Announcement

**eric_darling** · 09-14-2003, 12:50 PM

Re: Flash MX 2004

Hey Corey,

You may not be surprised to hear that Adobe has had JavaScript supported in the form of "expressions" in After Effects since version 5.5 was released - well over a year ago. [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

**AGRO** · 09-14-2003, 05:44 PM

Re: Flash MX 2004

I have been so busy with Flash MX 2004 Pro. I bought it and have not closed the program yet. They really out did there selves on this one. I attended one of the usergroups here in town for the Breeze live preview of Studio MX 2004 and I was "in aw" then as I am now having the program.

Corey, the video technology in 2004 is just what i have been wanting to see for a long time. The .flv is just what us Flashers want. Sorenson Squeeze is a nice companion to Flash because of its outputs, .flv is one. In the pro version of Flash MX 2004 you have total control of the video. It really is just heaven. You just drag a video window on the stage and in the Component Inspector just type in the path of the .flv and you are finished.

With the new actionscript 2 implemented we will see alot more rich internet applications and alot more intense also.

Extensions are also a nice new feature. You can now buy extension for FlashMX 2004. One I like is Swift3d Xpress. YOu can do basic 3d right in Flash. I have Swift3d v3.0 which has alot of other features, but for the person just getting into 3d and Flash this extension should be at the top on the list.

**Corey** · 09-14-2003, 07:19 PM

Re: Flash MX 2004

Eric: Those Wh-ha-haacky kids...

Yes, it seems that more and more high end development teams are choosing Javascript as their "inner-application" scripting engine... I'm glad to see them at least deciding on a single standard. It will be really nice once the standard is more widely applied, just imagine, the same programming language you use to script for one app is the same one you use to script for all your apps, that would be heaven. Plus it would simplify the sales process by being able to go to consumers and say, "Hey check this new app out, you actually already know how to program in it, so zero learning curve... [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

AGRO: Yes I agree 100%. I'm with you on this one. (That's also why I wanted to make clear in the other thread that SwishMax, although very neat, isn't Flash MX 2004) I can hardly wait 'til we get our upgrades in so I can go hog wild. Things have been busy so we haven't got a chance yet, I'm still using trial myself...

One thing too AGRO, Amorphium Pro is what I've been using to do 3D for .swf and for my needs it's far superior to Swift, worth checking out... Thing is that Amorphium is a professional 3D modeller/editor with good .swf output where as Swift 3D is a Flash tool with good 3D. Both are good but you'll find Amorphium more robust from the 3D standpoint.

Squeeze is indeed a great way to create .flv. Here's my beef though. Using Quicktime (Sorenson) I can get 800 X 600 video tutorials down to about 1 MB per minute with decent quality but I haven't managed to match this with .flv yet. I liek the streaming possibilties with .flv too, being able to segment movies is an attractive feature from a bandwidth standpoint.

Hey there's a cool niche market for a software tool which isn't met yet, a tool to auto-splice .flv files into segments which auto-load each other as a chain. As it is you have to do that manually... I bet the guys at Wildform could build such a tool in less than a week, and I bet there would be a good profitable demand for it, especially if it was a click-and-go robust corporate solution which assisted with file management, deployment (HTML publishing), etc. Too bad Squeeze doesn't have an auto-segment feature yet, sigh... [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Someone should suggest it in the Sorneson Forum (if such a thing exists)

Corey Milner
Creative Director, Indigo Rose Software

**Corey** · 09-14-2003, 11:28 PM

Re: Flash MX 2004

Hey AGRO, not sure how they did this yet just because I haven't had enough spare time to look into it but I see that Flash 7 player can do customized right click context menus, check this out, right click on the little black text link there in this flash http://www.sofake.com/ I'll have to get to the bottom of that, the concept of custom right click menus is awesome... Also it's added functionality we can bring to AMS via the flash object.

Hey BTW have you checked out the new file import formats in Flash MX 2004? Woohoo! Now this is big time living. Luxor eat your heart out!

Corey Milner
Creative Director, Indigo Rose Software

**AGRO** · 09-15-2003, 11:17 AM

Re: Flash MX 2004

I was using Amorphium Pro for awhile, then i was turned on to swift3d. In my uses, I have found that swift3d exports smaller file sizes in .swf. You are right, Amorphium offers more modeling tools. Swift3D has a .3ds import. So i can use Plasma or 3DMax if I need to make anything that swift cant handle. If I make something in Plasma and render it in a .swf export and then take that same .3ds animation or image and import it in Swift3D, the file size is considerably lower on the export .swf.

Maya recently purchased the use of the RaviX engine. RaviX is what Swift3d uses to render .swf. So when we start beta version 4 of swift3d , we are hoping to see some of maya modeling tools, making swift more of a 3d tool.

I also have noticed the difference in .flv and .mov size. I am playing around with the .flv. Flash is really pushing that in 2004 MX. It seems to work the best in MX 2004. Even better than loading a .swf into a empty movie clip as a target. So I guess between the brains of this forum, we should find something that compares to Quicktime.??

**Corey** · 09-15-2003, 11:43 AM

Re: Flash MX 2004

My money's on the video guy if the hurricane doesn't eat him. But I'll keep poking around just in case it does.

Corey Milner
Creative Director, Indigo Rose Software

**eric_darling** · 09-15-2003, 06:54 PM

Re: Flash MX 2004

It looks like our friend Isabel will go bother some other people instead, which from my perspective isn't too terrible, since this sucker was, and could still again become, a Category 5 storm. That's SUSTAINED winds of 160 MPH or above. Nasty.

Anyway, seeing as how I've escaped the wrath of nature this time, I'll weigh in on the topic FWIW...

I think we're coming to a point where quality between most major web formats (QT, Flash, WMV/ASF, and yes *gulp* Real) are converging in terms of quality and data rates. I have a hard time discerning between the quality of material properly encoded in WMV 9 vs. QuickTime Sorenson 3 Pro vs. the latest incarnation of Real.

True, Flash has lagged somewhat in this field, but that's only because it first introduced video one measly version ago. MX 2004 holds the keys to the kingdom with progressive download and even more quality. But you'll probably have to wait on Sorenson to really squeak the best quality out of FLV or SWF. When they come out with their next version of Squeeze, we will all be sitting up and listening, I'm sure.

So, learn all you need to know now to implement the right stuff when it becomes available.

I predict that by the middle of next year, Flash will be slightly more preferable than QT for web video.

**Lorne** · 09-15-2003, 07:58 PM

Re: Flash MX 2004

It looks like our friend Isabel will go bother some other people instead, which from my perspective isn't too terrible, since this sucker was, and could still again become, a Category 5 storm. That's SUSTAINED winds of 160 MPH or above. Nasty.

Wow. When I think of how hard it is to ride home in a 60 km/h headwind...it's hard to imagine what 267 km/h would be like.

**eric_darling** · 09-15-2003, 08:11 PM

Re: Flash MX 2004

Wow. When I think of how hard it is to ride home in a 60 km/h headwind...it's hard to imagine what 267 km/h would be like.

You ever see The Wizard of Oz? [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]

Let's just say I hope everyone but the most essential emergency personnel are staying behind in the counties where Isabel makes landfall.

Lorne in a strong headwind:
I'll get you my pretty.... And your little dog too!

[img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

**Corey** · 09-15-2003, 09:07 PM

Re: Flash MX 2004

The wizard of aaaaaaahs... I told you never to underestimate the mojo of a crazy person Eric. And I meant it dang it.

Corey Milner
Creative Director, Indigo Rose Software

**Lorne** · 09-15-2003, 09:12 PM

Re: Flash MX 2004

"There's no place like home...there's no place like home..."

Here's hoping everyone in that path makes it through the storm unscathed.

**eric_darling** · 09-15-2003, 10:16 PM

Re: Flash MX 2004

I told you never to underestimate the mojo of a crazy person Eric. And I meant it dang it.

Indeed you did! A debt of gratitude my mojo-laiden brother. [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

**Corey** · 09-16-2003, 04:15 AM

Re: Flash MX 2004

Yeah, it only works on the pure of heart though so you're partially to blame too...

Hey AGRO I just thought of something (I'm slow) this new media component means you can register your own component elements and build a truly customized media player. it would be a bit of work but the potential is awesome. I'll get more time for MX 2004 this week, maybe I'll post some .swfs.

Corey Milner
Creative Director, Indigo Rose Software

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