I have a few Flash animation projects that I want to put on my demo reel, but I
can't get the animations in a usable format.

The bulk of the animation is a walk cycle in a movie clip. Of course, when I
hit play in flash, I see frame one of the movie clip standing there for 16
frames, then it skips forward and stands over there for 16 frames, then it
skips forward, but the whole animation plays smoothly when I export the .swf
file.

However, whenever I try to export a video file all I get is this useless frame
one skip that you see when you hit play in Flash. Anyone know how I can fix
this? Are there video editing programs that will take .swf files?

So far I've tried exporting into .avi and .gif.

Whenever I try exporting to .mov, I get this message.
"The installed version of Quicktime does not have a handler for this type of
flash movie. Please consult the documentation for further information."

Bump

Can't somebody please here?

There are a couple of things you can try. None great but most will do. First,
make sure you have the latest version of Quicktime installed. If you can afford
it buy the Pro version. Its pretty cheap and you won't regret it. It makes
converting all sorts of files simple.

Second. I'm not sure what version of Flash you are using. The older versions
of Flash were pretty crappy at exporting video. Flash CS3 Professional is
little better but its something. Anyway, if you don't have this download the
30day demo and give exporting .mov from Flash CS3 a shot (after you install the
latest version of Quicktime)

Another thing you can try do is use a screen capture software such as SnagIt
or CaptureWiz. They will allow you to capture your Flash movie as video and
both have demos you can try before you buy.

And one other thing I have done to capture my Flash files, which works great,
is to capture my screen to video. If you have the capability to export your
monitor to video or better yet a firewire videocam and then someway to edit it
your Flash to video life will be easy as pie.

Good luck