Wait, XperiFirm is the tool we use to download the firmware which needs to be converted into a FTF for Flashtool anyway!
Why this thread? For many reasons.
First of all, there are a tutorial and some faq for who is not already confident with Flashtool and the Xperia world in general. You know, before becoming experts we have been all noobs.
Then there are people who are not able to convert Sony files into FTFs, because they are too noobs or are not good at working with PC or haven't got a good machine or haven't enough time to learn and so on.
Last but not least, XperiFirm downloads directly from Sony servers but it has two limits:
1)you can download only the last two firmwares for any item, well, what happens if the last 2-3 firmwares suck for a huge bug and you want to go back to an older firmware?
2)XperiaFirm works now, but are you sure for the future? If it stops working for any reason (i.e. Sony changes download system), you can always come here
However I will add a faq about how to make a FTF by itself...
First of all, there are a tutorial and some faq for who is not already confident with Flashtool and the Xperia world in general. You know, before becoming experts we have been all noobs. For me this forum is not for noobs
you can download only the last two firmwares for any item, well, what happens if the last 2-3 firmwares suck for a huge bug and you want to go back to an older firmware? The last firmware is always de best firmware for many reasons
XperiaFirm works now, but are you sure for the future? If it stops working for any reason (i.e. Sony changes download system), you can always come here Never stop because Sony PC Companion does the updates with that servers