[thelist] Swish and Flash

[Norman Bunn]

Swish is a less expensive alternative to Flash that generated Flash 
code.  According to the help files on my version of SwishMax

*Can I import .swf Movies made by **SWiSHmax** into Flash?*
Yes.

*Can I import **SWiSHmax** (.swi) files into Flash?*
Not directly. You must export your SWiSHmax .swi file as a .swf file, 
and then import the .swf into Flash.

*How do I export **SWiSHmax**movies as .swf files?
*In SWiSHmax, select File | Export | SWF from the File Menu <export.htm> 
and enter a filename. See Importing a SWiSHmax Movie into Flash 
<tutorialimportingswishintoflas.htm>.

*How do I import a **SWiSHmax** .swf file into Flash as a layer?
*In Flash, select File | Import and select Files of Type: Flash Player 
(*.swf, *.spl) on the 'Flash Import' dialog box. Choose the .swf file 
you exported from SWiSHmax and select Open. Flash will create a new 
layer and place the SWiSH animation in that layer. See Importing a 
SWiSHmax Movie into Flash <tutorialimportingswishintoflas.htm>.

*How do I import a **SWiSHmax** .swf file into Flash as a Movie clip?
*In Flash, first create a Movie clip and import the SWiSHmax animation 
into the Movie clip. Then place an Instance of the Movie clip on the 
stage. See Importing a SWiSHmax Movie into Flash 
<tutorialimportingswishintoflas.htm>.

*SWiSHmax** animations imported into Flash are difficult to select and 
move.** **How do I make them easier to manipulate?
*Import the .swf file as a Movie clip instead of as a layer. See 
Importing a SWiSHmax Movie into Flash <tutorialimportingswishintoflas.htm>.

*When I import a .swf into a Flash Movie clip, the animation is shifted 
down and to the right. How do I fix this?*
In SWiSHmax, check the 'Offset to suit use as a Movie Clip' option in 
the Movie section of the Export Panel <exportpanelmovie.htm>. Re-export 
the .swf from SWiSHmax and re-import it into Flash as a Movie clip. See 
Importing a SWiSHmax Movie into Flash <tutorialimportingswishintoflas.htm>.

*When I import a .swf into a Flash layer, the animation is shifted up 
and to the left. How do I fix this?*
In SWiSHmax, uncheck the 'Offset to suit use as a Movie Clip' option in 
the Movie section of the Export Panel <exportpanelmovie.htm>. Re-export 
the .swf from SWiSHmax, and re-import it into Flash as a layer. See 
Importing a SWiSHmax Movie into Flash <tutorialimportingswishintoflas.htm>.

*Why don't sounds and actions I added in **SWiSHmax** import into Flash?*
This is a limitation of Flash. Flash will not import Actions, buttons, 
sounds, or Sprites (Movie clips) from a .swf file. Read this Technote 
<http://www.macromedia.com/support/flash/ts/documents/tn4109.html> from 
Macromedia. See Importing a SWiSHmax Movie into Flash 
<tutorialimportingswishintoflas.htm>.

*Why do my buttons and sprites not import correctly into Flash?*
This is a limitation of Flash. Flash will only import the first frame of 
a sprite, and the "up" state of a button. Read this Technote 
<http://www.macromedia.com/support/flash/ts/documents/tn4109.html> from 
Macromedia. See Importing a SWiSHmax Movie into Flash 
<tutorialimportingswishintoflas.htm>.

*Why does Flash crash when I import my SWF files?*
There is a bug in Flash, in addition to the limitations mentioned above, 
where it will not import some valid SWF files. In particular, it will 
crash if a SWF file does not have a particular record that is not 
actually required in a SWF file. There are two situations in which 
SWiSHmax leaves out this optional record. The first is when you select 
the *[x]* *Solid shape with overlap filled* checkbox on the Shape Panel 
<objectpanelshape.htm>. This option tells SWiSHmax to export a shape as 
a font, which has different behavior for self-overlapping shapes. The 
information Flash requires is not applicable and so is not exported. The 
second is when you explicitly turn off the font info record with the 
*[x] **Allow import of text as text object* checkbox in the Export Movie 
Panel <exportpanelmovie.htm>. This tells SWiSHmax to omit the optional 
record for all text, which reduces the size of the resulting SWF file. 
See Importing a SWiSHmax Movie into Flash 
<tutorialimportingswishintoflas.htm>.

*Why can't I see anything when I export from Flash after I import my SWF 
files?*
There is a bug in Flash, in addition to the limitations mentioned above, 
where it will not generate bad SWF files after importing SWiSHmax file 
that have masking. In particular, if you turn on the *[x] Mask off-stage 
objects *checkbox in the Export Movie Panel <exportpanelmovie.htm>, 
Flash will get confused if you import the resultant SWF file. See 
Importing a SWiSHmax Movie into Flash <tutorialimportingswishintoflas.htm>.

*Why do I see a lot of Keyframes when I import a .swf into Flash?*
This is a limitation of the .swf format and the limitations of Flash. It 
is not due to a problem with SWiSHmax. SWF files only hold Frame 
information. They do not contain information about Scenes, Effects or 
tweening. When imported into Flash, Flash is not able to reconstruct 
tweening and layering. Read this Technote 
<http://www.macromedia.com/support/flash/ts/documents/tn4109.html> from 
Macromedia. See Importing a SWiSHmax Movie into Flash 
<tutorialimportingswishintoflas.htm>.


HTH,

Norman

---

Norman W. Bunn
norman.bunn at craftedsolutions.com
803.405.1008
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Justin Zachan Mgmt wrote:

>Hi there. A new client has a CD-Rom presentation that was worked on by a
>previous designer and I have just the work for stage 2.
>
> 
>
>Unfortunately for me, I didn't realise it was coded using Swish. I have the
>program but do not use it for anything more than a few tricks with words.
>
> 
>
>I don't really want to spend my limited budget learning Swish.
>
> 
>
>So my client wants me to recommend whether they should get a Swish
>programmer or convert to Flash. I would have thought Flash is a better long
>term solution. Is Swish ideal for pretty big documents.
>
> 
>
>Any ideas would be appreciated.
>
>
>Cheers
>
> 
>
>Justin
>
>  
>