How can I capture & save a Flash movie?

[Lotus49]

It's right there on my screen - I don't know what the actual link is (I've checked page source, but the crap is encrypted), but it's one of these .swf flash media files. I've never bothered to try to capture and save one of them, but now I want to. How can this be done? How do I save it in the first place, on to my HDD? Then what? Do I have to convert it to a .pdf and view it there somehow? Is there a way to convert it to a media/real player file?

 

[Turner]

Well, if you wanna pay $24.95, you can get Flash Saver.

I'm sure google has plenty of other options. You might want to try Snapfiles. They have quite a bit of free and shareware programs.

 

[Rheinmetall]

When you open a flash file your browser downloads it in to temporary internet files folder (cache for opera). Check the directory for the most recent .swf and it proabably is it. Just copy it to somewhere else and you can view it in your browser at anytime.

 

[Lotus49]

When you open a flash file your browser downloads it in to temporary internet files folder (cache for opera). Check the directory for the most recent .swf and it proabably is it. Just copy it to somewhere else and you can view it in your browser at anytime.

In my temp internet files, I've isolated a 2 MB .flv file that surely must be the movie sequence in question. But, I can't get it to run in my browser (I have the necessary plug-ins), or anything else - by itself. I even tried changing it to a .swf extention.

I hate flash. Pretty much always have. In fact, I'm not really a big fan of Adobe, for that matter... never have been. The BASTARDS... I give up.

 

[Till]

In my temp internet files, I've isolated a 2 MB .flv file that surely must be the movie sequence in question. But, I can't get it to run in my browser (I have the necessary plug-ins), or anything else - by itself. I even tried changing it to a .swf extention.

I hate flash. Pretty much always have. In fact, I'm not really a big fan of Adobe, for that matter... never have been. The BASTARDS... I give up.

Mplayer can play and convert it to other formats.

 

[Lotus49]

Mplayer can play and convert it to other formats.

Hmm, DANKE - that looks like it has potential. I'll have to check it out. Though, it looks like a tool for people that know what they're doing... But, I'm still young enough to learn new tricks.

 

[Till]

No problem. In order to convert, do the following:

1. Copy the .flv file into the mplayer folder.
(optional 1.1. rename it to 'input.flv')
2. Start mplayer with the following argument:
"mencoder input.flv -ofps 15 -vf scale=300:-2 -oac lavc -ovc lavc -lavcopts vcodec=msmpeg4v2:acodec=mp3:abitrate=64 -o output.avi"
(Or run this this .bat file, which needs to be placed in the mplayer directory. In this case step 1.1 is not optional)
Whereas 'input.flv' needs to be replaced with the name of the .flv you wish to convert. If everything works correctly, you will find a new 'output.avi' file in the mplayer directory, which contains the converted flash movie.

 

[Lotus49]

I'll try that (when I can), and let you know how it works out - thanks. And yeah, I was really hoping to be able to manipulate the media, not just have it run once in a browser, where I can't do much with it.

One other thing... how can I capture a still image which is paused in Real Player, or Media Player? I've tried pressing the 'Print Screen' key, but when I paste into MS paint, the media window is just black. Does this MPlayer let you capture a screenshot from a digital visual media file?

 

[Till]

Yeah, i think so. If i recall, pressing 'S' triggered it. But just about any video player should allow you to take snapshots of the movie. I'm using Media Player Classic for normal playback purposes and it has a screenshot feature.

 

[Genocidicbunny]

ive always just right clicked on the link to it and told it to save as....


Seems i missed that you cant see the link..