SWF files

Whats the story with these files???????

I notice they are beginning to take over from full length files. ie, you cant wait until the full file it ready to download and some sites offer these SWF files and nothing else.

When it comes to downloading them they only ever seem to be less and 01 meg in size but I assume this is incorrect. I need to know how big a video file is before I donwload it because under my plan I get 15 gb per month.

Is the purpose to prevent anyone from knowing how big the file is?

Does it work like some big programs do, in that it downlaods a downloader which downloads the flle?

I cant seem to play them on either VLC player or something like SWF Player or SWF FLV player.

What the hell do I do with these files and how can I know how big they are and how the hell do I play them ??????????????

thanks for any help

a reply to: Azureblue

Just drag the file into Chrome and you'll be good to go!

If it doesn't play then maybe the file is corrupt or damaged.

SWF or small web format is a type of media file Adobe owns now. Adobe shockwave , etc should be able to open. As far as downloading , they may be locked to prevent that, Thus , the really small size.

originally posted by: Gothmog
SWF or small web format

Not sure where that info came from, but SWF is a ShockWave-Flash video file. Yes VLC and Flash player (in your browser) can play it. If they won't play it, it's corrupted or incomplete.

originally posted by: _BoneZ_

originally posted by: Gothmog
SWF or small web format

Not sure where that info came from, but SWF is a ShockWave-Flash video file. Yes VLC and Flash player (in your browser) can play it. If they won't play it, it's corrupted or incomplete.

No , it does actually stand for "small web format" > When Adobe bought the name people "associated" it with shockwave. A quick google search will tell the tale....

a reply to: Gothmog

I'm man-enough to admit when I'm wrong. I stand corrected! You must be older than I as I've always known SWF to be called shockwave flash all my life. And I even dabbled in Actionscript programming way back in the day.




And as they say, you learn something new every day. Today, I did.

a reply to: Azureblue

I'm familiar with what you're talking about. I used to manually save the flv files from the browser cache when I was watching videos. Then I came across these tiny little video files that didn't contain the whole thing. I'm not sure what the format is, but it appears to be more related to actual streaming rather than the full files being download into the cache intact.

In Firefox I'm using an extension called FlashGot. When it detects that a video is being played, it offers you the option of capturing the video stream in realtime. It then prompts you for where to save the file.

I'm sure there are apps and extensions like this for whatever platform you are using . Hope this helps.

-dex

a reply to: Azureblue

I download these files and try to play them with VLC player and SWF FLV player but they will just not open so what am I doing wrong. I don't have Chrome.

I need some ideas here.

thanks

a reply to: Azureblue

As I stated above, if they won't play, they are corrupt or incomplete. Try using a Flash video downloader add-on extension for your browser.

It might also be that they don't want people downloading them, so they are being blocked. Why not post a link to the site where you're trying to get these videos from so some of us can try.

The SWF files are nearly alwys less than on meg in size, does that have anything to do with it. and why are they always less than 1 mb

thanks