slow down an imported swf video?

[snitch321]

I have just imported an swf file and i want this movie clip to be played at a lot slower frame rate?

[JasonHippy]

I have just imported an swf file and i want this movie clip to be played at a lot slower frame rate?

Offhand, I don't think you can! As far as I'm aware, external swf's will play back at whatever frame-rate the parent is using.

If you brought your parent .swf's frame-rate down to at least match the frame-rate of the external .swf, then the external swf should play back at the correct speed.

I remember this being a problem since AS2 (if not before then!) and I think the main workaround was to open clips with a different frame-rate in a popup/separate page - allowing them to run at their native speed. However, I've done a quick search and found this link:
http://www.flashessential.com/archives/71

Which claims that by using stage.frameRate in AS3 you can dynamically alter the frame-rate of a .swf at runtime. But again it is the parent .swf that gets it's frame-rate altered, not the loaded .swf.

But I suppose if you could use some code to find out the framerate of the external .swf (not sure how, I'll leave you to work that out) you could perhaps load the external .swf, then set the parent clips frame-rate to match the frame-rate of the external .swf. The external .swf is then played back. Finally, once the external .swf is finished with, you can set the parent back to its original frame-rate.

Which is another possibility I suppose!

Otherwise, is there any way you could re-compile or re-encode the external .swf to run at a frame-rate that matches the parent?

Obviously if the external swf is a 3rd party swf, you might not have the sources, in which case this isn't an option. But assuming you do have the sources for the external swf: By increasing the frame-rate of the external .swf, if you've done any timeline based animation/tweening you'll almost certainly have to add some frames and do a bit of work to ensure things stay in sync. Which could prove to be a nightmare depending on how complicated the external .swf is and/or if there is any audio to sync to.

So to round up, these are your options as I see them:
1. Decrease the frame-rate of the parent clip to match the external clips frame-rate (easiest option by far!).
2. Increase the frame-rate of the external clip to match the parent clip (could be tricky, depending on the complexity of the source for the external .swf. But impossible if you don't have the source/.fla for the external .swf).
3. Programmatically determine the frame-rate of the external clip and dynamically alter the frame-rate of the parent clip to match it. (Not entirely sure this is possible, as I've never tried!)

Obviously there are pro's and cons to each of those options, but what you choose to do is up to you!

Personally, I ensure that all .swfs in my projects are published at the same frame-rate to avoid this problem. However, if you're using third party .swf's you won't necessarily be in control of their frame-rate, hence problems like this will pop up from time to time!

Anyway, good luck!
Jas.

[snitch321]

thank you again jason for the very well detailed raply, but i believe i did set the parent frame rate very low before i exported it so it was at tha appropriate speed that i wanted it to be but i think it didnt work. But ill double check my friend.