ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS 7.0
User Guide
611
Supported features for SWF export
When creating compositions intended for SWF format, note the following information about each feature:
Layers
After Effects text layers export to SWF as vector graphics in After Effects. The following layer types and layer
switches aren’t supported: Track Mattes, 3D Layers, 3D Cameras, 3D Lights, Adjustment Layers, Preserve Trans-
parency, Collapse Transformations, and Motion Blur. The Fill Over Stroke character option and the Blur animator
property aren’t supported, and only Normal blending mode is supported. Nested layers aren’t supported and are
rasterized.
Masks
Only masks with Add mask mode or Difference mask mode are supported; multiple masks in a layer must
use the same mask mode. If Add mode is specified, Partial Opacity and the mask Inverted option are also supported.
Mask feathers are not supported.
Note:
The SWF Exporter renders overlapping Add mode masks that include alpha channels or partial opacity differently
than After Effects.
Effects
Path Text, Audio Waveform, and Audio Spectrum can export to SWF. All Path Text options are supported,
except the following: Composite On Original, Fill And Stroke/Options/Fill Over Stroke, and
Advanced/Mode/Difference.
The SWF Exporter converts lines drawn by the Audio Spectrum and Audio Waveform effects to vectors and ignores
unsupported features: Outside Color (only Inside Color is used), Softness, and Composite On Original. In addition,
only uniformly thick lines are included in the SWF file. For example, if you select the Use Polar Path option in Audio
Spectrum, lines become thicker farther from the center in After Effects, but in the SWF file the lines remain at the
same thickness.
The waveforms may increase the SWF file size, so decrease the Displayed Samples value in the Audio Waveform
effect or the Frequency Bands value in the Audio Spectrum effect, or decrease the frame rate to make the SWF file
smaller.
Resolution
The SWF Exporter always creates files at full resolution (size of composition) and renders JPEG-
compressed bitmap images at full resolution.
Adobe Illustrator files
Only stroked paths and filled paths in CMYK or RGB color spaces are supported.
The SWF Exporter converts layers that have Illustrator source files to corresponding SWF items, provided the layer
does not contain masks or have Collapse Transformations enabled (Illustrator layers that contain masks or have
Collapse Transformations enabled are rasterized). The SWF file maintains the Illustrator crop marks. Artwork
outside the crop marks is included in the SWF file even though it’s not visible, thereby increasing the file size.
The SWF export report lists information for unsupported features in Illustrator files for the first frame in which the
Illustrator file is visible. Unsupported features are ignored or rasterized (depending on whether you’ve selected
Ignore or Rasterize Unsupported Features) on all frames in which the footage is visible.
About SWF references
The SWF Exporter uses each item in the After Effects composition once, and then references it for any further use,
provided the content doesn’t change and regardless of whether the frames are consecutive. For example, the SWF
Exporter adds a layer that contains still source footage and a non-animated mask to the composition and then refer-
ences the layer on all subsequent frames, even if you’ve animated the layer’s transformation properties. However, if
you animate the mask, or if the layer’s source file is video or a composition that changes over time, the SWF Exporter
adds a new object to the composition on each frame where the layer is visible. Objects added this way include JPEG-
compressed bitmap images, SWF movie clips created in Adobe Illustrator, and text characters applied with the Path
Text effect.
Summary of Contents for AFTER EFFECTS 7.0
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