RE: source programs [was: GIF]

[John Dowdell]

At 12:16 PM 5/21/98, Brian Alvey wrote:

>Hey there everyone -- I'm currently developing a site which will have

>three versions: one is regular light HTML (tables and GIFs), another is

>Flash and frames and the third is DHTML/4.0+ audience.


My first kneejerk reaction here is that Dreamweaver can help, because it

lets you create the pages with layers and stylesheets yet still export a

version which 3.0 browsers can read.




> I use Illustrator and Photoshop all day long.

> I own Freehand, but I don't use it (same as Director).

> So is Fireworks the best place to start drawing a piece that

> will end up in Flash? Is Freehand?


Fireworks and Flash sort of parallel each other... both are destination

environments where the key emphasis is on producing a good tight final

format. Although they both edit with vectors, Fireworks produces bitmaps,

HTML and JavaScript as its final output formats.


Flash is a great drawing tool in its own right, particularly if you use a

tablet. FreeHand complements both Flash and Fireworks through its precision

drawing and great range of Xtra tools. (Mirroring tools, pseudo-3D

rotation, enveloping, Graphic Hose, stylesheets, live blends, the list goes

on....)


You can successfully use Illustrator with Flash and Fireworks... there's

direct .AI import in both, and your design comes in as editable vectors.

Illustrator doesn't have the range and depth that FreeHand offers, but if

you were taught Illustrator in school and haven't moved up to FreeHand yet,

then sure, Illustrator work can be brought right into Flash.


Note that we're on the tail end of the switch from only-CMYK to RGB color

in ILL7. Over the past year people frequently saw muting of colors when

transferring from ILL7 to other tools, because the common .AI format

between the tools didn't read its new addition yet. Now AI transfers are

more uniformly moving in the RGB space.


Note also that you'd *definitely* want to tweak the artwork a bit in Flash

before SWFing it... PostScript tools aren't as concerned with curve

optimization as Flash is, and so breaking apart groups and optimizing

curves can pay off greatly in final file size. Use the precision artwork as

a starting point!


(Fireworks and Photoshop are useful in Flash 3 both for regular bitmaps,

but also for PNG transparency... your PNG alpha can be imported into Flash

3 and then used as a mask for vector animations, which can be a very

pretty, flowing effect. Haven't seen this used on the web yet.... ;)



Summary: Yes, sure, Illustrator or FreeHand or CorelDRAW or whatever can

help with creating different styles of graphics for Flash. Use the AI

formats, watch for colorshifts, and be sure to optimize the graphics after

import.


Have fun!



jd




John Dowdell, Macromedia Tech Support, San Francisco CA US


Private email options: http://www.macromedia.com/support/priority.html

Search technotes: http://www.macromedia.com/support/search/

Entertainment on the web: http://shockrave.macromedia.com/

Luscious web graphics: http://www.macromedia.com/software/fireworks/




------------------------------------------------------------------------

To UNSUBSCRIBE send: unsubscribe flasher in the body of an

email to

list-managershocker [dot] com

.  Problems to:

ownershocker [dot] com

N.B. Email address must be the same as the one you used to subscribe.

For info on digest mode send: info flasher to

list-managershocker [dot] com