SWF is an acronym for Small Web Format or for Shockwave Flash and it is a container for multimedia and vector graphics developed by Adobe Flash.
SWF files are rather small so that they can be easily integrated within webpages, but there are some web designers who prefer to convert them to GIF files.
Since SWF files require specialized software in order to be played, users can convert them to other formats that have better application compatibility.
Also, SWF converters will also allow users to play the videos and to cut or split it into several segments before encoding it to another format.
All in all, SWF is quite a popular format therefore users can access, edit or export it with numerous applications.