Sustainability of Digital Formats
Planning for Library of Congress Collections
Sustainability of Digital Formats
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| Introduction | Sustainability Factors | Content Categories | Format Descriptions | Contact | |
| Full name | Macromedia Flash SWF File Format, Version 8 |
| Description | Binary file format that Delivers vector graphics (especially animations) and other data types,
including "bitmapped" video, over the Internet to the Flash
Player. A more complete format description for Flash is offered for SWF_7, version 7 of the specification. |
| Production phase | Used for final-state, end-user delivery. |
| Relationship to other formats | |
| Has Earlier Version | Macromedia Flash (SWF) Versions 3, 4, 5, and 6, not documented here |
| Has Earlier Version | SWF_7, Macromedia Flash SWF File Format, Verson 7 |
| May contain | Sorenson encoded video.1 |
| May contain | Screen Video Bitstream Format (ScreenVideo), not documented here. |
| May contain | Raw PCM sampled audio content, not documented here. |
| May contain | ADPCM (Adaptive Delta Pulse Code Modulation) audio content |
| May contain | MP3_ENC audio content |
| May contain | Nellymoser Asao (speech compression) audio content, not documented here. |
| Used by | QuickTime File Format |
| Other | FLA Macromedia Flash FLA Project File Format. Explanatory note: SWF files are typically derived from ("save as") a FLA file. |
| LC experience or existing holdings | See SWF_7 |
| LC preference | See SWF_7 |
| Disclosure | Fully documented. Developed by Macromedia, Inc., now owned by Adobe Systems. |
| Documentation | The Macromedia Flash (SWF) and Flash Video (FLV) File Format Specification, Version 8, n.d.(copyright notice 2005). URL active as of February 2007. |
| Adoption | See SWF_7 |
| Licensing and patent claims | Adobe offers the specification and the right to build tools to produce SWF files via a free license. |
| Transparency | Not transparent; proprietary binary format. |
| Self-documentation | See SWF_7 |
| External dependencies | None. |
| Technical protection considerations | None known to the compilers of this document. |
| Video elements | |
| Normal rendering for video | Good support |
| Clarity (support for high image resolution) | See SWF_7 |
| Functionality beyond normal rendering for video | See SWF_7 |
| Sound elements | |
| Normal rendering for sound | Good support |
| Fidelity (support for high audio resolution) | See SWF_7 |
| Support for multiple sound channels | See SWF_7 |
| Support for downloadable or user-defined sounds, samples, and patches | See SWF_7 |
| Functionality beyond normal rendering for sound | See SWF_7 |
| Tag type | Value | Note |
| Filename Extension | swf | From the Flash SWF Specification (version 7), p. 9. The Wikipedia article on Adobe Flash (consulted February 2007) includes a list of file types (with extensions) associated with the Flash family. |
| Internet Media Type | application/x-shockwave-flash | From the Flash SWF Specification, version 7, p. 9. |
| Internet Media Type | application/x-shockwave-flash2-preview application/futuresplash image/vnd.rn-realflash | Selected from The File Extension Source |
| Magic numbers | Hex: 46 57 53 ASCII: FWS | For uncompressed files; from the Flash SWF Specification, version 8, p. 267. The next byte in the file provides the version number; for example, Hex 07 (0x07) for version 7. |
| Magic numbers | Hex: 43 57 53 ASCII: CWS | For compressed files; from the Flash SWF Specification, version 8, p. 267. The next byte in the file provides the version number; for example, Hex 07 (0x07) for version 7. |
| General | See SWF_7 |
| History | See SWF_7 |
URLs
• The Macromedia Flash (SWF) and Flash Video (FLV) File Format Specification, Version 8 (http://www.adobe.com/licensing/developer/)
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URLs
• Adobe page regarding licensing (http://www.adobe.com/products/flash/open/licensing/fileformat/license2.html)
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1 Flash documentation for version 8 does not state a number for "their" version of Sorenson but describes the codec as a variant of ITU-T (International Telecommunications Union-Telecommunication Standardization Sector) recommendation H.263 (MPEG-4_V). In early 2006, one of Sorenson's compression applications to produce content for Flash offered the Sorenson_3 codec, described by experts as a variant of ITU-T H.264 (MPEG-4_AVC). By late 2006, Sorenson offered new compression applications with other outputs.
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