Editing Adobe Flash (section)

==Format==

===FLA===
Flash source files are in the [[SWF#Related file formats and extensions|FLA format]] and contain graphics and animation, as well as embedded assets such as bitmap images, audio files, and FLV video files. The Flash source file format was a proprietary format and Adobe Animate and Adobe Flash Pro were the only available authoring tools capable of editing such files. Flash source files (.fla) may be compiled into Flash movie files (.swf) using Adobe Animate. Note that FLA files can be edited, but output (.swf) files cannot.

===SWF===
{{Main|SWF}}
Flash movie files were in the ''SWF'' format, traditionally called "ShockWave Flash" movies, "Flash movies", or "Flash applications", usually have a .swf [[file extension]], and may be used in the form of a web page plug-in, strictly "played" in a standalone Flash Player, or incorporated into a self-executing Projector movie (with the .exe extension in [[Microsoft Windows]]). Flash Video files<ref group="spec">[https://www.adobe.com/content/dam/Adobe/en/devnet/flv/pdfs/video_file_format_spec_v10.pdf FLV and F4V] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100923043319/http://www.adobe.com/content/dam/Adobe/en/devnet/flv/pdfs/video_file_format_spec_v10.pdf |date=September 23, 2010 }}. F4V is based on the [[ISO base media file format]] standard, available as a free download at http://standards.iso.org/ittf/PubliclyAvailableStandards/index.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181026005055/http://standards.iso.org/ittf/PubliclyAvailableStandards/index.html |date=October 26, 2018 }} .</ref> have a .flv file extension and are either used from within .swf files or played through a flv-aware player, such as [[VLC media player|VLC]], or [[QuickTime]] and [[Windows Media Player]] with external [[codec]]s added.

The use of vector graphics combined with program code allows Flash files to be smaller—and thus allows streams to use less [[Bandwidth (computing)|bandwidth]]—than the corresponding bitmaps or video clips. For content in a single format (such as just text, video, or audio), other alternatives may provide better performance and consume less [[central processing unit|CPU]] power than the corresponding Flash movie, for example, when using transparency or making large screen updates such as photographic or text fades.

In addition to a vector-rendering engine, the Flash Player includes a virtual machine called the ActionScript Virtual Machine (AVM) for scripting interactivity at run-time, with video, MP3-based audio, and bitmap graphics. As of Flash Player 8, it offered two video codecs: [[On2 Technologies]] [[VP6]] and [[sorenson codec|Sorenson Spark]], and run-time [[JPEG]], Progressive JPEG, [[Portable Network Graphics|PNG]], [[Graphics Interchange Format|GIF]] and (DWG) AutoCAD Drawing file (WMV) Windows Metafile capability.

===3D===
{{Main|Stage3D}}
Flash Player 11 introduced a full 3D [[shader]] API, called [[Stage3D]], which is fairly similar to [[WebGL]].<ref name="Fisher2013">{{cite book|first =Matt|last =Fisher|title=HTML5 for Flash Developers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O2DWzWRnQPwC&pg=PT165|year=2013|publisher=Packt Publishing Ltd|isbn=978-1-84969-333-2|at=§ Stage3D versus WebGL, p. 91}}</ref><ref name="vs webgl">{{cite web |url=http://www.airtightinteractive.com/2011/10/stage3d-vs-webgl-performance/ |title=Stage3D vs WebGL Performance — Airtight Interactive |publisher=Airtightinteractive.com |date=2011-10-28 |access-date=2014-08-04 |archive-date=July 31, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140731041919/http://www.airtightinteractive.com/2011/10/stage3d-vs-webgl-performance/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Stage3D enables GPU-accelerated rendering of [[3D graphics]] within Flash games and applications, and has been used to build ''[[Angry Birds]]'', and a couple of other notable games.

Various 3D frameworks have been built for Flash using Stage3D, such as [[Away3D]] 4,<ref name="vs webgl"/> [[CopperCube]],<ref name="develop-online-ccb4">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.develop-online.net/business-spotlights/tools-spotlight-coppercube-4-0/0186964 |title=Tools Spotlight: CopperCube 4.0 |magazine=MCV/DEVELOP |date=2014-05-28 |access-date=2014-09-22 |archive-date=April 10, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150410155209/http://www.develop-online.net/business-spotlights/tools-spotlight-coppercube-4-0/0186964 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Flare3D]],<ref name="Gladstien2013">{{cite book|first =Keith|last =Gladstien|title=Flash Game Development In a Social, Mobile and 3D World|year=2013|publisher=Cengage Learning|isbn=978-1-4354-6021-8|pages=383–421}}</ref> and [[Starling Framework|Starling]].<ref name="Imbert2012">{{cite book|first =Thibault|last =Imbert|title=Introducing Starling|year=2012|publisher=O'Reilly Media, Inc.|isbn=978-1-4493-2089-8}}</ref> Professional game engines like [[Unreal Engine]]<ref name="Au2012">{{cite book|author =Wagner James Au|title=Game Design Secrets|year=2012|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-118-46391-8|page=130}}</ref><ref name="theverge">{{cite web|url=https://www.theverge.com/2011/10/7/2471974/epics-unreal-3-engine-coming-soon-to-adobe-flash-11|title=Adobe Flash 11 adopts Unreal Engine 3 for better browser games &#124; The Verge|publisher=theverge.com|access-date=2014-08-04|date=October 7, 2011|archive-date=July 6, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170706225700/https://www.theverge.com/2011/10/7/2471974/epics-unreal-3-engine-coming-soon-to-adobe-flash-11|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Unity (game engine)|Unity]] also export Flash versions which use Stage3D to render 3D graphics.

===Flash Video===
{{Main|Flash Video}}
Virtually all browser plugins for video are [[Gratis versus libre|free of charge]] and cross-platform, including Adobe's offering of Flash Video, which was introduced with Flash version 6. Flash Video had been a popular choice for websites due to the large [[#Installed user base|installed user base]] and programmability of Flash. In 2010, Apple publicly criticized Adobe Flash, including its implementation of video playback for not taking advantage of hardware acceleration, one reason Flash was not to be found on Apple's mobile devices. Soon after Apple's criticism, Adobe demoed and released a beta version of Flash 10.1, which used available GPU hardware acceleration even on a Mac. Flash 10.2 beta, released December 2010, added hardware acceleration for the whole video rendering pipeline.

Flash Player supports two distinct modes of video playback, and [[video codec|hardware accelerated video decoding]] may not be used for older video content. Such content causes excessive [[CPU usage]] compared to comparable content played with other players.
; Software Rendered Video: Flash Player supports software rendered video since version 6. Such video supports vector animations displayed above the video content. This obligation may, depending on graphic [[application programming interface|APIs]] exposed by the operating system, prohibit using a [[video overlay]], like a traditional [[Media player (application software)|multimedia player]] would use, with the consequence that [[color space|color space conversion]] and scaling must happen in software.<ref>{{cite web
 |url          = http://blogs.adobe.com/penguinswf/2010/01/solving_different_problems.html
 |title        = Solving Different Problems
 |last         = Melanson
 |first        = Mike
 |date         = January 27, 2010
 |website      = Penguin.SWF
 |access-date  = November 15, 2014
 |archive-date = August 10, 2011
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20110810151509/http://blogs.adobe.com/penguinswf/2010/01/solving_different_problems.html
 |url-status   = live
}}</ref>
; Hardware Accelerated Video: Flash Player supports hardware accelerated video playback since version 10.2, for [[H.264]], F4V, and [[FLV]] video formats. Such video is displayed above all Flash content and takes advantage of [[video codec]] chipsets installed on the user's device. Developers must specifically use the "StageVideo" technology within Flash Player in order for hardware decoding to be enabled. Flash Player internally uses technologies such as [[DirectX Video Acceleration]] and [[OpenGL]] to do so.

In tests done by [[Ars Technica]] in 2008 and 2009, Adobe Flash Player performed better on [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]] than [[macOS|Mac OS X]] and [[Linux]] with the same hardware.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://arstechnica.com/software/news/2008/10/benchmarking-flash-player-10.ars|title=Flash benchmarks on different operating systems|date=October 17, 2008|access-date=June 14, 2017|archive-date=May 8, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120508112605/http://arstechnica.com/software/news/2008/10/benchmarking-flash-player-10.ars|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Paul |first=Ryan |url=https://arstechnica.com/media/news/2009/10/hands-on-hulu-desktop-for-linux-beta-a-big-resource-hog.ars |title=Hands-on: Hulu Desktop for Linux beta a big resource hog |work=Ars Technica |date=October 16, 2009 |access-date=December 4, 2010 |archive-date=July 16, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100716091404/http://arstechnica.com/media/news/2009/10/hands-on-hulu-desktop-for-linux-beta-a-big-resource-hog.ars |url-status=live }}</ref>
Performance has later improved for the latter two, on Mac OS X with Flash Player 10.1,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.timo-ernst.net/2010/05/flash-player-10-1-performance-explosion/|title=Flash Player 10.1: Performance improvements for Mac OS X|date=May 6, 2010|access-date=January 26, 2011|archive-date=January 6, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110106112736/http://www.timo-ernst.net/2010/05/flash-player-10-1-performance-explosion/|url-status=live}}</ref> and on Linux with Flash Player 11.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=OTc4Mw|title=Flash Player 11: More stable and faster for Linux|access-date=September 14, 2016|archive-date=September 13, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160913200511/http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=OTc4Mw|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Flash Audio===
Flash Audio is most commonly encoded in [[MP3]]{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}}; however, it can also use [[ADPCM]] (an IMA ADPCM variation that can use 2, 3, 4, or 5 bits per sample), Nellymoser ([[Nellymoser Asao Codec]]) and [[Speex]] audio codecs. Flash allows sample rates of 5512, 11025, 22050 and 44100&nbsp;Hz (but Speex uses 16&nbsp;kHz and Nellymoser Asao can also use 8&nbsp;kHz and 16&nbsp;kHz).<ref>{{Cite web |title=SWF FILE FORMAT SPECIFICATION |publisher=Adobe |url=https://open-flash.github.io/mirrors/swf-spec-19.pdf |access-date=December 28, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240825075536/https://open-flash.github.io/mirrors/swf-spec-19.pdf |archive-date=August 25, 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> It cannot have a 48&nbsp;kHz audio sample rate, which is the standard TV and DVD sample rate.{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}}

On August 20, 2007, Adobe announced on its blog that with Update 3 of Flash Player 9, Flash Video will also implement some parts of the [[MPEG-4]] international standards.<ref name=MP4>{{cite web
 |url=http://www.kaourantin.net/2007/08/what-just-happened-to-video-on-web_20.html
 |title=What just happened to video on the web
 |publisher=Adobe
 |url-status=dead
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100106113036/http://www.kaourantin.net/2007/08/what-just-happened-to-video-on-web_20.html
 |archive-date=January 6, 2010
 |access-date=September 28, 2007
 }}</ref> Specifically, Flash Player will work with video compressed in [[H.264]] (MPEG-4 Part 10), audio compressed using [[Advanced Audio Coding|AAC]] (MPEG-4 Part 3), the F4V, MP4 (MPEG-4 Part 14), M4V, M4A, [[3GP]], and [[.mov|MOV]] multimedia [[Container format (digital)|container formats]], [[3GPP]] [[Timed Text]] specification (MPEG-4 Part 17), which is a standardized subtitle format and partial parsing capability for the "ilst" atom, which is the [[ID3]] equivalent [[iTunes]] uses to store [[metadata]]. [[MPEG-4 Part 2]] and [[H.263]] will not work in F4V file format. Adobe also announced that it will be gradually moving away from the FLV format to the standard ISO base media file format ([[MPEG-4 Part 12]]) owing to functional limits with the FLV structure when streaming H.264. The final release of the Flash Player implementing some parts of MPEG-4 standards had become available in Fall 2007.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/pressroom/pressreleases/200708/082107FlashPlayer.html |title=Adobe Press release on MPEG-4 in Flash Player 9 |publisher=Adobe.com |access-date=December 4, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101203071112/http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/pressroom/pressreleases/200708/082107FlashPlayer.html |archive-date=December 3, 2010 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

Adobe Flash Player 10.1 does not have acoustic echo cancellation, unlike the VoIP offerings of Skype and Google Voice, making this and earlier versions of Flash less suitable for group calling or meetings. Flash Player 10.3 Beta incorporates acoustic echo cancellation.

===ActionScript===
{{Main|ActionScript|ActionScript Virtual Machine}}
Flash programs use ''ActionScript'' programming language. It is an enhanced superset of the [[ECMAScript]] programming language, with a classical [[Java (programming language)|Java]]-style class model, rather than [[JavaScript]]'s prototype model.

===Specifications===
In October 1998, Macromedia disclosed the Flash Version 3 Specification on its website. It did this in response to many new and often semi-open formats competing with SWF, such as Xara's [[Xara Flare|Flare]] and Sharp's Extended Vector Animation formats. Several developers quickly created a [[C library]] for producing SWF. In February 1999, MorphInk 99 was introduced, the first third-party program to create SWF files. Macromedia also hired Middlesoft to create a freely available [[Software development kit|developers' kit]] for the SWF file format versions 3 to 5.

Macromedia made the Flash Files specifications for versions 6 and later available only under a [[non-disclosure agreement]], but they are widely available from various sites.

In April 2006, the Flash SWF file format specification was released with details on the then newest version format (Flash 8). Although still lacking specific information on the incorporated video compression formats (On2, Sorenson Spark, etc.), this new documentation covered all the new features offered in Flash v8 including new ActionScript commands, expressive filter controls, and so on. The file format specification document is offered only to developers who agree to a license agreement that permits them to use the specifications only to develop programs that can export to the Flash file format. The license does not allow the use of the specifications to create programs that can be used for playback of Flash files. The Flash 9 specification was made available under similar restrictions.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.adobe.com/licensing/developer/fileformat/faq/ |title=Adobe File Format Specification FAQ |access-date=November 15, 2007 |publisher=Adobe Systems |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071111094129/http://www.adobe.com/licensing/developer/fileformat/faq/ |archive-date=November 11, 2007 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref>

In June 2009, Adobe launched the [[Open Screen Project]] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20160305141149/https://www.adobe.com/openscreenproject/faq/ Adobe link]), which made the SWF specification available without restrictions. Previously, developers could not use the specification for making SWF-compatible players, but only for making SWF-exporting authoring software. The specification still omits information on codecs such as [[Sorenson codec|Sorenson Spark]], however.<ref>{{cite web|title=Free Flash community reacts to Adobe Open Screen Project |url=http://www.openmedianow.org/?q=node/21 |access-date=November 29, 2008 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080928202954/http://www.openmedianow.org/?q=node%2F21 |archive-date=September 28, 2008 }}</ref>