Opening SWF files

[quicksanimator]

Every once in a while, a file is posted on the forum, the name of which ends with SWF, which is an Adobe Flash animation. Some people have trouble opening these files in their browsers. This is understandable since SWF files are typically intended to be embedded in web pages and not opened directly.

SWF file associations are not set up by the Flash plugin installers in Windows. So one cannot simply double-click a downloaded SWF file and have it open in a user-friendly application right off the bat. It is possible to drag and drop an SWF file onto a browser window or browser program icon or associate SWF files with a web browser so that double-clicking an SWF file opens it in a browser window, but either of these procedures often makes a flash animation look strange and, depending on the computer, run slowly.

The way I prefer to open SWF files is with a standalone flash application, such as Adobe's own Flash Projector, a. k. a. Standalone Flash Player, which can be downloaded through the following link which provides the latest version of Flash Projector 10.X at the time you download it:
http://download.macromedia.com/pub/flas ... _10_sa.exe

Getting Flash Projector to work conveniently takes a little work, but I think it is easier than setting up file associations in Windows. Here's what you do. Download and save the above file somewhere out of the way on your C drive. Then launch it. It will show an empty white window. Then close it. Then you should be able to double-click any SWF file that is downloaded directly onto your computer.

Enjoy all the great flash animation projects being posted on this forum!

Quicksanimator