Re: FLASH: a Fireworks wish list? (long)

[John Dowdell]

Well, I guess you know where the wishlist is now.... ;)


fwiw, all the tool development groups here at the shop really crave hearing

from you how changes to the tool can help your own daily work -- as you can

tell by the feature list on Flash 3, what you say *does* have a very big

impact.


Although various team members spend time on the different newsgroups and

lists, sending requests directly to the wishlist makes sure that everyone

sees it, and also adds your request to the database for the

feature-prioritization stage of the development cycle.


(You can reach the wishlist for any Macromedia tool by going to its main

page on the Macromedia site, and clicking on the "Contact Us" menu item.)




I'm in tech support, and so focus more on current workarounds and

background technology than on the future. Here's some cross-tool comment

for individual items on Stephen's list:



>1.) Support for Flash 3 file export. I have noticed that

>MM has added this feature to Freehand 8.01 and seeing that

>Fireworks is primarily a vector tool, why not do the same.


We've got a slight problem here, because Fireworks uses vectors to create

bitmaps. Although it has editable curves, like Flash or FreeHand, the

pretty brushstrokes in Fireworks are the result of applying parameters to a

curve to produce a bitmap.


Rephrased, although Flash and Fireworks both use curves to describe shapes,

what they do with these curves is very different: Fireworks takes a moment

to create detailed bitmaps from these curves, while Flash focuses on

rendering these curves cleanly and quickly. The way they change curves over

time is completely different, too.


(Both tools can accept complex curves from FreeHand, which has the

strongest set of curve-development tools, but both Flash and Fireworks are

more like delivery environments than creation environments, which is why

interconversion has been lower on the priority list to date.)


If you find yourself creating extensively in either Flash or Fireworks, and

then need to transfer just the raw curve information from one to the other,

then that would be valuable information for the wishlist, thanks. But

because Fireworks takes a moment to re-render each curve as it changes,

it's difficult to fully transfer curves between the two apps today.




>2.) Add a vector "cut" feature, similar to those found in

>Illustrator, Freehand and Xara. Where you can overlap two

>vector objects - say a circle and a square - and then use

>the "cut" feature to delete one of the objects and

>create a new shape.


As Nigel pointed out, you can get some similar effects by joining. The

Knife/Eraser Tool can also help as well. FreeHand has the strongest

curve-creation abilities, hower... you can punch, join, union, combine,

blend, offset, inflate, roughen and so on. Not all of this was duplicated

into the initial version of Fireworks... if you prioritize this higher than

other needs, then that's useful info for the wishlist, thanks.



>3.) Dodge and burn. MM has probably been deluged with this

>request so I won't go further.


Fireworks didn't try to be a photo-processor... it can do some simple

image-correction, but there are other tools that are more your full-fledged

pixel-pushing photoprocessin' tools. Photoshop is generally better for

preparing captured photographs.


Still, you *can* use most pixel-filters within Fireworks... it comes with

the PhotoOptics set for image correction, and most third-party plugins can

be used in alternate hosts too. Although there aren't specific

Burn/Dodge/Sponge tools in Fireworks, there are ways to achieve these

general changes to pixels.


And one other thing you can do today, entirely within Fireworks and without

plugins, is to overlay an area of a photo with a small shape, and then

adjust its blending mode and transparency. You can desaturate with

"Saturation" mode, and by eyedropping the shape's color "Hue" can saturate

areas of the underlying photo. These are non-destructive changes... the

shapes always exist as independent objects, and you won't change those

pixels until you export the final image.




>4.) Support for Twain scanning. If MM really wants to

>create an "all-in-one" web graphics toolbox, it needs

>this feature.


Built-in scanning has certainly come in on the wishlist. The intent,

though, wasn't as much for an all-in-one graphics tool, but more a

start-to-finish web tool.


Usually when people scan they also color-correct, adjust curves, do some

simple compositing/masking/fading work. This is the style of art where

Photoshop excels... it's designed to correct colors and to mask things

together. (That's its name... it's a photo shop! ;)


Fireworks tried to correct a workflow flaw, by integrating typography and

layout into the graphic creation process... by adding GIF animation

tools... building a best-of-breed compressor... then integrating the

smart-slicing and JavaScript abilities. When you're on a tight deadline and

a client changes the slogan, you need to be able to turn it around

immediately, instead of tracing back through multiple applications. This

need was a key driving force behind Fireworks.


Still, if you find that you need your scanning/correction work done in

Fireworks, rather than use a photo-processor or clipart, then please do

send it in to the wishlist, thanks. There have been a few votes for this

already, and every bit of reality-check helps.




>5.) Add a vector bitmap tracer. It would be great if MM

>could include a feature that can do the same things as

>Adobe Streamline.


FreeHand does what Streamline does, only faster, less expensively, and with

better editing ability. Because Fireworks paints into a canvas with

editable vector strokes, you're still ending up with pixels here.


Tip: If you wish to give a painterly effect to a photograph, then import it

to a background layer and adjust its opacity. You can then stroke the

*significant* outlines of the photo with Fireworks' brushes.

   The nice thing here is that you can group curves, or put them on

separate layers, and _always_ change their width, spatter, bristles, and

other painterly parameters. It's an editable vector curve, but with rich

pixel display... everything's editable, all the time, and you can change

your mind whenever you want.



Thanks again for the requests, Stephen... hope the above's of interest as

current background, and some of the currently available approaches.


jd




John Dowdell, Macromedia Tech Support, San Francisco CA US


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