By: Erik Vlietinck
Sun, October 14, 2007 - 5:54:00

mac.eltima.com/swftofla-converter.html
Score:

Eltima Software released Flash Decompiler Trillix some time ago. I had a chance to play around with it, and I was sceptical at first. Decompiling --unless done that hard way-- usually leads to nothing useful. Well, that’s definitely not the case with Flash Decompiler Trillix. The resulting files are neatly arranged in a structured set of folders. But if you thought that decompiling a Flash movie or presentation was going to make it easy for you to understand Flash’s ActionScripts, you’ll be in for a disappointment.

Flash Decompiler has a very easy to use interface. Basically, you click your way through a large number of options, or you let the program decide what’s best. Then, you hit the Extract Objects button or the Convert to FLA button, and you’ll end up with the components of the Flash file --all of them.

To me, it’s a mystery why Flash Decompiler is allowed to exist. It enables you to grab any Flash file and decompile it. That’s as good as reverse engineering, and most authors or developers don’t like you reverse-engineering their stuff. I would advise to buy Flash Decompiler Trillix fast, before it’s too late. Apart from the first part --where I’m just kidding, in case you were wondering-- I really mean this. If you have access to Flash files that are compiled, and want to convert them to FLAs or extract their components, rush out and buy this little application, because it’s worth every penny.

Its “complicated mode” gives you all sorts of controls to worry about when converting or extracting. But the controls themselves are childishly simple: buttons, check boxes, sliders. Of course, to end up with exactly what you need, you’ll have to know what you’re doing. But how to get to that source file, couldn’t be more simple.

The simple mode, as you guessed, is even more simple, but it doesn’t offer you all the options. Basically, it asks you for a location on disk where Flash Decompiler can dump the components, and then it takes to work.

The results, I found, are a neatly organised complete set of components, including the images used, the frames, fonts, and other assets, and the ActionScripts, that make up the compiled Flash movie. The disappointing part of the process is that it’s fast --you won’t get enough time to drink a coffee; at least not on a Quad Core-- but also that the results don’t come with the Flash manual for dummies. I for one --I have never been able to create more than a banner with some motion inside-- can’t understand why you would need all those assets that most compiled Flash movies seem to come with. Trillix obviously can, and that’s great for people who aren’t as Flash-ignorant as myself.

Flash Decompiler allows them to repurpose the stuff that’s inside those Flash files, and to those who are still learning and are still understanding Flash enough, Decompiler may teach them more about Flash than any textbook can. Provided you can get your hands on good Flash movies, of course.