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Subject: Re: FLASH: LiveMotion - Pros & Cons
From: Michael Greenberg
Date: Fri, 26 May 2000 00:53:44 +0100

Ok my big question is. What does Live Motion give you that Flash doesn't?
The Adobe interface I guess. But for those who love the Macromedia style UI
(such as myself) that buys me nothing.

Despite what Flash 5 may or may not have in store for us. I think Live
Motion wasn't a very good stab at Flash for so many reasons.

My 2 cents,
Michael

> From: "J. Lutes (pixelTwiddler)" <jasonatgrafikimagism [dot] com>
> Reply-To: flasheratchinwag [dot] com
> Date: Thu, 25 May 2000 10:57:52 -0600
> To: flasheratchinwag [dot] com
> Subject: RE: FLASH: LiveMotion - Pros & Cons
>
>>> rummor has it that flash 5 will have filter effects and almost
>>> the same exact feature that LM has.
>
>> It would be sort of self-destructive to
>> willfully bloat SWF files like that, so I'd be surprised if Flash 5 put
>> effort into supporting pixel-based filtering... there are more important
>> things to do.
>
> I agree. One of my disappointments with the release of LM, as a big Adobe
> supporter, is the seeming disregard for certain efficiency issues -- one of
> the reasons for the widespread adoption of Flash in the first place.
>
> All of the 3-D effects, and some other things in surprisingly unexpected
> places, output a raster format. Blech! If I wanted this, I could do it,
> and much better, in something more dedicated to 3-D effects or raster
> processing. Another recent encounter with inefficiency... I made a five
> second test with some combination tweens on a simple vector object/shape --
> rotate, scale, alpha fade, color shift, etc. Each of the tween "frames"
> (time slices) tranferred/exported as a graphic symbol, resulting in a 26K
> file with 60 symbols! Yikes! I can't hold this against them, though. I
> haven't seen any SWF output from third party (conversion/translate) tools
> fully eliminate the object/frame redundancy inherent in creating outside of
> the native Flash environment (because the translation is apparently
> difficult to accurately make). The current crop of over-touted 3-D
> conversion software is still king of this sort of efficiency violation. It
> is a problem wherever you go in CG. Even Macromedia still doesn't do
> something as simple as translate Targa files correctly when importing into
> Director. Nor does Adobe translate (as expected they might easily do)
> Dimensions output, from the PostScript it uses, to a properly
> ordered/arranged 2-D AI output. It's tough going! That is really why with
> Flash you still have an edge -- optimization. Having said that...
>
> Here is the short list of some recent LM disappointments.
>
> o There is no simple object snap. That's an incredible oversight! Someone
> please tell me where to find it if it's there and I just haven't seen it.
> In my mind this, and the automatic point-of-intersect parsing of vector
> lines, is one of Flash's main strengths over whatever else I use to
> manipulate vector artwork.
>
> o Some of my favorite shortcut key combinations (which I use across
> multiple Adobe applications) aren't in this software.
>
> o Limited gradient support compared to what I expected/hoped for/find in
> other Adobe software.
>
> o It lags sometimes interactively while constructing/designing --
> especially if you have the grid showing with auto-picking of the selection
> tool enabled. Depending on what you are doing, this is a terrible problem.
> Incidently, I am on a pIII 600 w/ 256 Mb of RAM, but only an 8 Mb ATI video
> card -- it's a laptop. Why am I lagging at all? Note: I am on to you wise
> acres who just got a notion to respond with, "'Cause you're not on a Mac!"
> It lags on the G4 here also. Sorry, folks.
>
> Anyway, beyond the minor disappointments (the biggest of which is probably
> the Flash 3-level interactivity limitation), Live Motion is a really nifty
> product. Again, I have an Adobe-centered bias that is difficult to sway.
>
> Here are some areas where I feel it rules over Flash. I am leaving out
> some things for the sake of brevity, and am in no way suggesting
> abandonment of Flash -- to the contrary, I am for LM as only supplemental
> at this point (but stay tuned).
>
> o More immediate design/construction possibilities (within the interface)
> compared to Flash. This will be compensated for in the next Flash release,
> to an extent.
>
> o Somewhat familiar paradigm for users of other Adobe products, especially
> After Effects. It is not a workflow panacea, though. There are some new,
> potentially confusing, interface "enhancements."
>
> o The style bin (allowing you to store and reapply effects/animation/etc.
> with drag and drop ease) -- a borrowed model which you will, and should,
> see other software adopt. Something similar is coming in Flash 5.
>
> o The timeline, which is a little nicer to edit than the Flash (Future
> Splash holdover) timeline.
>
> o Precision editing of individual effect or transform key frames, with
> (Drum roll please!) the ability to ease to/from _both_ sides of the key
> frame. Wow!
>
> o Awesome interface model (with a floating palette/bin) for those who
> frequently incorporate textures/bitmap fills. Flash is still clunky,
> buggy, or deficient in the handling of color, gradients, and bitmap fills.
> <OMG! Did he just say what I thought he did? Boy, he's going to get it now!>
>
> In summary, I like Live Motion a lot. At this point, though, you are
> better off sticking to Flash, unless you can afford both tools. Live
> Motion will take some development time to solidify as a self-contained
> Flash option.
>
>
> -
> J A S O N L U T E S
> ICQ: pixelTwiddler (#18046724)
> E-mail: jasonatgrafikimagism [dot] com
>
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flasher is generously supported by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
World Animation Celebration - Big Internet Animation Pow Wow Discount Offer

Register before May 25 mention flasher and save 25%!! www.wacfest.com

Be discovered, get a job or have your web series picked up. A big talent search for Shockwave
and Flash animators is happening May 30-June 4 in Hollywood. Featuring Rob Burgess, Matt
Groening, Brad Bird and more. www.wacfest.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To unsubscribe or change your list settings go to
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Replies
  RE: FLASH: LiveMotion - Pros & Cons, J. Lutes (pixelTwiddler)

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