Contextualizing Flash in the Internet Evolution

If you follow the development of "bleeding edge" technology, you may have noticed how often software is created, updated, and made obsolete. At times, this cycle seems to happen almost on a daily basis. But exactly how many practical — and affordable — options exist for Web development? How can production teams develop consistent frame-works with a variety of server technologies to efficiently build Flash presentations and applications? In this section, we discuss how Flash 8 continues to push the direction and limits of the Internet.

High Expectations for Web Experiences

Despite the devastation to Web production brought about by the "dotbomb" era (that is, the economic recession that occurred after many dotcom companies went out of business), the people visiting your Web sites or using your Web-based applications still want to experience engaging interfaces with amazing graphics and sound. Clients who hire you expect that you can produce this type of material. Clients may also believe that everyone will be able to visit the site and download material instantaneously (regardless of connection speed limitations), and that every visitor will have the same experience. Before you consider whether Flash is the best tool to meet your clients' goals, let's step back for a moment and consider Flash's history.

With every release of a new version of Flash, Web developers have access to bigger and better capabilities. We've seen a vast evolution from the early days in 1997 of mere vector animations, which vastly reduced file sizes of standard GIF animations. In 1998, Flash 3 made a marked improvement by introducing more control over these animations. At that time, Web sites with small games started to arrive on the development scene. That was also the year when Macromedia Generator was introduced, enabling dynamic graphics and data for Flash movies. Many companies were apprehensive about investing in Flash development because Flash was relatively new, although it was gaining ground as an accepted form of Web delivery.

In 1999, when Flash 4 was introduced, this attitude changed a great deal. The new version was much more powerful, and could accomplish many of the tasks that Generator provided in the past. Database interaction and dynamic content were suddenly possible in real time. However, Flash 4 was still a difficult application for developers to use; the programming interface for ActionScript code was limited by drag-and-drop functionality (which was only avoidable by using third-party software). This problem no longer existed in the 2000 release of version 5. Flash 5 incorporated XML data, and ActionScript "grew up" to come closer to an object-oriented programming (OOP) language that strongly resembled JavaScript.

In 2002, Web designers and developers were handed the sixth version of Flash, dubbed "MX." Flash MX marked Macromedia's success at integrating all of their software products into a universal framework, where ColdFusion, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Director, and FreeHand could all be used together to produce a new breed of Web experiences, including Rich Internet Applications. With the new software and player, XML data was processed remarkably faster, movies were made accessible to those with physical challenges, and Macromedia Generator was no longer necessary to incorporate dynamic graphics. Flash Player 6 could load JPEG and MP3 files at run time. Developers could create reusable components that greatly decreased development time. Also, Flash Player 6 introduced support for video playback. Flash movies also became more browser-friendly with named anchors that enabled specific sections of Flash movies to be bookmarked. ActionScript continued its development into more of a "real" programming language, as more objects and event handling were exposed in application programming interfaces (APIs). Perhaps most important, Flash Player 6 could integrate with new data transfer methods made available by Flash Remoting MX, which enabled serialized data to move more efficiently from application servers (such as ColdFusion MX) to Flash movies. Flash Communication Server MX 1.0 and 1.5, released shortly after Flash MX, enabled Flash movies to synchronize live data among several connected users simultaneously — developers could create live chat rooms, multiplayer games, and shared whiteboards, just to name a few applications. Flash Communication Server also added the capability to stream live or prerecorded audio/video streams to Flash Player 6.

With all of these capabilities, it's hard to imagine that Macromedia could pack anything else into the Flash authoring environment or the Flash Player. But with the release of Flash MX 2004, Macromedia continued its commitment to pushing the Web to a new definition of excellence. Flash Player 7 was overwhelmingly optimized for speed. Everything from video play-back to text rendering to ActionScript performance has been vastly improved over Flash Player 6. This feature alone has encouraged business clients and Web surfers alike to adopt the new player version; everyone loves faster performance. Of course, there was a whole lot more to Flash Player 7. It enabled you to customize the contextual menu (that is, the right-click menu) that's displayed by Flash movies running in the player, and, by default, HTML hyperlinks within Flash text support Open in New Window and Copy Link options in the contextual menu. On the Windows platform, mouse wheel scrolling was now supported for internal Flash elements. Small text sizes could be rendered more cleanly (or crisply). JPEG or SWF content could be loaded and displayed inline with Flash text. Style sheets and CSS files added new formatting options to Flash text, enabling you to share styles from DHTML documents with your Flash content. Video lovers were enticed by the capability to load Flash Video files (.flv) directly into Flash movies, without the use of Flash Communication Server MX. Printing control was far superior in Flash Player 7 and ActionScript with the new PrintJob API. Flash MX's UI components had been completely revamped and released as V2 components, and Flash MX Pro 2004 Pro could use Data and Streaming Media components.

Introduce Flash Player 8. Flash Player 8 picks up where Flash Player 7 left off. Flash Player 8 further improves text rendering capabilities with the new FlashType engine. Now you can pull off 8-point type without resorting to a limited range of pixel-based fonts. The new filter and blend modes will revolutionize the visual expressiveness of Flash user interfaces and animated content. The truly amazing On2 VP6 video codec will push more and more Windows Media, QuickTime, and RealOne media producers over to Flash Video. The expanded image file support for runtime loading in ActionScript leaves no excuses for building your own image management utilities in Flash — with Flash Player 8 you can load PNG, JPEG, progressive JPEG, and GIF images into the Flash movie.

In the span of eight years, we have seen an incredible evolution of Flash's predecessor FutureSplash to the most widely installed Web-based plug-in technology today: Flash 8. When Flash 5 was released, Flash was undoubtedly the key for Web branding, and it seemed as though every company wanted Flash content on its Web site. Flash has continued to enjoy this popularity, despite opponents calling the technology "unusable." You could almost compare the introduction of Flash to that of the color television. It's difficult to return to largely static HTML pages after seeing the interactivity, animation, eye candy, and innovation that Flash sites offer to Web surfers — even those on slow connections or portable devices. Because of Macromedia's efforts to keep the file size of the Flash Player smaller than most browser plug-ins, and the fact that it has been preinstalled on most systems for some time now, Flash remains a widely accessible and acceptable technology for Web deployment.

To Flash or Not to Flash?

One of the crucial tasks of a Web designer or developer's job is to decide if Flash is the most appropriate tool to achieve the goals of a given project. Consider why you want — or need — to employ Flash in your work, because there are occasions when it may not be the best choice. It may not be wise to use this technology merely because it is "the thing to do" or is "cool." If you're pitching Flash projects to clients, it's a good idea to be prepared with reasons why Flash is the best tool to use to get the job done. Later in this chapter, we consider the benefits of other technologies, but for now consider what Flash can (and cannot) offer your projects.

An Effective Use of Flash

With the Flash 8 authoring tool, you can create a wide range of presentation material or develop fully functional applications that run in a Web browser or on handheld devices:

Flash generates very small file sizes while producing high-quality animation with optimal sound reproduction. Even companies making world-renowned cartoons, such as Disney, use Flash for some of their work. Because of their small file sizes, Flash movies (such as cards or announcements) can even be sent via e-mail.
Nearly any multimedia file format can be integrated into Flash. Vector images (such as EPS, FreeHand, Illustrator, and PDF files), bitmaps (GIF, PCT, TIF, PNG, and JPG), sound files (such as WAV, AIF, or MP3), and video (such as AVI and MOV) are all importable into your movies. Plug-in technology or third-party software is not required (although it does exist) to accomplish these imports. Nor is it required to play back your movies in Flash Player 8. Significant editing advantages sometimes exist when using imported files, such as symbol and layer formatting from FreeHand and Fireworks files. These features can be beneficial if you will be working with a client's raw resources.

Precise layouts with embedded fonts are possible with Flash. Formatting is usually inconsistent when you use HTML to describe page layouts, and formatting can easily vary from one browser to the next. You can be confident your movies will be formatted and displayed consistently when viewed with the Flash Player.

New Feature

Flash Player 8 adds support for crisp-looking text at small point sizes. In previous versions of Flash, most embedded fonts did not display legibly at these sizes. You now have more control over how fonts render at small point sizes.

Text, movies, images, and sound files can be displayed in your movie from a remote data source. You can incorporate dynamic content into your movie as long as the data source (such as a database or XML file) can be accessed from your host Web server or application server. Flash Player 8 can consume Web Services directly, allowing you to build B2B (business to business) applications that take advantage of public or private data sources, such as weather reports and stock information.
Just as you can receive information from a database in your movie, you can send data from your movie to the database. Flash movies can accept user input and send the data to a server. Built-in components make it easier and faster than ever before to build interactive elements that do not require an advanced knowledge of ActionScript. Your forms have the potential to be much more engaging with animation or sound additions. You can also use this technology to track user progression throughout your site and send the information to a database.
With the proper server-side software, you can produce multiuser interactivity. Since Flash 5, you have been able to use XML sockets for transmission of data between a socket server and one or more connected Flash movies. XML operates much faster using Flash Player 6 and higher. Also, with the release of Flash Communication Server MX, developers now have a consistent API to create multiuser applications. Remote Shared Objects, one of the mechanisms employed by Flash Communication Server MX, use an efficient and optimized binary protocol, Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP), to broadcast data updates.

Several Flash movies can be loaded into one large container movie. You can create a master Flash movie and then load many Flash assets into it for each individual area of the interface or presentation. Using this method of asset management enables you to delegate tasks in a team production environment, where several designers and developers can work simultaneously. This workflow also enables you to create byte-optimized large Web sites and applications, in which assets are downloaded on an "as needed" basis while the user interacts with the Flash movie.

Tip

Flash Pro 8 features a Project panel that can tap versioning system software such as Microsoft SourceSafe. The Project panel has several file check-in and check-out features that Dreamweaver users will find familiar.

You can dynamically load images and MP3 files using Flash Player 6 or higher. These versions of the Flash Player can load standard JPEG image files and progressively download and play MP3 files. Flash Player 7 can also progressively download Flash Video (.flv) files over the standard Web protocol, HTTP. Flash Player 8 can also load progressive JPEG, PNG, and GIF image formats.

Note

A progressive download is any file type that can be used before the entire file is actually received by the Flash Player. Progressive downloads are usually cached by the Web browser. You can stream MP3 files with the use of Flash Communication Server MX 1.5. This server uses true streaming of all audio and video content, where nothing is cached by the Flash Player or the Web browser.

Creating components in Flash 8 enables developers to form reusable template interfaces or assets for Flash movies. The components that ship with Flash 8 greatly reduce the development time of interfaces that require common UI elements such as text input areas and radio buttons. Components can be easily customized in the Property inspector, and many settings can be changed without the use of ActionScript.

Note

Flash 8 uses the .swc file format for components in Flash documents. Components can be precompiled, which means that you cannot edit their internal elements or code unless you have access to the original source .fla file used to create them.

The Flash Player is available on many different platforms and devices, including Windows, Macintosh, Solaris, Linux, OS/2, SGI IRIX, Pocket PC, and even some mobile telephones. Refer to www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/alternates for the latest version available for these and other alternative platforms. Just about any Web surfer will be able to view Flash content by downloading and installing the latest version of the Flash Player.
Movies can be developed to run presentations of their own, commonly known as Projectors. Projectors are Flash movies running from an embedded player, so you do not need a browser to view or use them. They can be burned onto DVDs or CD-ROMs, or saved to any other media-storage device.
Like HTML pages, content from Flash movies can be sent to a printer. The PrintJob API in Flash Player 7 or higher ActionScript language offers you the capability to precisely control the layout of the printed page. The quality of the printed artwork and text from Flash movies is remarkable. Unlike previous versions of the Flash Player, you can send multiple pages to the printer at once and create content on the fly for the printed output.

These are only some of the things that Flash movies can do. Regardless of the intent of your production, verifying the use of this software is usually a good idea during preproduction. In the following subsection, we consider situations in which you may not want to use Flash to develop your content.

Web Resource

We'd like to hear how you've come to use Flash technology in your projects. Post your comments at www.flashsupport.com/howdoyouflash.

When Not to Use Flash

If you're enthusiastic about Flash and have used Flash for previous Web projects, you can easily develop a bias in favor of Flash. It may even be hard to consider that other options could be better for development. Knowing which technology is best for each solution will assist you in offering the best quality products to your clients.

Flash movies play in a Web browser using a plug-in. Despite the near ubiquity of the Flash Player, there are still some users who may need to download it. If you're using Flash 8 to create Flash Player 8 movies, many Web visitors trying to view your site may need to update their players. It is also important to keep in mind that some workplaces or institutions (such as schools) will not allow their workers or students to install applications that include plug-ins and ActiveX controls on the systems.

The type and version of a Web browser can affect the functionality of a Flash movie. While internal ActionScript code should largely remain unaffected by browser brand and version, some scripting and interactivity with HTML documents (using JavaScript or VBScript) may be browser dependent.

Tip

Later releases of Flash Player 6 and all subsequent releases of the Flash Player now support the WMODE (Window Mode) parameter of Flash content across most browsers — previously, this parameter was only supported by Internet Explorer on Windows. If you've ever seen transparent-background Flash ads that whiz across the browser window, then you're already familiar with the use of the WMODE parameter. For more information on this parameter, read Chapter 38, "Working with Dreamweaver 8," which is included as a PDF file on this book's CD-ROM.

Web browsers will not automatically redirect to alternative content if the Flash Player is not installed. You, as a developer, are required to create detection mechanisms for the Flash Player.

New Feature

Flash 8 has an updated detect version option in the Publish Settings. You can learn more about this feature in Chapter 21, "Publishing Flash Movies." To learn how to use this detection feature and other custom detection methods for the Flash Player, refer to Chapter 22, "Integrating Flash Content with Web Pages."

3D file formats cannot be directly imported or displayed in Flash movies. To achieve 3D-style effects, frame-by-frame animation or ActionScript is required. Macromedia Director, however, has built-in features for importing, creating, and manipulating 3D content.

Tip
In Chapter 17, "Displaying Video," you learn how a video of a 3D model can be used for 3Dlike effects in a Flash Video.

Typical search engines (or spiders) have a difficult time indexing the content of Flash movies. When you make Flash-based sites, you should create some alternative HTML content that can be indexed by search engines. If you simply place Flash movies in an otherwise empty HTML document, your Web site will not likely be indexed.

New Feature

Flash 8 enables you to add metadata to your Flash movie files (.swf). This metadata is added in the Document Properties (Modify ⇨ Document) of the Flash document, and can be published with all Flash Player versions of the document. This metadata can be indexed by search engines to provide better placement of your Flash content within search results.

Flash sites were never meant to completely replace text-based HTML sites. For sites largely based on textual information with basic or simple graphics, there may be little point to using Flash. Selecting and printing text content from Flash movies is not always as intuitive as that of standard HTML sites. At this time, the Accessibility features of Flash Player 6 and higher are supported only by Internet Explorer for Windows when used in conjunction with a select number of screen readers. A greater number of assistive technologies, however, support HTML pages.

Tip

You can add right-click menu support to HTML-styled text containing URL links. For example, this feature of Flash Player 7 and higher movies enables a user to open a link in a new browser window.

In many circumstances, HTML is quicker, easier, and cheaper to develop than Flash content. There are many established applications supporting HTML development, and clients can tap an ever-increasing designer and developer base for cheaper and competitive pricing.

Of course, there are always exceptions to any rule, and these suggestions should be considered as guidelines or cautions to be examined before you embark on any Flash development. In the following subsection, we examine other tools used to create multimedia content.

Alternative Methods of Multimedia Authoring

Now let's focus on Flash's competition in the multimedia authoring arena. This section is not intended to give you a comprehensive background on these technologies. Rather, we seek simply to give you some context of Flash as it exists in the rest of the multimedia world.

Dynamic HTML

Dynamic HTML (DHTML) is a specialized set of markup tags that tap into an extended document object model (DOM) that version 4 browsers or higher can use. Using <layer> or <div> tags, you can create animations and interactive effects with Web-authoring tools ranging from Notepad or TextEdit to Macromedia Dreamweaver. You can actually combine Flash content with DHTML to create Flash layers on top of other HTML content. One problem with DHTML is that Netscape and Internet Explorer do not use it in the same way. Usually, you need to make sure you have a specialized set of code (or minor modifications) for each browser type.

Tip

Flash Player 7 and higher movies support the use of cascading style sheets (CSS) to share formatting specifications from DHTML pages with Flash text fields. Refer to Chapter 30, "Applying HTML and Text Field Formatting," for an introduction to this feature.

XML and XSL

XML stands for eXtensible Markup Language. XML looks like HTML, but it's really a language that can manage structured or related data, such as pricing information, contact information, or anything else that you would store in a database. XSL stands for eXtensible Stylesheet Language. XSL documents apply formatting rules to XML documents. Together, XML and XSL documents can create interactive data-driven Web sites. While most browsers in use today can read and display XML and XSL documents, some older browsers (prior to 4 browser versions) do not support these formats. The Flash Player can be installed on just about every graphical Web browser available, regardless of the browser's version. As such, you can potentially reach more users with Flash content than you can with XML and XSL content. As you see later in this chapter, XML can also be used to supply data to Flash.

Note

The rise of AJAX, or Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, is enabling non-Flash technologies in the Web browser to provide more seamless Rich Internet Application-like functionality. For more information on AJAX, see the AJAX section at www.flashsupport.com/links.

Macromedia Director

Originally, Macromedia's flagship product, Director, was the multimedia powerhouse authoring solution. Since its inception in the 1980s, Director has had the benefit of many years to establish its mature interface and development environment. Director can integrate and control many media types, including video, audio, and entire Flash movies. Director also has an Xtras plug-in architecture, which enables third-party developers to expand or enhance Director's capabilities. For example, you can use an Xtra plug-in to tap hardware-specific input and output, such as a motion detector or pressure-sensitive plate connected to the computer's serial port. More recently, Director 8.5, MX, and MX 2004 have added true 3D modeling support. You can create Shockwave games with textured models and lighting effects! However, there are two major drawbacks to Shockwave Director: It requires a larger download for the full player installation, and the player is available only for Windows and Macintosh platforms. Director remains a popular authoring tool for CD-ROM and DVD-ROM development.

Macromedia Authorware

Authorware, like Flash, was originally a technology developed by another company and then bought by Macromedia to add to its software lineup. Since this acquisition, Macromedia has significantly developed the features and capabilities of Authorware. It is an authoring application and a companion plug-in technology, with similar audio/video integration capabilities as Macromedia Director. However, Authorware was developed with e-learning in mind. You can use it to structure training solutions and monitor student learning. We mention Authorware as a potential competitor to Flash because many Flash developers use Flash to create Webtraining modules that interact with server-side databases.

Scalable Vector Graphics

The Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) format is widely supported by some of the largest names in the industry, such as Microsoft and Adobe. This format has even been approved as a graphics standard for the Web by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), whose purpose is to form universal protocols regarding Web standards. SVG is much more than a graphics format; it is also an XML-based development language. Adobe Illustrator 11, GoLive 6, and LiveMotion 1 create files based on this technology. Adobe also creates the plug-in for using this file format on the Web, but the W3C is pushing for all browsers to provide built-in support for the format so that a third-party download is unnecessary. This may be necessary if SVG is ever to become a viable content format because Web surfers have been quite slow to adopt the SVG plug-in. For more information on this topic, you can refer to www.w3c.org/Graphics/SVG and www.adobe.com/svg.

Microsoft PowerPoint

PowerPoint is usually considered a tool for making offline presentations to show in business meetings, conferences, and seminars. What is perhaps not as well-known is how PowerPoint is sometimes used online for presenting such content. A PowerPoint viewer plug-in enables your browser to handle these files, and PowerPoint can export HTML versions of slide shows. While PowerPoint enables anyone from a designer to a programmer to easily create slideshow presentations, Flash can be considered a more robust tool for creating dynamic, high-impact presentations.

SMIL, Real Systems RealPlayer, and Apple QuickTime

SMIL (Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language) also looks a lot like HTML markup tags. SMIL enables you to layer several media components in SMIL-compatible players such as the RealOne Player and the QuickTime Player. You probably have seen SMIL at work when you load the RealOne Player and see the snazzy graphics that compose the channels interface. With SMIL, you can layer interactive buttons and dynamic text on top of streaming video or audio content. You may not even think of SMIL as a competing technology, but rather a complementary one — Flash can be one of the multimedia tracks employed by SMIL! You can even use Flash as a track type in QuickTime, without the use of SMIL. When Flash 4 was released, Macromedia and Apple announced QuickTime Flash movies, which enable you to create Flash interfaces that layer on top of audio-video content. The RealOne Player will also play "tuned" Flash files directly, without the use of SMIL. A tuned Flash file is weighted evenly from frame to frame to ensure synchronized playback. Note, however, that tuned files usually need to be strict linear animations without any interactive functionality.

Note

Several multimedia companies are developing proprietary plug-in-based authoring tools for Web multimedia. To participate in a discussion of multimedia formats, check out the forum at www.flashsupport.com/mediaformats/.