Is there any free solution to convert a SWF video to an iPhone/iPad compatible format?

Question

I tried several programs to convert a SWF file to a video format and so far none of them seems to work.

4media Converter
Video xConverter
Pinguin
ffmpegx
Easy WMV 

I expect a video in any format that I could play in iOS, like .MOV, .AVI and other. Any ideas?

Answer 1

Because the video is buried inside a full SWF file you won't be able to convert it -- it's much like if you had a Mac app that happens to play a built-in video: you're effectively trying to convert the app to a video, two very different kinds of things.

Instead you'll need to extract the video. You can use a task-specific extrator, and since you asked for a free way to do it, I suggest the Flaex app. There are a couple of other paid extractors for the Mac including Flash Decompiler and SWF Decompiler. I don't have first-hand experience with any of the extractors so I can't specifically recommend one.

The other possible not-free way to extract the video is by opening the swf file with the full Adobe Flash Pro, or have someone do it for you. Note that Adobe provides a fully-functional 30-day trial, so at least in the short-term it's a free option as well.

Answer 2

Give Handbrake a try.

Answer 3

You can jailbreak your iPhone (free), then download Cydia (free), from cydia download OpeniBoot (free), and using OpeniBoot you can install Android 2.2 (Froyo) which has flash player on it. Unfortunately, this upgrade only works on the first gen iPhone, iPhone 3G, and 1st gen iPod Touch. That's probably your best free bet out there. However, if you on the other hand have video, not an animation, most conversion apps (VisualHub, etc.) will do the trick.

Answer 4

Are these videos from the internet? DownloadHelper (Firefox add-on) normally gives you options on the downloads, and there is usually a non-flash version in there.

Edit:
Have you tried EasyWMV?

Edit2: FlashVideo Converter might do the job.

Answer 5

I suggest you try Adapter. It is free and claims it will convert any format to any other format. Being free its worth a try.