questions from Photoshop guru...

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Hello, I'm very new to Flash, but I'm advanced in Photoshop 5.5/6. I recently got Flash MX and ran through the built-in introduction/tutorial, but I have a few questions. I'm sure a few of them could be answered through running a search, but I was hoping someone experienced in PS could talk to me in a language I'm more familiar with...

• Layers in Flash MX seem to be very similar to the ones in PS. Are there any crucial differences I should know of?
  
• If I create a multi-layered image in PS, and I want to animate certain objects in the image, do I have to save each layer of the .psd file as a bitmap and import them all into Flash MX?
  
• PS has a "save for web" function that allows you to drastically reduce file size for quicker downloads. How do I reduce file size in Flash MX?
  
• If I design something in Flash MX, does the user automatically need the Flash 6 player to view it? If not, why are some files viewable on Flash 5 and some need 6 to view? If so, is there a way to make the .swf file compatible with older players?

Thanks in advance for any helpful replies, and I look forward to posting here. I'm going through the flashkit tutorials now...

[eag16]

Layers in Flash MX seem to be very similar to the ones in PS. Are there any crucial differences I should know of?
well in ps if you hide the layer you cant see it
in flash if you hide the layer you wont see but when you finalize your movie it will. depending how long is your frame.
If I create a multi-layered image in PS, and I want to animate certain objects in the image, do I have to save each layer of the .psd file as a bitmap and import them all into Flash MX?
yes. save each layer either as .bmp .gif .jpg .png
but i think most people like .jpg better

If I design something in Flash MX, does the user automatically need the Flash 6 player to view it? If not, why are some files viewable on Flash 5 and some need 6 to view? If so, is there a way to make the .swf file compatible with older players?
im not sure how to answer that

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thanks for the reply... on the last question, are you not able to answer because you don't use MX or another reason?

[eag16]

well im using the trial version of flash mx. but i use flash 5. will be upgrading soon hopeflly

If I design something in Flash MX, does the user automatically need the Flash 6 player to view it? If not, why are some files viewable on Flash 5 and some need 6 to view? If so, is there a way to make the .swf file compatible with older players?
if you make it in flash mx then yes they will need to have the flash player 6 to view it.
the reason that some are view in flash 5 player is because they were made with flash 5 or prevous version of flash. and i dont think theres away to make it compatible with older players unless yo have a previous version or know som one who has it that can do it for you

[gecko2]

Layers in Flash MX seem to be very similar to the ones in PS. Are there any crucial differences I should know of?
Layers in flash are basically the same and you can hide the layers in the same way, but if you go to publish the fla to an swf the hidden layers WILL still appear where as in PS they wouldn't. The solution to this is to make the layers 'Guide' layers so they will not show up at all, you can do this next to the start of the timeline.

If I create a multi-layered image in PS, and I want to animate certain objects in the image, do I have to save each layer of the .psd file as a bitmap and import them all into Flash MX?

I think you would have to save each part and import them in seperately. I personally don't and only use jpg's rarely for static images and backgrounds. This is because file sizes can get big when animating jpgs's and suchlike.

PS has a "save for web" function that allows you to drastically reduce file size for quicker downloads. How do I reduce file size in Flash MX?

Flash fla files are big as standard, but when exported to swf they are compressed. There's no 'save for web' type function in Flash that I know of.

If I design something in Flash MX, does the user automatically need the Flash 6 player to view it? If not, why are some files viewable on Flash 5 and some need 6 to view? If so, is there a way to make the .swf file compatible with older players?

Saving -
If you design something in MX you can either save it as an MX file or 'Save as' and save it as a Flash 5 fla file. Flash MX has new features which the flash player 5 will not work with.

Exporting -
You can export in Flash 5 or MX. Go for 5 though for now as more people have this player. I generally most of the time export to v5, even though I use MX.

Hope this was of use

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Originally posted by gecko2
Hope this was of use

yes, very much so. thanks