Flash animations are a classic form of Internet media files and can usually only be viewed from a website. If you want to see the animation wherever you are, you will need to save it on your computer. Although saving a flash animation is not as intuitive a process as saving a standard file, you can do it using the appropriate browser.
Steps
Method 1 of 6: Access page information in Firefox
Step 1. Open the video site in Firefox
Navigate to the flash animation you want to see. Firefox is the easiest browser to use to download a flash file directly from a website.
This method won't work for YouTube, Vimeo, and other online video sites. This is for animations and flash games from sites like Newgrounds. To download YouTube videos, use method 4. If you click on the video itself, you will not find the option "View page information". You must click anywhere on the page other than the video or a link
Step 2. Visit the website that has the animation you want
Once the animation has loaded in Firefox, right-click on the page. Make sure to right-click on the background of the page and not on the flash object itself.
Step 3. Select "View page information" from the right click menu
A box will open with detailed information about the site you are viewing. At the top of the box, you'll see a set of tabs that display different information about the site.
Step 4. Click on the movie icon
A list of all media objects on the site appears, such as button graphics and banners. It will also contain the. SWF file of the animation. Click the "Type" column heading in the list to sort by object type.
Step 5. Find the flash file
The animation will be in. SWF format and will appear in the list as an "Object" or "Embed" in the "Type" column. The file name is generally similar to the title of the animation on the website. Select it from the list and click "Save as …". Give it whatever name you want and click "Save."
Step 6. Play the animation
Once you have downloaded the animation, you can open it with any browser that has Adobe Flash installed. When you first try to open the file, Windows might tell you that you need to specify a program. If your browser doesn't appear in the list of suggested programs, look for it on your computer. Most browsers are usually in the "Program Files" folder on your hard drive, in a subfolder that has the name of the company that created the browser (Google, Mozilla, etc.).
You can also drag the file into the browser window to open it
Method 2 of 6: Copy SWF files from the browser cache
Step 1. Open Internet Explorer
To view temporary Internet files, open the "Tools" menu and select "Internet Options." On the "General" tab, select "Settings" and then "View files." You can also search for temporary Internet files on your computer if you don't want to use Internet Explorer.
Step 2. Right click and sort the files by "Internet Address"
Find the address of the website where you found the file. The website could have a page as a prefix. For example: farm.newgrounds.com.
Step 3. Locate the files with the SWF extension
This is the extension of flash files. It can be movies, games, or even advertisements. Find a file whose name matches the video you are trying to download. Right-click on the file and select "Copy." Paste the file into a folder that you can easily access.
Step 4. Play the animation
Once you have copied the file to the new location, you can open it to see the animation. You can open the file with a web browser or with a separate SWF player.
To open the file with a browser you can click on the file and drag it into the browser window
Method 3 of 6: Access the page's source code in Chrome
Step 1. Visit the website where the animation you want is
Once the animation has loaded in Chrome, right-click on the page.
Step 2. Select "View page source code"
The source code of the page will open in a new tab.
Step 3. Find the flash animation
The easiest way to do this is by pressing Ctrl + F to open the search box. Type ".swf" or ".flv" to search for flash files on the website.
Note: not all flash animations can be found in this way, especially if they are opened through another player. Use one of the other methods if you can't find the file you want
Step 4. Copy the partial URL of the flash file
This is generally a long string of information separated by backslashes, enclosed in quotes and ending with a flash file extension (for example: "content / dotcom / en / devnet / actionscript / animation_name.swf"). Select everything inside the quotes, but not the quotes themselves, and copy it by pressing Ctrl + C.
Step 5. Open a new tab
Enter the basic URL of the page where you found the flash animation. If you found it on example.com, type "www.example.com". Don't press ↵ Enter yet.
Step 6. Paste the partial URL
Paste the URL that you copied from the source code right after the basic URL and now press ↵ Enter. The flash animation will open by itself. Make sure you don't include quotes.
Step 7. Click on the Chrome menu
This button is located in the upper right corner of the Chrome window. Select "Save Page As" and save the file somewhere on your computer where you can easily locate it. Give it a name that helps you find it.
Step 8. Play the animation
Once you've saved the file to your computer, you can open it to see the animation. You can open the file with a web browser or with a separate SWF player.
To open the file with a browser you can click on the file and drag it into the browser window
Method 4 of 6: Use a download manager
Step 1. Install a download manager as an extension
Firefox is the most popular browser for adding extensions and you can download it from the Mozilla website. One of the top-rated download extensions is DownloadHelper and it's free.
- DownloadHelper will give you the ability to download multimedia files from any website you visit. This includes flash movies and games. You can also use this extension to download YouTube videos.
- If you prefer not to use Firefox, you can also download separate download managers that work in a similar way.
Step 2. Visit the website where the animation you want is
Once the animation begins to play, the DownloadHelper icon in the upper right corner of the window will begin to rotate. A small arrow will appear next to it. Click the arrow to open the download options menu.
Step 3. Select the file
When you click the arrow, you will see a list of all the media files on the page. If the animation also had an ad, both will appear. The animation could have a file name that does not match the title.
Step 4. Wait for the download to finish
Once you've selected the file, the download will begin. You can check the progress in Firefox's "Downloads" window. To access this window you must click on the Firefox menu and select "Downloads".
Method 5 of 6: Use an iOS device
Step 1. Download and install an application that plays flash files
IOS devices do not have native support for flash. This means that you need an application that plays flash files. There are several applications available on the App Store, including Puffin Browser Free, Photon Browser, and iSwifter.
Step 2. Access a flash website using your new browser
Currently you cannot download flash files from a website using iOS (unless the page offers you an official option to download them) so you will need to use your new browser to load the flash content while you are visiting the page. The flash performance of your browser will depend on how old your iOS device is.
Step 3. Download the flash files on a computer and then transfer them to your iOS device
If you really want to be able to access flash files from your iOS device, you will need to download them to your computer first using one of the above methods. Once you've downloaded them to your computer, you can email them to yourself or use cloud storage to transfer them to your iOS device and then open them using your flash browser.
Method 6 of 6: Use an Android device
Step 1. Enable the installation of applications from unknown sources
Adobe no longer supports flash on Android and all official applications have been removed from the Play Store. For this reason you will need to manually install an older version of flash. This could lead to major vulnerabilities on your device, as flash will not receive any updates from Adobe.
- Open the "Settings" app and select "Security."
- Check the "Unknown sources" box.
Step 2. Download a Flash Player APK file on your Android device
Use your Android browser to download the latest version of Device Flash Player from this page. This might not work on the latest versions of the Android operating system.
Step 3. Run the APK file after downloading it
Once the download is complete, tap the file in the notification bar to begin the installation.
Step 4. Download the flash files to a computer and transfer them to your Android device
Currently you cannot download flash files to your Android device unless the flash file itself has a download option. In order to download videos or flash games embedded in pages, use one of the above methods to download the file to your computer and then transfer it to your Android device.
- You can transfer files by connecting your Android device to computer via USB cable. You can then drag and drop files into a folder on your Android device, just as you would any USB memory drive.
- Alternatively, you can use a flash-enabled browser, such as Puffin or Photon, to visit websites with flash content and view the content directly from the site. This is necessary if your device is very new and does not support the Adoble Flash Player application. Chrome for Android does not support flash, even if you have Flash Player installed. If you have Flash Player installed, you can use your default browser or internet application to view flash content.
Step 5. Open the flash file
Use a file manager application to find the flash file that you transferred from your computer. When you touch the flash file you will be asked which application you want to use to open it. Select one of your flash-enabled browsers or the factory-installed browser if you have Flash Player installed.
In order to view flash content, you may first have to open your browser's settings menu and enable flash
Advice
- Flash animations usually end with the extension.swf or.flv, however this can vary.
- Once you have saved your file, you can open it with a web browser or with a program specially designed to play flash animations (such as Adobe Flash Player or Adobe Shock Wave).