swf to avi, etc...

[Holonet]

Simple question...are there any Linux applications that can convert swf files? I can't seem to find much on it. There are a host of non-free Windows programs, but I can't seem to find one for Linux...

[GMaq]

Hi.

First you will need an "unlocked" version of ffmpeg that supports swf and AVI (XviD), In order to help you with how to find one we will need to know what Linux distro you are using OR you will have to build an SVN ffmpeg from source, if you are comfortable with that.

Next if you want to have a GUI to use ffmpeg you have a few choices: WinFF, or AutoFF would be the first that come to mind. These are graphic frontends to ffmpeg they do not do the actual file conversions.

I use WinFF to convert .flv files to other formats, I haven't personally done any .swf files. To my knowledge they (swf) use the same codec with different metadata. But I could be wrong

[Ai Haibara]

GMaq, are you sure you're not thinking of FLV, or FLV-in-SWF? Actual SWFs are a different matter, and I'm not sure that FFMPEG handles those.

[GMaq]

Ai Haibara,

Well... yes I was thinking of FLV in SWF, is that not one of the more common variations? Thanks for clarifying that both for myself and the OP.

[Ai Haibara]

I'm not sure. I've never really seen an .SWF with an FLV stream (even though I know they're supposed to be out there) - just files with the .FLV extension. Nearly every .SWF I encounter is a standard Shockwave Flash file.

[GMaq]

OK,

Well after a little googling it appears as though ffmpeg and mencoder may work depending on the streams contained in the swf file. But this will likely be sketchy at best,

Check this out on the Ubuntu forums:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=411707&page=2

And this is a Windows app that reportedly works with WINE:
http://www.effectmatrix.com/swf2avi/

That's all I know, I'm already in over my head!

[Holonet]

Thanks for the responses (and sorry for my delayed reply). I have Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron), and I did see that page in the Ubuntu forums, which is actually what prompted me to come here. They essentially conclude that it will not work with ffmpeg because it won't get the audio (in short, a PITA method). So I haven't tried that, but suffice it to say it's a rather uneloquent solution.

I tried that program as well, and unfortunately, it does not run in wine for me. I get an unimplemented function error. Why, I'm not sure. It seems to me that an swf looks for another location on the web for its content--streaming format. I never liked this idea if a video had value to me because if the site goes away, so does the content. I'm actually surprised that there isn't a Linux tool for this. Some things are tough to do that can be done in Windows, but these are not usually tasks that could be done via command line if the tool was there...*sigh*. Anyhoo, thanks again for any suggestions.

[GMaq]

Sorry,

The problem here generally is proprietary formats and Linux don't mix very well, support for for wmv in ffmpeg is pretty stunted, and .swf being a proprietary format doesn't help. Open source developers can only get so far with support before they start stepping on toes and infringing on copyrights. the only recourse is to come up with an open source variant that will work in the same container ie DivX->XviD, H.264->x264 etc. Obviously swf presents a whole other can of worms due to it's web integration.

[Holonet]

No apology necessary, I'm grateful for the information... However, I've been trying literally about a half dozen different programs in Windows, in an attempt to succeed regardless, and NOT ONE of them works! Really irritating. Only one of them allowed me to crop the stupid web browser window, and all of them only detect the first 700-odd frames, when it's a half hour long. Is this process possible even not limiting it to Linux?