2 Swf to Movie Converter Reviewed

As part of the home-based learning project, I was asked to convert some swf files to movie files so that we could use it for our learning resource.

In my search on Google, I found two particular ones which some people may use.

• The first is called SWF to AVI
• The second is called SWF to AVI MPEG Converter

I installed both on my computer and tried them.  Since I have used both of them, I thought I could quickly review them.

SWF to AVI 

(At http://swftoavi.com)

Pros:

• Generally, the software was easy to download, very easy to install.
• It was relatively straightforward to use.
• The swf I had was interactive, so I managed to capture the clicks the moved on ahead.
• Download site was relatively clear and give some instructions on possible problems for sound capture and solution.

Cons:  

• It could only output in AVI format.
• I was also visibly disappointed in the poor resolution file it generated.
• I read through the sound problem, could not follow through as I could not find the "Wave Mix On" thingy it was describing even after I right clicked.  So when I recorded, it seemed to be simply recording what it could of the internal built in microphone.  And as there is a construction near my place.  I do find it frustrating to hear the background construction noise being recorded as well.  But I guess it would be good when you want to record your own voice over the movie file. On hind sight, it could be a configuration problem as I am using a tablet which has a built-in microphone as it has speech to text recognition enabled.

Conclusion:  This could not really served the purpose I wanted as it meant me running through the swf files (since I wanted to capture the clicks) in a sound proof room and it meant me only doing the work in a sound proof room in school, so I abandoned it in the end.



SWF to AVI MPEG Converter (Highly Recommended)
(http:// www.lumixsoft.com)

Features:

1.  Supports export to AVI, MPEG, MP4 and many other formats.
2. As with above, it supports action scripts, movie clips and sound.  What I really like is it really captures the narration of my clips but not from the output speaker, cause the sound was clean.  For action script, you have an option of clicking, typing the interactive parts of the swf and capture the actions or alternative set to the auto mode which you can set the swf file to advance after the side time if there is no action.
3. You can customise the output format (stated above), the parameters (e.g. the frame rate, the size of final video screen.) It does give advice e.g. the screen size, the output platform like ipod, apple TV, DVD that the final file is intended for.  Or it can be set entirely automatic.
4. The quality of the movie is much better than the above.
5. Yes, for ease of use, it is easy to fiddle around, took me about 5 min to figure out how to work through the files.

Tip:  The pause button does not pause the capture, but rather the screen, it was good for me as mine was a Q & A type of swf and so I could control the pause for students to think and then reveal the answer in good time and pausing a longer for the answer if I think my students will need time to digest.

Cons:  Not any serious one I can think of for the moment.  But yes, there are more settings to make than the top, so you need to play around with all the settings for about less than 5 minutes, capture a few trials before you are good to go.  Free, bit a logo shows up at the top hand corner of software.  But does not really bother me.  You can pay and register to get it removed for the export.

Conclusion:  This is the one I am using, and it is definitely a keeper in time to come.