Ever wonder how to record a work session of your web application or web site and then put it into you portfolio or give it to the client? Screenshots are ok but, hey, movies are better! So here comes vnc2swf, a really cool hack that “translates” data from a vnc session to a swf file, ready to be read by your usual Flash plugin on your browser.

Just download the sources from the vnc2swf site and compile them. Compiling requires the ming library and (probably, that was my case) a little tweack in a source file (in writeswf.c it seems that the test for the ming library version is wrong. If you get an error about the parameters of the SWFMovie_output() function, just change the file to let it always use the first function format as for ming 0.3beta1).

After that, just follow the istructions you find in the vncswf site (they are very simple). Just remember that:

  • You need to run a vncserver OR the X11vnc nifty tool which translates your current X11 session in a Xvnc one
  • Once a vncserver is running, the vnc2swf program acts like a vncviewer
  • You can access a contestual menu while using vnc2swf, by pressing F8
  • You can pass the vncserver the -geometry XxY param, so you can record a session at a lower resolution
  • Use F11 in your browser, to get rid of the some useless toolbars
  • To view the final swf you need to embed it via the OBJECT element into an html file
  • Install the swftools program suite, and the use the swfdump program to prepare a HTML suited for your swf
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