As the title implies, this is a tutorial for one method of extracting perfect quality vector based titles and sometimes images from websites which use flash player media. The benefit of vector based images is that they are of infinite resolution so you can enlarge them as much as you want without worrying about loss of quality.
For this tutorial, I’ll be using the Simpsons Movie as an example. Here is a small version of the final product:
The Programs I used:
SWF Decompiler
Macromedia Flash Professional 8
Corel Draw X3
The first step is to find a website that uses vector based images for your title. Unfortunately, only a very small fraction of websites still do this. An easy way to know if your favorite website does is to go to that website, right click on the title and “zoom in.”
If, after zooming in several times, your title still looks crystal clear, it probably uses vector images. A lot of websites have blocked the zoom in feature, so you have to skip this step.
Also, some people find it cheaper and easier just to make screen shots while zoomed in and cut those out (or use corel trace or adobe illustrator to outline them).
Now that you have, or at least suspect you have a vector based image, you need to extract it. I use one of two programs to do this, Sothink SWF catcher is easy because it’s right in the tool bar of internet explorer but it only grabs the main flash file. For deeper embedded flash files you need something that can check the cache. A free program is “Capture Flash,” and it can grab whatever you see on your screen.
Select Save and then select SWF Decompiler.
When SWF Decompiler opens, it usually plays the file. On the right hand column, you can open your swf file and see the various components. The components of most interest to me are the shapes. Expand the shapes folder and scroll through the list. Stop at shape 82.
Woot!! That’s money baby!! You should also double check here and zoom in to make absolutely sure you got the vector image. At the top right, click on export resource. The next screen looks complicated, but just pick a folder and click “ok.”
Now select shape 88 and you see it’s the O. Export resource again.
Press F5 to refresh your folders and notice on the left hand side you may have a new folder or some new files (Shape 82 and Shape 8).
Select one of those shapes and instead of clicking on Export Resource, this time click on “Export FLA” which is right next to it. Click ok on the pop-up windows and mine set set to automatically open the file in Macromedia Flash Professional 8.
In this program, all you need to do is go to File >> Export >> Export Image. And do the same for the other shape.
Choose eps 3.0 as the type and name it whatever you want. If this were a complete title, your job would be done. Unfortunately this one comes in two pieces (most come in more), so I use Corel Draw X3 to put them together. You can use Adobe Illustrator or other vector based programs if you wish.
Once in Corel Draw, just open your images and copy the doughnut over to the other image using ctrl+c and ctrl+v just like other programs.
Make sure you select all of the doughnut. Vector images such as this have many many layers, so on mine i took off the doughnuts shadow because it didn’t do so well in the conversion process. Just point at the shadow and hit delete. It’s really easy compared to photoshop or PSP.
It’s usually more accurate if you import a jpg or bitmap of exactly how the title should be placed. Just make the image, press ctrl+I in Corel Draw to import it and change the order of it to the bottem. then just put your title over top of it.
Once it’s positioned how you like it, just delete the jpg background and select the whole title and reduce it. This way it’s not gigantic when someone opens it in photoshop. You can see how small I made mine in the next screen shot. But don’t worry, it’s vector, so it’s not “low res.”
Now export ( ctrl+e ) the completed project and save as an .eps file with transparent background. Tada, you now have a perfect representation of the Movie title that you need.
So what? All that work for a simple title? Actually it only took me about 5 minutes, but I’ve done it a lot. And on this particular website, there is a lot more than just a title. You can explore the entire city and everything is vector based. Look at this image of the Simpsons home.
That’s all vectors. And remember that vectors are layered based. So if you wanted a particular part, for instance just homer on that couch, but you think to yourself, no, he’s only a partial image. But when you extract the files, you see that the whole homer is actually drawn in. I added the doughnuts to it, but they don’t have to be there. And the best part is that I can make this image as big as I want and it only looks better and better. Try it yourself with the eps file.
I know it seems complicated at first, but it really is quite easy once you’ve done it a couple of times. Unfortunately, the Simpsons is really an exception and most websites don’t use what i would consider useful vectors. I suggest you practice on the Simpsons website while it’s still up because these sites usually shut down after the movie has been on DVD. Also, there are other decompilers that may be easier, and one that I know can extract fonts that are usable in windows. Unfortunately they are usually just partial fonts, but it can still be helpful.
I hope that you guys enjoy it and I hope to see lots of nice images added to the site.
Thanks for reading.
