Sothink SWF Decompiler Review

SoThink SWF Decompiler as I have found is a great tool to add into your web development arsenal. Like many tools, you have to know what it's great to use for, and what it's not great to use for, so that you can make it work for you. Many people see it as a tool that they could use to rip apart flash websites or flash elements on a page, so that they might copy someone else's work. But that isn't the true value of the program. Can it do that? In short, yes, but what I want to point out here is that it can be best used for many aspiring web developers who are in kinks with flash. Whether object oriented programming, or Flash in general is something that they have gripes with, SoThink has created a program to help web authors understand more about the fun and visually exciting Flash pieces that are abound on the internet today.

Features:
One of the key features that I found exciting, was the ability to save a .swf from a website. SoThink has also released their mozilla and IE plugins to aide in aquiring Flash content off sites. After your able to save the file, you can open it up in the main program and view the files structure. This is where the core value of the program is found. You can look at all the different layers that were used to create the Flash piece, as well as any kind of art work, and actionscript which was used to compile the flash element. Soon enough some of the crazy looking flash pieces were no longer a mystery in how they were created. I could now learn how the "magic" was being made.

GUI & Functionality:
That said, the program interface may be complex for some beginners, take your time in figuring out how to understand the different paneled windows. If you've been using Adobe Flash or other web authoring tools, you're gonna have to get your feet wet sometime. The great part is SoThink makes the program do the hard part of exporting .swf files, and automatically will generate an .fla file and assets, including .as files and associating folder structure. The program will also determine what actionscript version to decode into, AS 1.0 - 3.0, as well as the flash version to use 5-10. Mind you it is using a best guess, and might not always be right, but for the most part they get it pretty close. You can turn these preferences off, for advanced users.

Platforms:
Worry not on whatever platform of your choosing, they have both a Mac and PC version.

Who this program is for:
Web authors, web animators, people who love flash, and want to be able to learn and create inspiring flash animations on the web, whether that be through the movie timeline, or through actionscript.

Who it's not for:
People who just want to rip off someone else's work.