Macromedia Flash

1
Macromedia Flash

• Presenter Matt Mohrman

2
Overview

• History of Flash
• What is Flash?!?
• The positives
• The negatives
• Live Examples

3
History

• Initial release - 1995
• Notable product additions
• Dec. 1996 Flash name introduced
• June 1997 Object Library was introduced
• June 1992 Internal variables, advanced
  ActionScript
• March 2002 Streaming video
• Sept. 2003 OOP ActionScript 2.0

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What is Flash?!?

• A multimedia authoring program
• Utilizes vector and raster graphics
• Uses ActionScript
• Bidirectional streaming of audio and video
• Loads in the background while playing video

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Vector vs. Raster Graphics 1

• Raster pixel based

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Vector vs. Raster Graphics 2

• Vector geometric based

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ActionScript

• ECMAScript-based programming language used for
  controlling Flash
• JavaScript deals with the structure of browser
  windows, documents and forms
• ActionScript deals with structure and
  interactivity of Flash movies, including
  animations, audio, text and client-side logic
• ActionScript history

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Using Flash is GOOD!

• Flash uses vector graphics, which allow
  scalability without loss of clarity/quality.
• Flash gives the viewer a "high-tech" impression
  of your organization that is very impressive.
• Flash can be used to create interactive animation
  for entertaining "Splash" pages, ad banners and
  even games.
• With Flash you can deliver to your audience
  engaging applications and web interfaces such as
  training courses, tutorials and presentations.

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Using Flash is BAD! 1

• Possibly inaccessible, need plug-in. Older
  browser support is poor.
• No "Back" button.
• Link colors don't work. Given this, you cannot
  easily see where you've been and which links
  you've yet to visit. This lack of orientation
  creates navigational confusion.
• The "Make text bigger/smaller" button does not
  work.

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Using Flash is BAD! 2

• Flash reduces accessibility for users with
  disabilities. (However "Flash MX" supposedly
  addresses many of these issues.)
• The "Find in page" feature does not work. In
  general, Flash integrates poorly with search.
• Internationalization and localization is
  complicated.  Text that moves is harder to read
  for users who lack fluency in the language.
• Loading. Loading.. Loading Loading. Still?!

11
Sources

• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vector_graphics
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rastor_graphics
• http//www.kestrel-designs.com/articles/flash_good
  _bad.html