Ok. I have a client who requested a Shockwave version of their video, so I exported a Shockwave file from AE. When it finished, there were to files on the drive, one was a shockwave file, and the other was an .htm file. When I double-clicked on the Shockwave file, it said it needed a program to open it, but when I opened the .htm file, it opened and played the Shockwave video in my web browser. So.... few questions:

1. Is the .htm file necessary.... should I send it to the client along with the Shockwave file?

2. I moved the Shockwave and .htm files to my other computer so I could upload them to my FTP server. Now I can open the file in the web browser, but it doesn't play. I uploaded it to my FTP server, and it doesn't play from there either; what am I doing wrong? If anyone wants to see if they can get it to play, both files can be found at www.mountjoystudios.net/storage.

Thanks!

The .htm file is acting as a wrapper / holder for the shockwave file. You're machine can't play the shockwave file natively as there is no programme associated with the file extension however, when you open the HTML file your browser uses it's shockwave plugin to the play the file.

As far as the issue with it no longer playing, open the .htm file using notepad and look for the code that shows the path to the shockwave file, make sure it is a relative path to the file and not an absolute path which would now be broken because you have moved the files.

EDIT: Just noticed the link you have in the post above. It is trying to play within the .htm file BUT it is 410MB which is huge for web delivery. The paths are correct and relative so that's not a problem. Basically aslong as the .htm file and the .swf file are in the same folder as each other you're golden.

If you want to be able to open the file directly on your machine without using the browser plugin search for and download the stand alone flash player, I think it's still available from adobe's website.

Wrapper, eh? Ok, that makes sense.

I already did open the htm file to look at that, what you said is what I suspected in the first place. However, it is a relative link; it says SRC="NWD Promo Shockwave.swf".

I also tried installing the latest version of Shockwave.... no luck.

I don't care about playing it on my machine.... I just want to make sure it will work for my client!