am finding online they are not playing. I have tried so far swffileplayer and Elmedia and now waiting to try 5kPlayer but wondering if there is any online option I might be able to upload one of the swf files to try please or if any ideas why the files may not be opening in the standalone players? The files have different sizes from 1gb to 4gb.

[Cornucopia]

sample clip? and/or mediainfo text readout?

SWF usually means one (or both) of 2 things:

1. Original Shockwave file - created to conform to Adobe (Macromedia) Director, which can inlcude video & audio streams, midi, icon/sprites that animate, clickable links, specialty program code (think about it along the lines of java).
2. Original version of Adobe Flash - which can include video & audio, and possibly a few other minor things that nobody but adobe uses.

If it were #1, you will have a VERY hard time of it, and would likely have to resort to using a 2000's-era PC (Win2k/XP) and play it with a Director or Shockwave player, then screencap it.
If it were #2, you should have many more (and more straightforward) conversion options.

Scott

[mikehende]

This is what shows in the data recovery folders and files

https://i.postimg.cc/fykf353W/IMG-0159.jpg

[Cornucopia]

OK, so please run one of those SWF files (a larger one, preferably) through MediaInfo and post the Text formatted export. This will tell us about the internal structure of those files (assuming they are basically all structured the same).

Thanks,
Scott

[darkknight145]

What happens if you drop a file on an open browser window (IE or Firefox), I use to play .SWF files by this method. You also may have the problem that your recovery program may not have recovered the files intact and they are corrupted.

[mikehende]

OK, so please run one of those SWF files (a larger one, preferably) through MediaInfo and post the Text formatted export. This will tell us about the internal structure of those files (assuming they are basically all structured the same).

Thanks,
Scott

Thanks, please see attached screenshot if that is what I was supposed to do from your instructions?

[mikehende]

What happens if you drop a file on an open browser window (IE or Firefox), I use to play .SWF files by this method. You also may have the problem that your recovery program may not have recovered the files intact and they are corrupted.

I looked at different YouTube videos and instructions on how to open swf in google browser but it does not work. When I right click on the swf file on my desktop and choose from properties to "open with" and select Chrome the Save As box opens suggesting I save the file the in the Downloads folder.

[Cornucopia]

Well, that's not exactly what I had asked, but it'll do.

So it looks like you've got an h264/AVC-encoded video encapsulated in SWF container.
OR
You have video that is raw or encapsulated in an MP4, etc, but that the file extension is "non-standard" (aka wrong).

Either you rename the extension to MP4 and see if it plays, or demux to raw and then remux to MP4 and then it should play.

Let's assume it's the latter.
There are a number of web examples of using ffmpeg to demux FLV and remux into MP4 (some people have just called it "passthrough", which is slightly inaccurate but close enough). Here's one: https://superuser.com/questions/772569/which-ffmpeg-command-do-i-use-to-passthrough-flv-to-mp4
So, make a copy of your *.SWF file and save as *.FLV. Then run the ffmpeg batch script. You should have a playable MP4 at the end.

Do this for 1 short test file first (assuming it has the same mediainfo traits), and let us know how it goes. If all is well, do the same for all the rest.

One thing I am worried about is that you have MINIMAL info in the video section. This could be indicative of encrypted files. If they are encrypted, you are almost positively SOL!


Scott

[mikehende]

Thanks for the help but this seems very technical, would it make a difference if I were to simply look for any swf to mp4 converter?

No, the online converters are all showing files seize too large even though I chose one of the smallest ones at 1.7gb

[mikehende]

Trying to install ffmpeg but I am not seeing an Application to launch, it it a standalone player?

[jagabo]

Thanks, please see attached screenshot if that is what I was supposed to do from your instructions?

That MediaInfo report is telling you that the file extension is wrong. What you really have is a h264 elementary stream -- which usually uses the extension .h264. Try changing the extension.

[mikehende]

you mean simply by righclicking on the file and changing the extension from .SWF to .mp4?

[flashandpan007]

Yes

[mikehende]

Did so with 2 files, one 2gb and the other 4gb, right click and open with google chrome, doesn't work tried same way with VLC player doesn't work

[mikehende]

Actually, I installed a software called Final Media Player and the videos now show

[jagabo]

VLC usually has no problem playing h.264 elementary streams.

[flashandpan007]

Can you upload one of the files, I am interested in it. Doesn‘t matter what is to see on it.

[mikehende]

Trying but even the smaller file which is 1.7gb is not uploading

[flashandpan007]

Try google drive or similar

[mikehende]

Uploading to google drive but it shows will take an hour

[flashandpan007]

No prob

[mikehende]

Try this and let me know if you can view the file please?

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1en6i7iGz3sCNpt_rnK8Nbm8AU7EaPGqo

[flashandpan007]

I‘ll do tomorrow, I live in Germany and it is 23:04 already and have to get up early tomorrow. Thank you.

[mikehende]

Oh cool. No rush on my end. I see you're from Bavaria? I spent a few years in Bayreuth in the mid 80s

[jagabo]

Here's a short segment of the video remuxed with ffmpeg. It's viewable with several media players but shows a lot of corruption (ffmpeg displayed many errors as it remuxed). I remuxed with the command line:

ffmpeg -y -i file015.mp4 -ss 01:05:00 -t 00:05:00 -codec copy file015.remux.mp4

That's gets you a 5 minute segment starting at 1 hour and 5 minutes into the clip (though the frame rate isn't identified correctly so the cuts and duration aren't accurate). You can remux the entire video with:

ffmpeg -y -i file015.mp4 -codec copy file015.remux.mp4

[mikehende]

Thanks, I appreciate your efforts. Can you tell me if there is a way to batch change all 170 files to .mp4 extension or would I need to do them one by one and same deal with remixing too?

[flashandpan007]

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/356314-How-to-batch-convert-multiplex-any-files-with-ffmpeg

[jagabo]

Thanks, I appreciate your efforts. Can you tell me if there is a way to batch change all 170 files to .mp4 extension or would I need to do them one by one and same deal with remixing too?

You can use ffempg in a batch file to remux all the swf files in a folder:

for %%F in (*.swf) do (ffmpeg -y -i "%%F" -codec copy "%%~dpnF.remuxed.mp4")
pause

Change the *.swf to suit if you already changed the extensions of all the files.

Add the /D switch for all files in a folder and subfolders therein.

for /R %%F in (*.swf) do (ffmpeg -y -i "%%F" -codec copy "%%~dpnF.remuxed.mp4")
pause

[mikehende]

She would need a little step by step to do the command lines. I just spoke to her and asked her if she would would be willing to pay you for the step by step instructions to do the remuxing and she said yes. So is this something you can help her with please? If yes, please tell me the cost and if you accept PayPal so she can deal with you directly? She is computer savvy, my job was only to recover the data from the hard drive which I have done.

[flashandpan007]

No need to pay, just create the text file with the "Code" and change the *.txt file to *.bat and place it in the folder with the files. Doubleclick the file bat file, then the cmd window opens and runs and the files are being created.