flash (macromedia): INTRODUCTION
I'm in San Francisco, having attended FlashForward, a twice-annual
conference dedicated to the Macromedia Flash platform. This is the fourth
FlashForward conference I've had the privilege of attending, and it's been
interesting to watch the growth of Flash as a platform for web-based content
delivery. Though I've had my eye on Flash for more than five years, I only
started developing seriously for Flash in the past year. Macromedia's
format is maturing into something quite compelling.

The following conference summary is divided into two parts: first, an
"executive overview" of the big ideas explored in the conference, and
second, a detailed discussion of these issues. The first section is
appropriate for non-technical users who have an interest in web
presentation. The second will probably be most interesting to managers of
web content, web developers, and Flash junkies.

EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW
The next version of the Flash player, to be released later this year, will
be a major advance for web-based presentation. Flash 8's dynamic layer
effects and support for dynamic compositing of video with alpha transparency
are significant advances that will dramatically affect the look and feel of
sites that support Flash. The Flash player will also feature more legible
typography, particularly when type is rendered at smaller sizes. Letter
spacing and other typographic manipulations will (at last) be
programmatically accessible to Flash developers.

The Flash Video Format is becoming a compelling alternative to Apple
Quicktime and Windows Media: it offers web users a solid video experience
with less fuss and mess. Macromedia's FlashCom server is required to support
the best implementations of Flash video. In my opinion, the considerable
expense of FlashCom server is the only thing holding the format back from
widespread adoption.

Flash as an application platform and a mode of content delivery has come a
long, long way from its early days. It warrants a close look and
re-evaluation from the many designers and academics who reflexively dismiss
"Flash sites" without properly understanding the evolution of the platform.
Flash has quietly grown into what client side Java promised but never quite
managed to become.

Flash MX2004 introduced Actionscript 2, which allows many Flash features to
be driven programmatically using modern object-oriented development
practices. The emergence of Actionscript as a "serious" programming language
has dramatically raised the quality level of entries to the FlashForward
Film festival this year, as traditional coders and development teams enter
the fray.

Macromedia is giving at least lip service to "Creative Commons" and other
forms of limited source code sharing. Chief Software Architect Kevin Lynch
suggested that a "view source" option or adopting a convention in site
structures for posting source code (e.g.
http://mysite/myflash.swf/flashsource) might be a way to encourage sharing
and learning.

Jared Tarbell of http://levitated.net and http://complexification.net
continues to dazzle and impress us with some of the most interesting,
creative, and fun work being done right now in the Flash community. His
generative creatures are visually and conceptually beautiful, and his
generosity in opening the source code to all of his work is refreshing.

VIDEO
Macromedia is positioning the Flash video FLV format that it introduced with
Flash 6.0 as a direct competitor to Apple Quicktime and Windows Media.
Macromedia's contention with Flash Video is that it offers a superior
experience to its competitors because it doesn't demand an "extra" download
or plugin. Macromedia contends that more than 80% of web users already have
the Flash 7 player installed, meaning that they can play Flash Video
immediately.

Based on my observations and experiences with web-based video, Macromedia's
pitch is compelling. Apple Quicktime is a lousy experience on Windows
machines: the free version of QuickTime nags the user with "desktop spam"
that tries to sell an upgraded version of the player each and every time it
is loaded. I have also found the Windows QuickTime client to be prone to
memory leaks and crashes even on top-shelf, name-brand PC hardware
configurations. Folks who use Macs a lot tell me that Windows Media Player
is not a great experience on Apple hardware. What's a responsible developer
to do?

Flash video aspires to offer us a third, more user-friendly alternative.
Macromedia's FLV format doesn't demand an extra plugin, it can play inline
or iconic video as a part of an ordinary web page, and it doesn't spam the
user or demand registrations as competing players do. For my development
work for the University of Washington, for which I aspire to support many
platforms and users with a minimum of fuss, these are compelling arguments
in favor of the FLV format.

The primary drawback to Flash video that I see is that Macromedia continues
to try to leverage the advantages of the Flash video format to sell copies
of its extremely expensive FlashCom server. FlashCom is a unique and
wonderful product that would serve many UW needs, particularly in our News
and Information office. But so long as FlashCom is positioned as a product
that costs thousands and is subject to an uncertain upgrade cycle, it will
probably remain out of our consideration, which is a shame.

Mike Downey, technical product manager for Flash authoring, pitched the
advanced features of FlashCom-enabled FLV video, including support for
"instant on" streaming, dynamic bandwidth adjustment, and the capaibilities
for interaction offered by the rest of the Flash API. He also showed
several standout implementations of Flash video:

http://redbullcopilot.com
http://www.adidas.com/us/heritage/home.asp
http://cnet.com
http://groundhogchase.com

The Red Bull and Adidas sites are impressive. The Adidas product catalog
features inline instances of Flash video, showing dancers strutting around
in their spendy Adidas duds. As a sales pitch, it's much more interesting
than static catalogue shots.

Downey demonstrated some spectacular video compositing effects that will be
possible in the next version of the Flash player. Using an alpha channel,
video elements can be masked, combined with other video instances, or
dynamically combined with flash vector elements such as type or lines at
runtime.

TYPOGRAPHY
The Flash 8 client will resolve one of the Flash's Achilles' heels: simply
put, small antialiased type isn't very legible when it is rendered in the
current Flash player. Flash typographers have evolved their own strange
aesthetic in response to this challenge - single pixel width fonts with no
antialiasing - but the average reader tends to find these fonts mechanical
and hard to read. Flash 8's "Saffron" type rendering engine appears to

[quoted text, click to view]

I don't think most of us consider that spam. Slightly off-topic, perhaps,
but I suspect a good many of us appreciate the report. You didn't have to
read it; the title was clearly marked.

tim

[quoted text, click to view]

will do Byron , by the way, can you try to mail me at "runner AT flashfugitive DOT com" ?
I want to make sure I get your mails right , please :)


--
Regards

Urami

--


<urami>
http://www.Flashfugitive.com
</urami>

<web junk free>
http://www.firefox.com

Cool and all but , what does it have to do with Flash technical discussion ?

Well, I for one greet this as part of this forum. It was informative and
sure beats, "I can't turn on my computer.", questions.

urain I'm going to wait a few weeks and post in here, "I've upgraded
from eight-ball to nine-ball, I can't get it to work, HELP!!!"

Ken was just relaying news we all wanted to know. To bad it's not posted
in all the forums.

David Brewer

postscript, At least he use proper paragraph and sentence structure.
Now I don't have to read my New Yorker magazine tonight.
Thank you Ken.

A work in progress.....
http://24.9.159.184/db/index.html
----------------------------------------------
For Flash and Flash animations Q&A and tutorials.
Visit Chris Georgenes web sites:
www.mudbubble.com

I'm afraid I can't agree with you on this one, Urami. This information is
pertinent and informative, and certainly on point for a forum called
Macromedia.Flash. It does not serve as any sort of promotion, as no mention
is even made of the promoters of the event -- it's primary purpose is to
convey information about technical issues concerning the next version of
Flash -- the very thing that is the topic of this forum.

Oh, and by the way, I think my emails must not be getting through. I sent
you another request to change my link in your list of resource sites, but
you must not have received it -- your latest reply to Bill Horvath's
Community MX announcement still has the "/flash5/index.html" in the URL.
Could you change that, please, PLEEEEESE, to simply
http://www.canfieldstudios.com (there's now a menu at the root level for
different versions). Thanks.

--
--------
Reality will not be altered to comply with preconceived notions.

Byron "Barn" Canfield
Flash example files: http://www.canfieldstudios.com


[quoted text, click to view]
you own ....

[quoted text, click to view]

Uh... actually, this is the Dreamweaver forum....

:)

tim
--
Tim Gallant
http://www.pactumgroup.com

Basic tutorials: http://www.pactumgroup.com/tutorials/
Techblog: http://www.pactumgroup.com/techblog

[quoted text, click to view]


Ooops! sorry, I didn't notice that all these were being cross-posted.

tim

Umm - please don't crosspost.

--
Murray --- ICQ 71997575
Team Macromedia Volunteer for Dreamweaver
(If you *MUST* email me, don't LAUGH when you do so!)
==================
http://www.dreamweavermx-templates.com - Template Triage!
http://www.projectseven.com/go - DW FAQs, Tutorials & Resources
http://www.dwfaq.com - DW FAQs, Tutorials & Resources
http://www.macromedia.com/support/search/ - Macromedia (MM) Technotes
==================

[quoted text, click to view]

Please don't cross-post, Murray.

--
--------
Reality will not be altered to comply with preconceived notions.

Byron "Barn" Canfield
Flash example files: http://www.canfieldstudios.com


[quoted text, click to view]

As the original poster, I'm a little surprised by these reactions.

For those in the Dreamweaver forum who objected to the "crossposting": my
rationale in sharing this information is that Dreamweaver incorporates Flash
functionality as a basic part of the DW IDE, and users of Dreameaver tend to
have an interest in web issues beyond the mechanics of the Dreamweaver tool.
Flash is becoming a very broad catch-all of web-technologies, and I thought
DW users might have an interest in where things are going, particularly
since Flash functionality and integration is already built into the
Dreamweaver IDE. I'd expect you'll see this trend continue.

To the original respondant who questioned what a summary of a just-concluded
Flash technical conference has to do with a Flash technical forum, I don't
know what to say.

I'm not bent out of shape about this, but posting to two relevant groups
hardly seems like an extensive case of cross-posting, especially when the
parent post concerned an attempt to pass along some useful information to
the community versus spamming newsgroups for a question.

There's something darkly amusing about the fact that the one other place I
posted this was a Microsoft developer's forum, where it was greeted with
interest, some good discussion, and several links to useful Flash-related
resources. Go figure... :)

-KF

[quoted text, click to view]

I stand corrected and I apologize to anyone who was put out by the
cross-posting. I was proceeding on my general understanding of netequitte
versus whatever rules Macromedia may have established for its colleciton of
newsgroups.

The spirit of the law may be worth considering here.

-KF

[quoted text, click to view]

[quoted text, click to view]
I only recently figured out HOW to crosspost. [don't worry, I'll not be
taking it up any time soon] Is it okay to simply post twice (assuming
Ken's rationale that the Flash info would be useful to DW useres), once
in each group?

--
Bonnie in Alameda
kroko at
sbcglobal dot net

For what it's worth, the forum guidelines specifically prohibit cross
posting. I had no problem with the content whatsoever. (crosspost retained
since I have no idea where this was posted)

--
Murray --- ICQ 71997575
Team Macromedia Volunteer for Dreamweaver
(If you *MUST* email me, don't LAUGH when you do so!)
==================
http://www.dreamweavermx-templates.com - Template Triage!
http://www.projectseven.com/go - DW FAQs, Tutorials & Resources
http://www.dwfaq.com - DW FAQs, Tutorials & Resources
http://www.macromedia.com/support/search/ - Macromedia (MM) Technotes
==================

[quoted text, click to view]

Byron:

You know as well as I do why that is crossposted.

--
Murray --- ICQ 71997575
Team Macromedia Volunteer for Dreamweaver
(If you *MUST* email me, don't LAUGH when you do so!)
==================
http://www.dreamweavermx-templates.com - Template Triage!
http://www.projectseven.com/go - DW FAQs, Tutorials & Resources
http://www.dwfaq.com - DW FAQs, Tutorials & Resources
http://www.macromedia.com/support/search/ - Macromedia (MM) Technotes
==================

[quoted text, click to view]

[quoted text, click to view]

Let's start from you Mr. T - DON'T CROSS POST
Thread was basically closed, could not resist your itchy fingers ?
Why such a busy body ?

--
Regards

Urami

--


<urami>
http://www.Flashfugitive.com
</urami>

<web junk free>
http://www.firefox.com

That would be between you and Macromedia, Ken. The forum guidelines are
publically available.

--
Murray --- ICQ 71997575
Team Macromedia Volunteer for Dreamweaver
(If you *MUST* email me, don't LAUGH when you do so!)
==================
http://www.dreamweavermx-templates.com - Template Triage!
http://www.projectseven.com/go - DW FAQs, Tutorials & Resources
http://www.dwfaq.com - DW FAQs, Tutorials & Resources
http://www.macromedia.com/support/search/ - Macromedia (MM) Technotes
==================

[quoted text, click to view]

I agree with Byron as well .. it did not appear to violate any forum rules
regarding content. And it was very relevant to Flash users ... it doesn't
HAVE to be a question that is posted.
--
Jeckyl

And, of course, if we did follow the rules strictly, you would have emailed
him personally about this, rather than cross-posting your criticisms in the
newsgroup :):) Unless rules only apply to non TMM people :):)
--
All the best
Jeckyl

And you might look at your own post, Murray, where you retain full quotes
from the prior posts, which is also clearly prohibited in the Macromedia
guidelines. Maybe you're not suited to being a team player on the Team
MacroMedia.

--
--------
Reality will not be altered to comply with preconceived notions.

Byron "Barn" Canfield
Flash example files: http://www.canfieldstudios.com

[quoted text, click to view]

Don't worry about it, Ken. Murray just doesn't have anything better to do.

And I agree with your sentiments in the last statement.

Get a life, Murray.
--
--------
Reality will not be altered to comply with preconceived notions.

Byron "Barn" Canfield
Flash example files: http://www.canfieldstudios.com

[quoted text, click to view]

Please don't cross-post, Murray.


--
--------
Reality will not be altered to comply with preconceived notions.

Byron "Barn" Canfield
Flash example files: http://www.canfieldstudios.com

[quoted text, click to view]

Don't worry about it, Bonnie. Murray just doesn't have anything better to
do.

[quoted text, click to view]

Hi Ken, thanks for the informative post - great for those of us not able
to make it to events like Flash Forward, appreciate you taking the time
to post it (certainly seems appropriate to a Flash newsgroup).

I'm looking forward to seeing the new player in action, but am more
concerned with the authoring tool given the problems with MX2004.

As for the hoohaa elsewhere in this thread looks like more fibre is in
order :)

Thanks Ken,
I was there as a speaker and have to add that i had a great time -
mostly because of the people - made some new friends and caught up with
some old ones as well. For me that's what FF is all about - seeing how
many of us use the same program in so many different ways always blows
my mind. I'm already going to FF in NYC in July as a speaker so see any
of you that are going there!

-c

chris georgenes
www.mudbubble.com
www.keyframer.com

So now, in addition to demonstrating your lack of anything better to do in
the Macromedia forums as a TMM, under a different identity, you launch a
personal attack against me in the webdevbiz forum. That's certainly highly
professional of you, Murray. I wonder what Macromedia would say about that.

--
--------
Reality will not be altered to comply with preconceived notions.

Byron "Barn" Canfield
Flash example files: http://www.canfieldstudios.com

Reality will not be altered to comply with preconceived notions. Reality use
to be a friend of mine.



--

Dan
blah blah lengthy signatures rule
*SITE* www.SmithMediaFusion.com
*MY BLOG* http://www.smithfamilynewsletter.org/blog/newsMain.html
(yes, that is flash folks)
Alt+F+X
__

Where is that forum? Why is Murray doing that .. and are you sure it is
him?
--
All the best
Jeckyl