# fla extractor

See what's inside Flash / Adobe Animate `.fla` files without Adobe Animate.

One Python file, no extra packages. Point it at a folder of `.fla` files and it writes
browsable pages with everything it could get out of them:

| Output | What it is |
|---|---|
| `drawings/` | The vector artwork of each file, every library symbol drawn as SVG, on a searchable gallery page. Symbols with several frames are animated and play in the browser. |
| `shots/` | For scene files (files that contain an animatic video), the finished scene as an animated SVG, cropped to the stage like the published movie. |
| `images/` | Embedded bitmaps as PNG / JPEG / GIF. |
| `audio/` | Embedded sounds as WAV (or MP3 when stored that way). |
| `animatics/` | Embedded video clips as `.flv` with their matching sound. Open these in [VLC](https://www.videolan.org/). |
| `index.html` | A page per folder linking all of the above. |

The artwork renderer handles nested symbols, graphic-symbol frame selection (loop, play once,
single frame), layer masks, guide layers, motion tweens with easing, colour effects (alpha, tint,
brightness), gradients, groups, and static text.

## Requirements

- Python 3.8 or newer. Nothing to install.
- Optional, for `--preview` only: Chrome, Edge or Chromium.

## Usage

```bash
# everything under the current folder
python fla_extract.py

# specific folders and/or files
python fla_extract.py path/to/folder another.fla

# choose where the results go (default: ./extracted)
python fla_extract.py path/to/folder --out results
```

On macOS and Linux use `python3` if `python` isn't Python 3.

Open `extracted/<folder>/index.html` in a browser to look through the results. Running it again
only processes files that are new or changed; add `--force` to redo everything.

### Options

| Option | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `--out DIR` | Where to write the results (default `./extracted`). |
| `--force` | Redo files that were already extracted. |
| `--jobs N` | How many files to process in parallel (default: number of CPUs). |
| `--drawings auto` | Default. Scene files get an animated shot, other files a gallery of all their drawings. |
| `--drawings all` | Galleries and shots for every file. |
| `--drawings shots` | Only the animated shots. |
| `--drawings none` | Skip the artwork (media only, much faster). |
| `--preview OUT.png FILE...` | Screenshot SVG/PNG files as a grid with a headless browser, handy for checking renders. |
| `--width N` | Width of the `--preview` screenshot (default 1200). |
| `--browser PATH` | The browser to use for `--preview` if it isn't found automatically. |

## What works with which files

- **Old binary `.fla` files** (Flash 8, CS3, CS4, the most common kind in archives): media and artwork.
- **Newer zip-based `.fla` files** (Flash CS5 and later): media only. Their artwork is stored as
  XFL/XML and isn't rendered yet.

Library items that were deleted in Flash but whose data is still inside the file are rendered too,
under their internal name (`Symbol 1234`). Animate itself won't show those.

## Known limitations

- Shape tweens hold their starting shape instead of morphing.
- Bitmaps placed inside the artwork aren't drawn yet (they are still extracted to `images/`).
- Filters (blur, glow, drop shadow), blend modes and motion guides are ignored.
- Movie clips are shown at their first frame, as a still.
- Text is drawn for the simple single-style text boxes; other text layouts are skipped.

## Credits

The basic layout of the binary `.fla` format follows the reverse-engineering notes of
[fla-decoder](https://github.com/eddiemoore/fla-decoder) by Ed Moore (MIT licence). This tool
extends that work with symbol instances, layer masks, frame timing, tweens, colour effects, text,
video and shape-tween records, and corrects several details for CS3/CS4-era files (edge style
order, style flag bits, gradient settings, shape coordinate scale).

## Licence

MIT. See [LICENSE](LICENSE).

Please only share the tool, not the contents of `.fla` files you don't own the rights to.