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AE won’t import swf files from Animate (unless they’re on the desktop!)
Hi,
I’m using a workflow that relies heavily on importing .swf files into AE. It’s a workflow I use often and has been a cornerstone of my professional practice for over a decade.Presently, I cannot import any .swf files generated by Adobe Animate. When I try I get an error message …unsupported file type … (18 :: 1)
I have tried creating new simple test files, exporting of multiple formats, generating files on different machines, even exporting from an older version of CC 2015.AE will not open/read the files. Unless (plot twist) they are located directly on the desktop. Under this circumstance only I can import the swf files with no problem. But this is not useful because I need to generate a high number of file assets in hierarchical folders for the project to proceed. Even placing them in folders on the desktop won’t work.
I can still import old legacy swf files made in CS4. But I no longer have CS4, this is just something I managed to test by importing random archival files.
All my CC is up do date and records no other errors, and I have already tried multiple reinstalls and cleaners etc. CC seems to be in good health in all regards except this one (for me) essential problem, that I cannot import new files between two new and updated programs.
Any suggestions? Particularly in reference to why the files would only open from the desktop? Or more to the point why they read as “unsupported” in any other location?
Please don’t tell me to export some bitmap format or other, it isn’t useful for what I’m doing.
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5 Replies
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I’ve since installed Flash CS6 from the CC legacy install options and tried exporting files from both Flash CS6 and Animate CC. Neither can be opened and both read as an “unsupported file type”
The error reads (86 :: 1) whereas previous I’m sure it read (18 ::1) but still appears to be the same error message and error otherwise.
I have tried every method of exporting, the only consistent variable is that the files have been exported on my machine, and that anything can be imported if located on the desktop (not an option for how I’m working).
What kind of problem could it be, that changes depending on a files location, but that (for instance) Limited Access Repair tool finds no errors?
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The disavowal of Flash is well known, but the fact is they continue to produce Animate as a newly developed product and swf as one of its main export options. So that isn’t too useful a point.
Besides, the nature of the problem is that they import fine from a particular file location but not others, meaning the problem is not actually one of deliberate or outdated incompatibility, but a glitch in an officially supported format between two manufacturers softwares.
To be frank, the way that animators use Flash (entire tv series have been made this way) has been disavowed by Adobe since the 90s – twenty years of using a platform on a massive scale for a thing it was never developed for, and yet we have soldiered on. So that isn’t exactly news and I still expect compatibility.
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Putting aside Flash/Animate for the moment and concentrating on the error at hand; all other instances of this error I’ve found relate to this or that video format, so it’s not an error limited to or even necessarily tied to the use of Flash files. What is consistent across all other cases however (all of which are unresolved) is that there is some random exception which tells you the format is not really the problem.
I found one other thread where the guy couldn’t import a certain file type from an external HD. This is what inspired me to try saving to the desktop (which lo and behold works, but ONLY on the desktop, not even in folder on the desktop).
So, does anyone have recommendations for how to deal with an error, related to ANY file type, where the problem is an inconsistency across file locations (or maybe file names or other inconsistencies) – things which are supposed to be readable only being readable under arbitrary conditions?
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I haven’t run across this. Can you post the SWF file? I’ll try to reproduce the issue.
Walter Soyka
Designer & Mad Scientist at Keen Live [link]
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
@keenlive | RenderBreak [blog] | Profile [LinkedIn] -
UPDATE.
Further experimentation has revealed the following, but still offered no viable solution.
It is not, as previously stated, that I can only open swf files saved to the desktop. It seems to be that I can only import files saved from one drive to another.
If a file is on one hard drive, and I export a swf to that same drive, the file fails to be read. If I export to another drive, any other drive, the file can be read. This seems to be the case in any combination, so not limited to any one drive being the cause. It is the ‘saved to same drive location’ that is the constant fail.
Also, I installed a trial version of CS4 to see if newly created CS4 swf files can be read. They can. The error is limited to Animate and CS6.
This doesn’t help me with work. It’s too precarious.
Clues?
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