Is it possible to have a .swf file only play, without being downloadable?

[jjshell]

Hi,

I'm working on a tut website, which will rely heavily on video. I'd like users to subscribe to download the video, even though they can watch it online.

Is that feasible? If not, why? How can .swf files be reached?

Regards,

jj.

[Mark Baker]

I'm working on a tut website, which will rely heavily on video. I'd like users to subscribe to download the video, even though they can watch it online.

Is that feasible? If not, why? How can .swf files be reached?

No, it isn't feasible.
It isn't the website that plays the swf, it's the browser (or a browser plug-in) on the client's machine.
Therefore, the video has to be transferred to the users' PC for it to be played. Once there, it's out of your control.

[jjshell]

Thanks for your reply

Where would a .swf be transferred to? I've seen websites where .swf were playing, and I had to trace of it on my comp.

[Mark Baker]

Where would a .swf be transferred to? I've seen websites where .swf were playing, and I had to trace of it on my comp.

Varies depending on the client platform/browser.
If you're on Windows and using IE, try looking in
C:\Documents and Settings\<userid>\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files

[felgall]

Hi,

I'm working on a tut website, which will rely heavily on video. I'd like users to subscribe to download the video, even though they can watch it online.

Is that feasible? If not, why? How can .swf files be reached?

Regards,

jj.

I don't know if it can be done with .swf files but it can be done with audio and video viles using a process called streaming. You need streaming software installed on your server that will deliver the video and audio files in a way that means they play as they are downloaded (and therefore don't need to be saved) rather than needing to be downloaded first. If you are going to use that option then the simplest way is to get hosting where streaming software is already installed.

[EastCoast]

If it's a case you want to protect your video from redistribution - if you stream over rtmp to a swf video player (as opposed to pseudo streaming over http often referred to as progressive download), the video file doesn't cache locally.
It can still be ripped to a file by certain software applications. However if you use flash media server with rtmpe and swf verification, or wowza media server with secureToken, then these applications can't access it.
If you encode to h.264 video files, you can both stream them to a flash player as described above, but also make them available as normal http downloads (after authentication of course)