Flash consistently wins
the Web animation popularity contest, and the newest
version, Flash MX 6.0 (available for
PC or
Mac), is no exception. We had to wait in a server
queue for a good 15 minutes before our download began.
The fully functional demo is a hefty 46MB (for the
Windows version), so if you suffer from low bandwidth,
you must schedule some time to get it. Though we're used
to instant gratification from the Internet, we found
that Flash MX was well worth the wait.
Once the download was complete, the self-extracting
installation wizard checked for and then prompted us to
install the latest version of Flash Player. The Flash MX
installation took only a couple of minutes, after which
we were prompted to restart the computer. Our 30-day
trial of Macromedia Flash MX had begun.
Precustomized work space
Flash MX sports a handy new welcome guide to help users
select their best working environment. This screen
enables you to choose between Designer, General, and
Developer environments, and it provides a roll-over
description of typical applications for each. These
profiles determine which tools and panels are initially
displayed, though you can customize your work space to
your heart's content. The default panel set will be
readily familiar to previous Flash users or anyone with
experience with Macromedia products.
The Designer work space includes a number of panels,
such as Timeline, Drawing Tools, Property Inspector, and
Color Tools. We found some big improvements in these
tools over the previous version's easier management of
swatches, context-sensitive checking for relative
properties for objects, and improved
drawing/transformation tools. Also, Timeline Layers can
now be organized in folders.
The General interface is geared toward new users, with
tutorials at the ready. The Developer interface offers
an environment for the coder. Improved ActionScript
components, reference panels coupled with new scripting
and debugging tools, and a Bonus Samples database
available through the Help files make this version more
programmer friendly than ever.
More
improvements
The program's tutorials will quickly acclimate even
novice Flash users, and for prior users, the overviews
of new features and quick-start templates are extremely
useful. This new version of Flash offers video support
for MPEG, DV (digital video), MOV, and AVI formats and
lets you edit and animate video objects and add
interactivity through scripting.
Flash MX rounds out its marked improvements with better
international language support, parsing of Unicode
strings for symbols, and new vertical text capabilities.
Additionally, it has tools for making content more
accessible for people with disabilities, allowing more
universal access to the masterworks it helps you create.
You can even pass Flash files back and forth between
Flash 5.0 and MX. With its enhanced features for the
advanced developer and in-depth tutorials for the Flash
neophyte, Flash MX is well worth the download wait.
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