Master Visually®: Dreamweaver® CS4 and Flash® CS4 Professional

Chapter 36. Publish Your Project

Understanding Flash Formats

Unlike many other programs with which you may be familiar, Flash uses a variety of different formats for its files, depending on the authoring environment in which the files are created and the current stage of the project. It is important to have an understanding of these formats before you try to publish your movie to your Web site so that you do not become confused.

SWF files

The final output format of almost all Flash movies is SWF. The format is often pronounced swiff, after the extension. Prior to the release of Flash MX, which was version 6 of the program, the file extension officially stood for Shockwave Flash, but as of MX, Macromedia began phasing out the Shockwave platform and ...