Capture a Macromedia Flash Object from a Web Site

If you’ve come across a great online game or Flash video that you want to save for later, there are a few ways that you can go about downloading it. Capture-a-Macromedia-Flash-Object-from-a-Web-Site and Capture-a-Macromedia-Flash-Object-from-a-Web-Site both offer ways to find and download Flash files. You can even Capture-a-Macromedia-Flash-Object-from-a-Web-Site to watch whenever you’d like, or Capture-a-Macromedia-Flash-Object-from-a-Web-Site.

Steps

Downloading Flash Files in Mozilla Firefox

  1. Open the website that you want to download the Flash object from. Allow the Flash object to completely load on the web page.
  2. Right-click somewhere in the background of the webpage. Select View Page Info from the right-click menu. You will not be able to select this if you right-click on the object itself. You must right-click on the background of the site.
  3. Click the Media tab. This will open a list of all of the objects on the website, including pictures, sounds, and videos. Click the Type column to sort the objects by the type of file that they are.
  4. Scroll down until you find the SWF file. These are listed as “Objects” in the Type column. The filename will typically be similar to the name of the game or movie you are trying to save.
  5. Select the file. Verify that it is correct by checking the file size. Most Flash objects are at least 1 MB in size. Once you have selected the correct object, click the Save As button. You will be prompted to save the file somewhere on your computer.[1]
  6. Open the file. In order to play the SWF file, you will need to open it in a web browser or a stand-alone SWF player. Right-click on the file and select Open With. Browse for Firefox on your computer and use the Firefox program to open the file.

Downloading Flash Files in Google Chrome

  1. Open the website that contains that Flash object that you want to save. Make sure that the Flash object loads, and that you are past any loading screens.
  2. Press Ctrl + U to view the page’s source code. This will be displayed in a new tab. The code is all of the information that makes the website display in your browser.
  3. Search for the file. Press Ctrl + F to open the Search box. Enter “swf” and browse through the search results. You are looking for a web address (URL) that ends with the .swf file that you want to save. The file will typically have a similar name to the title of the game or movie you are trying to download.
  4. Copy the URL. Copy the entire URL and paste it into a new tab in your browser. This will just load the SWF file without any of the other objects from the webpage.
  5. Save the file. Once you have loaded the SWF file in a new tab, click the Chrome menu button and select Save Page As. You will be prompted to pick a location that you would like to save the file to.
  6. Open the file. In order to play the SWF file, you will need to open it in a web browser or a stand-alone SWF player. Right-click on the file and select Open With. Browse for Chrome on your computer and use the Chrome program to open the file.

Downloading YouTube Videos

  1. Install DownloadHelper in Firefox. One of the easiest ways to download YouTube videos is with the DownloadHelper extension for Firefox. This program will automatically provide you with a variety of quality and format options for every YouTube video that you load.
  2. Open the YouTube video with DownloadHelper enabled. Once the video has been loaded, you will see the DownloadHelper icon animate in the top-right corner of the page. Click it to open the download options.[2]
  3. Select the format and quality. You can choose what file format you would like to save the video in,a s well as the quality of the video. MP4 is the most universal format, and can be played in most mobile devices.
    • Higher quality videos will result in larger files.
  4. Download the video. Once you have selected the format and quality, the video will be downloaded to your Firefox download folder. You can access the video like you would any other video file.
  5. Use an online download service. If you don’t have Firefox or would rather not install any plugins, you can use YouTube download sites such as KeepVid to save the file. These sites will give you the same download options as DownloadHelper, and the file will be downloaded to your default Downloads folder. (You will need JAVA installed in your system to use these online download service).

Downloading RTMP Files

  1. Recognize an RTMP file. Certain websites such as Hulu use the RTMP protocol to stream their videos. These videos are Flash objects, but cannot be accessed the same way that a normally-embedded Flash object can. If you are trying to save a flash movie but cannot find the actual SWF file for the video, you are probably trying to access an RTMP stream.
  2. Download an RTMP catcher. There are a few programs that specialize in capturing the streams for RTMP files. Some of the more popular programs include:
    • Replay Media Capture
    • StreamTransport
  3. Install the program. Most of these programs will attempt to install browser plugins and toolbars that can slow down your web browsing experience. Make sure to disable and decline any extra installations during the program’s setup.
    • These programs are notoriously finicky and there is a chance that they will not work with your particular system setup or with the specific video you are trying to capture.[3]
  4. Run the program. RTMP capture programs must be running before you load the video. They will automatically begin capturing the playback when the video starts.
  5. Open the video in a web browser. After a moment, the stream should appear in your RTMP capturing program. You will need to play the entire video in the browser in order for the whole thing to be captured.
  6. Save the file. Once you are done streaming, select the appropriate file in your RTMP capture program and save it wherever you’d like on your computer. There will likely be several options to pick from in the capture program, due to ads that are often played with videos. Inspect the file details to see the length, which will help you determine which of the files is the correct one.
  7. Open the file. You may need to use a specialized video player to watch the videos after saving them. VLC player and Media Player Classic are two of the most popular free options available.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations