-- introduction --

all of homestuck's animations were created in adobe flash, which had its own exportable file format called ".swf". even though flash is dead now, all of the original swfs were saved to the unofficial homestuck collection!
swfs are compacted versions of adobe flash project files, otherwise known as .fla files. however, by using jpexs flash decompiler, we can convert .swfs back into .flas!!

-- what are the usecases for this? --

mainly to see what techniques hussie used while creating the animations of homestuck, to get clean rips of some assets used in flashes, and to get clear screenshots from segments of flashes

-- prerequisites --

- one of the creative suite (CS) versions of flash professional [find this one yourself <3]
- knowledge of how to use flash professional
- jpexs flash decompiler

-- how to Actually Extract Flashes --

the first thing you need to know is which page your flash is from. in TUHSC, it's as simple as unchecking this checkbox,

and navigating to the page with the flash you want to extract! the number at the end of the url is your page number

to then find the flash, you can navigate to the folder corresponding to your page number in Asset Pack V2 > storyfiles > hs2

then, COPY the .swf (i recommend not using the high quality audio versions due to export times) to another location on your hard drive, and open the copy with jpexs decompiler

exporting the fla is as simple as hitting the export to fla button, and saving the file!

IMPORTANT: make sure to save the file to the version of adobe flash professional you have... since im running the cs 5.5 version, i will be exporting the flash as a cs 5.5 fla. to change which version you export to, you just have to click on the dropdown menu!

once the fla has finished exporting, you can then open it in flash professional :D

most of the animations won't play when you try to play the main timeline, due to them being movie clips. movie clips are a type of symbol... to view any symbol's animation, right click on the image you want to see, and click "show in library"

once you see it in the library, double click on the symbol icon

then congratulations! you've entered symbol editing mode :D