Stand-alone Players and Plugins

Flash 3 includes new versions of the Shockwave Flash plugins, ActiveX control, the stand-alone Flash Players, and the Flash Player Java Edition.

Replace Flash 2 versions of the Shockwave Flash plugins for Netscape, ActiveX control for Internet Explorer and the Flash Player Java Edition with the new Flash 3 versions to view Shockwave Flash movies that incorporate Flash 3 features such as transparency and shape tweening.

Use the stand-alone Flash Players to create projectors or to play movies outside a browser or ActiveX application. Use a projector when you want to distribute movies to user who don't have Flash or properly configured browsers, or for distributing movies on floppy disks or CD-ROMs. There are no distribution costs or limitations on distributing projectors created with the stand-alone players.

Included Files: Describes all files included in the Players folder.
Installing Netscape Plugins for Windows: detailed instructions for installing the Windows plugin.
Troubleshooting: Workarounds for known bugs and common errors.


Included Files

Shockwave Flash Plugins and Players For Windows

FlashAXInstaller.zip: This file contains an installer for Internet Explorer ActiveX control on Windows95/98/NT. To use this file, copy it to your PC and unzip the file, then double click the file to start the installation.

NPSWF32.dll: This is the Netscape Navigator Plugin version of Shockwave Flash for Windows 95/98/NT users. Copy this file into the Plugins folder inside the Netscape Navigator folder. This plugin will also work with Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 or later.

SwFlsh32.exe: This is the stand-alone player version of Shockwave Flash for Windows 95/98/NT users. Drag and Drop or use File>Open in the stand-alone player menu to view movies in the stand-alone players. To create a projector file for Windows 95/98/NT only, open your movie in the stand-alone player and select Create Projector from the file menu.

SwFlsh16.zip:

SwFlsh16.exe: This is the stand-alone player version of Shockwave Flash for Windows 3.1 users. Use File>Open in the stand-alone player menu to view movies in the stand- alone players. To create a projector file for Windows 3.1, open your movie in the SwFlsh16.exe and select Create Projector from the file menu.

Npswf16.dll: This is the Netscape Navigator Plugin version of Shockwave Flash for Windows 3.1 users. Copy this file into the Plugins folder inside the Netscape Navigator folder. This plugin will also work with Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 or later.

Shockwave Flash Plugins and Players For Macintosh

Mac Netscape Plugins.hqx:

Shockwave Flash NP-PPC - This is the Netscape Navigator Plugin version of Shockwave Flash for Macintosh Power PC users. Copy this file into the Plugins folder inside the Netscape Navigator folder. This plugin will also work with Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 or later for Macintosh.

Shockwave Flash NP-68K - This is the Netscape Navigator Plugin version of Shockwave Flash for 68K Macintosh users. Copy this file into the Plugins folder inside the Netscape Navigator folder. This plugin also works with Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 or later for Macintosh.

Mac standalone players.hqx:

Shockwave Flash SA-PPC - This is the stand-alone player version of Shockwave Flash for PPC Macintosh users. Drag and Drop or use File>Open in the stand-alone player menu to view movies in the stand-alone players. To create a projector file for PPC Mac only, open your movie in the stand-alone player and select Create Projector from the file menu.

Shockwave Flash SA-FAT - This is the stand-alone player version of Shockwave Flash for both 68K and PPC Macintosh. Drag and Drop or use File>Open in the stand-alone player menu to view movies in the stand-alone players. To create a projector file for both 68k and PPC Mac, open your movie in the stand-alone player and select Create Projector from the file menu. Projector files made with the FAT version will be somewhat larger than files made for a specific platform.

Shockwave Flash SA-68K - This is the stand-alone player version of Shockwave Flash for 68K Macintosh. Drag and Drop or use File>Open in the stand-alone player menu to view movies in the stand-alone players. To create a projector file for 68k Mac only, open your movie in the standalone player and select Create Projector from the file menu.

Flash Player Java(tm) Edition

This is our latest release of the Flash Player Java(tm) Edition.

This release supports Flash 2 features only. This version does not support Flash 3 files or Flash 3 features. To use Flash Player Java(tm) Edition with Flash 3, select "version Flash 2" in the Shockwave Flash export dialog.

There are two additional folders in the Flash Player Java(tm) Edition folder, FlashSmall and FlashApi.
The FlashSmall folder contains a smaller version of the Flash Player Java(tm) Edition. Sound and bitmap support have been disabled in this version in order to reduce the size of the Applet. If you don't have any sounds or bitmaps in your movie, consider using the smaller applet in order to view the Flash movie.
The FlashApi folder contains a package, FlashApi.zip, which developers can import into their own applets and applications. FlashApi.html contains the documentation for the api in that package.

Additional information on using the Flash Player Java(tm) Player with Aftershock can be found in Flash 3 help under HTML and Scripting Options for Shockwave Flash>Java Settings in Aftershock.


To install the Plugin for Windows:

  1. Quit your browser before installing the new plugin.
  2. Remove any old versions of the FutureSplash and the Shockwave Flash plugins.
  3. Copy the Shockwave Flash NP file for either Windows 95/98/NT or Windows 3.1 into your browser's Plugin folder.
  4. Open the Browser. The new Shockwave Flash Plug-in should be installed and working. To verify, choose the "About Plug-Ins" menu option from Netscape's Help menu, or choose About "Internet Explorer...", then click on the "Support" button to view the list of installed plugins.

Troubleshooting

 If after installing the Shockwave Flash plug-in it does not work, here are a few things to check.

Netscape Navigator Plugin is installed but not working:

Netscape Navigator 4 Macintosh Users

  1. In the browser, choose Edit > Preferences.
  2. Choose the Navigator > Applications Category.
  3. Select Shockwave Flash from the list on the right.
  4. Click Delete and then click Yes to confirm the deletion.
  5. Click OK to close the Preferences dialog box.
  6. Restart your browser.

Netscape Navigator 3 Macintosh Users

  1. In the browser, choose Options > General Preferences.
  2. Click the Helpers tab.
  3. Select Shockwave Flash from the list.
  4. Click Delete and then click Yes to confirm the deletion.
  5. Click OK to close the Preferences dialog box.
  6. Restart your browser.

Netscape Navigator display problems:

When Netscape runs out of memory, you may see display problems in the plugin or Netscape may hang. Netscape installs with only 4000K of memory on a Macintosh with the standalone version of the browser (the version that contains the browser without mail). You may also have this problem with the full installation of Netscape.

To increase the memory allocation for Netscape:

  1. Click on the program icon,
  2. Select File > Get Info.
  3. In the dialog which opens, increase the memory-we recommend at least 9000K, if you have limited memory 6000K should work for most smaller movies.

Macintosh Internet Explorer Users:

Shockwave Flash files run from a local machine do not play. You need to add the SWF MIME type to your Internet Explorer Preferences.

Adding the SWF MIME type for Macintosh Internet Explorer users

The movies in Flash Help are Shockwave Flash movies. They are installed on your local hard drive. To use Internet Explorer 3.0 or 4.0 on a Macintosh to view these movies or any Shockwave Flash movies stored locally, you must change your Internet Explorer MIME type Preferences.

To add the SWF MIME type to your Internet Explorer browser preferences on a Macintosh:

1 Launch Internet Explorer.
2 Choose Edit > Preferences.
3 Under Receiving Files, choose File Helpers.
4 Click Add to add the following information:
  Representation:
Description: Shockwave Flash

Extension: .swf

MIME type: application/x-shockwave-flash

  File Type:
Application: Flash (browse to where your local copy of Flash is located)

File Type: SWFL

File Creator: MFL2

  Handling:
How to handle: View with Plugin

Application: Shockwave Flash NP-PPC or Shockwave Flash NP-68K (Browse to the appropriate plugin for your machine.)

5 Click OK.

To view older FutureSplash files, repeat these steps (adding a new File Helper), but in Step 4 Representation, use the Extension of .spl instead of .swf.