The SWF format stands for ShockWave Flash and is pronounced "Swiff". It is used for most animations and videos on websites. Designed for publication on the Internet, this format, despite the small file size, can contain animations of varying degrees of interactivity and functionality. SWF video can also be used for programs, usually games, using Actionscript. Websites use it for fast data delivery. In the end, anyone can save video to their hard drive using the SWF format for easier access and space savings.
SWF, otherwise known as the small Web format, was developed by Macromedia. Then it came under the control of Adobe, which on May 1, 2008 refused license restrictions on the specifications for it, and on July 1, 2008 released a code that allowed Google and Yahoo search engines to scan and index SWF files. Adobe claims
that such files are available on more than 98% of personal computers and more than 800 million mobile or portable devices.
The SWF format was designed to achieve a wide variety of goals. It is primarily intended for displaying an on-screen menu. SWF supports anti-aliasing, fast rendering to a bitmap of any color, animation and interactive buttons. The tags contained in the format help develop new features while maintaining backward compatibility with older programs. Another purpose of SWF is file transfer. Any content in this format can be delivered over a network with limited bandwidth and unpredictable communications. SWF files are compressed, while streaming supports sequential image creation. Macromedia Flash (SWF) uses various methods that help minimize file size (such as bit packing).
The SWF format is so simple that the player playing it is small and easy to carry. In addition, its operation depends on a very limited set of functionalities of the operating system. In addition, files can be displayed regardless of external resources, such as fonts.
The creators of the format also took into account the fact that monitors have different resolutions and bit depths. SWF files display well even on limited hardware, not to mention more expensive hardware.
How to open SWF format?
Video in this format can be played using Adobe Flash Player, which works either as a browser plugin or as a standalone program. In addition, the SWF format can be played on the player.
Macromedia Flash. Adobe makes plugins available for playing SWF
video in web browsers of many operating systems, including Microsoft Windows, Apple MacOSX, and Linux.
However, some portable multimedia devices do not support flash, so it may be necessary to convert SWF to video file format. This can be done using any video file converter.
Alternative to SWF
Due to the fact that files of this type are considered within the framework of Adobe programs, users must download or purchase the appropriate software and adhere to its license agreement, which prohibits programmers from changing the software and conducting other experiments. To get around this limitation, many users have switched to other formats. However, there are two programs for SWF that are supported by most web browsers: SMIL and SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics).