Some of you have used flash 8. How hard/different is it from flash MX? I never bought flash mx2004. Is it AS 2.0? I need to upgrade my colin Moock book which is flash 5. And is studio 8 worth it since it is only 100 dollars more.
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Some of you have used flash 8. How hard/different is it from flash MX? I never bought flash mx2004. Is it AS 2.0? I need to upgrade my colin Moock book which is flash 5. And is studio 8 worth it since it is only 100 dollars more.
I am upgrading from Flash 5 to 8 now :)
Flash 8 has AS 1 too and they restored normal mode for coding. You can of course start to code with AS2 if you want, but you dont have to.
Hi,
I am in the same situation. I didn't like MX2004 so I never upgraded from MX. If you look at some of the new features that Maelstrom has, it seems well worth upgradeing for this version. I thought the AS version would be upgraded to 3.0, but as Tony posted, you will still be able to use AS1.0 with Maelstrom. Here is a quick list of featured improvements that I came across.....
New graphical expressiveness
New graphical capabilities include a host of image effects such as drop shadows, blurs, glows, beveled highlights, color transformation and convolution, and new blending modes, all of which can be applied to any object in Flash Player and can be stacked to combine effects. Since these effects can be generated dynamically at runtime, they can be accomplished without incurring a download size penalty. A new image API enables custom effects to be created through ActionScript. Additional graphic formats are supported by Flash, including GIF, PNG, and progressive JPEG.
Improved performance
Performance of Flash Player has been increased in graphics rendering, text scrolling, component rendering, ActionScript execution, and memory management. Bitmap surfaces have been added to accelerate rendering through caching, resulting in a major performance boost in the display of complex graphical information.
Better font readability
Flash technology already enables the use of any font for text, and does not require that font to be installed on the user’s machine to display properly. It accomplishes this by converting fonts into vector graphics, which enables designers to use their choice of fonts. However, since Flash turns them into vector graphics it no longer knows they are letter shapes — this results in small fonts appearing blurry in Flash Player. Maelstrom solves this issue by including a great new font-rendering engine that enables arbitrary fonts to display crisply even at small sizes. Additional control for text layout and display has also been added, including full justification and fine adjustment of kerning.
Enhanced video
Video is greatly enhanced in Maelstrom, with new support for VP6 video, enabling higher fidelity display at the same bitrates. In addition, a new eight-bit alpha channel has been added, enabling blending of video seamlessly on top of any other elements in Flash applications, including compositing in real time on top of other video elements. This will enable a whole new level of interactivity in video over the Internet.
New file upload and download
Maelstrom supports file upload and download capabilities, which are under full user control. A Flash application can request that a file be selected for upload by presenting an Open dialog box to the user to navigate to a file and select it. Applications can also offer to download a file by presenting a Save dialog box. This paves the way for a whole class of RIAs that can intermediate between local content on a user’s machine and the web such as web-based photo management applications that enable users to upload their photos easily.
Enhanced privacy control
Additional privacy control for local storage in Flash applications enables users to automatically block local storage by applications that originate from a domain other than that of the containing web page. For example, advertisements on web pages are typically served from an advertiser’s web server rather than the site itself. This would block storage of tracking information that might be placed by those applications.
New IME context switching
For users in countries that make use of input methods for large character sets, such as Kanji in Japan, Flash technology now supports IME context switching to help make this input more convenient by placing the input method in the correct mode for various input fields, such as numeric entry or text entry.
It seems worthy to upgrade to this version. As far as Studio, for an extra 100 bucks you get Fireworks, Dreamweaver, and it seems like one more..... but I can't recall off the top of my head.
NTD
Hello NTD,
I am no guru here (more of a weekend warrior), see please excuse me when I ask, what is Maelstrom? Is it included with flash 8.
Also I think I will buy collins mock book the definitive guide for AS 2.0. Unless someone knows of a better book.
thanks y'all
Maelstrom IS Flash8. It is development name used in MM.Quote:
Originally Posted by tmoore935