|
Price: $150.00
 
Product Review
Macromedia's Flash 5 brings substantial changes and improvements to this dominant player in the Web animation tools arena. A new and customizable interface and improved scripting are the most notable of the new features. These, among other enhancements, make this upgrade almost essential to any serious designer.
Flash 5 now uses Macromedia's standard interface library, making Flash look more like other Macromedia products. Almost all commands can be accessed through onscreen dockable tabbed windows (palettes), which can be docked to each other or torn off and placed elsewhere on the screen. This means that layouts can be named, saved, and recalled, depending on the kind of work being done or a particular designer's working style. Keystroke commands can be customized as well, allowing for the designer to tailor the feel of the program.
The most important "under-the-hood" change is the revamping of ActionScript, Flash's internal scripting and interactive language. ActionScript is now more like Java than ever, making it easy for coders to shuttle between the two.
The Movie Explorer window is another important new feature. This allows developers to view the entire contents of a project in a hierarchy where edits and search-and-replace functions can take place.
The pen tool has, finally, been improved as well. It now behaves more like a Bezier drawing tool found in programs such as Adobe Illustrator and Macromedia's own FreeHand. Speaking of FreeHand, Flash 5's integration with FreeHand is now tight as a drum, too.
Flash 5 isn't really one of those upgrades to think about. The Flash format is constantly evolving, and it behooves any content creator to stay current. Flash, like the Web itself, is a dynamic medium. In order to push the boundaries, one must keep pace with the tools. --Mike Caputo
Amazon.co.uk
Flash is the current de facto standard for animated graphics on the Web. Flash movies are playable by any Web browser with Flash player installed, which, according to Macromedia, is 92 percent of the online population. The secret of its success is the use of vector graphics, so that Flash movies are small and quick to download. The player is free, but to create Flash movies you need an authoring tool, and although some third-party products can export in Flash format, Macromedia's own product is by far the most advanced.
The Flash work environment has several key features. Movies consist of individual frames connected by the Timeline, where you control how frames are presented over time. Flash is able to generate intermediate images automatically. Flash also supports layers, which lets you organize artwork into separate work areas that are presented together, like combining transparent sheets of acetate.
Flash has a toolbox that contains a range of drawing tools such as shapes, text, pens, and brushes. Then there is a set of floating panels that let you transform, flip, and rotate objects, add effects such as sounds, and browse libraries of symbols, buttons, and other resources. You can make Flash movies interactive by creating scripts that run in response to events such as button clicks. ActionScript is similar to JavaScript, and by using Flash tools you can create simple scripts without programming. ActionScript is greatly enhanced in Flash 5, making it possible to integrate Flash into Web applications. The new XML object means you can manipulate and interpret XML data.
Flash 4 users will be keen to upgrade. Along with new programming features, there are Bezier drawing tools, rich-text formatting with HTML, shared libraries that let you link assets between movies, and many new panels, including the brilliant Movie Explorer, for navigating and modifying movie elements. In addition, the whole Flash interface has been updated in line with Macromedia's Common User Interface, to make it easier for those who use more than one Macromedia product.
Flash 5 is a superb product, and currently there is no sensible alternative if you want the functionality it offers. One word of warning, though: this is a professional tool and not especially user-friendly for beginners. Fortunately, it comes with plentiful online Help and tutorials to speed the inevitable learning process. --Tim Anderson, Amazon.co.uk
|
