Re: FLASH: Tyro question

[Laura Mollett]

> I have seen many 

> animations, but dont know if they are Shocks or Flashes,


You can tell which are which by checking the extension name. Flash files are

.swf and Director files are .dcr You should be able to see the extension

when start to download the file, or view source for the page, or with

Netscape you can check under View/Page Info and it will tell you the

extensions for everything on the page.


> What is the difference between Shockwave Interned Studio ($500)


This is Director. I don't know where you're getting that price though. MM's

web site lists Director 7 Shockwave Internet Studio as $999.00. If you know

where to get it for $500, or I'm misunderstanding what it says on the site,

please let me know, because that sounds like a great deal :)


> and...

>

> Flash 3 ???. ($280)


The download and purchase version of Flash 4 (4 is the new one :) is $269.

The CD version is $299.00


Differences. I've never used Director so others are going to be able to

answer you better, but generally speaking Director has its own full

programming language (Lingo), so it is much more flexible, and has

multi-user capabilities built in. With the new Flash 4, you can now do quite

a bit more with just Flash and I don't think we're finished discovering

exactly how much, so that may be why you're finding the answer to your

question somewhat obscure. As I understand it, if you want multiuser

capabilities, if your presentations are likely to be on CD rather than the

web, if you need to do a lot of complex game-type (or data-base type?)

actions, you would probably be better off with Director.


> I need to have interactive animations with relative realistic looking

> backgrounds and moving parts (as opposed to cartoony looking) with

> clickable areas to attach behaviors or sounds and be able to send a client

> to various URLs depending on what is clicked as in an image map.


Interactive animations, clickable areas to attach actions and sounds and

image maps are no problem in Flash. The realistic looking, as opposed to

cartoony, moving parts you may find more of a problem. Vector graphics have

a tendency to be somewhat cartoony; exactly how much depends, really, on how

you draw/create it, and what you consider cartoony :). Bitmap images only

really work well in Flash if you do not animate them. If you choose to use a

bitmap and give it moving parts, it slows down the movie considerably.


> Can one take a bitmapped graphic and turn it into a vector graphic that can

> be used in an animation?


Yes. There are several methods for doing this. Flash has a trace bitmap

function which works well on small, not terribly complex images. If the

image is very complex, the vector will save you less. You can hand trace,

which requires quite a bit of time, eye-hand coordination, and ability, but

in my opinion works really well. You can also use an outside program such as

Adobe Streamline to turn bitmaps into vectors quickly (it'll do batches

even), which can be very handy in some instances, or import vectors from

Freehand or Illustrator which I have heard people have good luck with. I've

just started using streamline and am finding it works well for importing

outlines for frame-by-frame type animations. I can then add gradiants,

fills, or whatever else I want in Flash :)


> Can a Flash or Shock file (I still dont know the difference) be put in a

> layer over another graphic?


I'm not sure I understand this question. A static bitmap behind a vector

animation is not really a problem in Flash. You import the image and put it

in a 'background' layer and as long as you don't try to animate it, there's

really not a problem. Some people have exported Flash files with

transparancy, so the image on the html page shows through, but I believe

this only works in MSIE 4+


> Do my questions make any sense?


I think I understood most of them, except the last. If it weren't for the

question of animating 'non-cartoony' images, I would say go with Flash

unreservedly. It doesn't sound like you need the more complicated aspects of

the Director language. I don't know though, how well Director deals with

animating photorealistic images, and if that need can justify the cost for

you. Hopefully someone else will tell you that :)


Laura


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