Small Web Format is the file that holds a vector animation, its scripts, and its images for playback in a browser plugin or a standalone player. The file is compiled. A viewer plays it. It is not a video file of photographed frames, even though it can include short video clips inside the animation.
A related file from the same family is Flash Video (FLV). That one is a video container. This one is the animation and the program that plays inside it. A page could use either, and they were not substitutes.
What the File Contains
- Drawings. Vector shapes and text that scale with the player.
- A timeline. Frames the player advances, with or without a script.
- Code. Scripts that respond to a click or move an object.
Animation File and Video File
| Compared | This File | A Video File |
| Main content | Vector animation and scripts | Compressed picture frames |
| Scaling | Shapes stay sharp | Frames pixelate when enlarged |
| A click that changes the scene | The script can do it | Playback does not branch |
