Flash

Authoring Software

http://www.adobe.com/products/flash/flashpro/

Overview

• Creates full screen animation and interactivity for the web.
• Flash has its own (limited) inbuilt vector drawing program.
• Uses resolution independent vector file format.
• Creates interactive controls and actions within animations without scripting.
• Exports compressed files called Shockwave Flash Movies. The Shockwave movies are then embedded into an HTML document. The HTML document directs the Shockwave movie to play in the web browser.
• Shockwave movies use the Flash player plugin to play in the browser (Flash player is available free from the Macromedia site).
• Creates charts and graphs.
• Animates text.
• Can be used to design simple 3D graphics.
• Creates accessible content using Microsoft Access Accessibility-compliant components for screen readers and keyboard access systems.
• Can accommodate video files.

Linked Software:

Illustrator
Provides extended drawing capabilities. Illustrator files are easily imported into Flash.

Director
Import Flash components such as animations and interactive modules.

Dreamweaver
Can be used as an alternative to Aftershock (a utility software that comes with Flash) to embed Flash movies into an HTML document ready for the web.

ImageReady

• Use ImageReady to create optimised images for use in Flash.
  Use ImageReady to create small animations for use in Flash.

Technical Terms

Vector Graphics:
Are made of lines and curves defined by mathematical objects called vectors. Vectors describe graphics according to their geometric characteristics.

A vector graphic is resolution-independent - that is it can be scaled to any size without losing its detail or clarity.

Bitmap Graphics:
Also called raster images. These images use a grid of small squares, known as pixels, to represent graphics. Each pixel in a bitmap image has a specific location and colour value assigned to it. Bitmap images are not resolution independent.

"Embedding" multimedia objects into a web page:
Multimedia objects such as Shockwave and QuickTime are not automatically supported by internet browsers. "Embedding" multimedia objects into a webpage directs the internet browser to use an external application or plugin to display the file.

HTML
Hyper Text Markup Language is used to define the structure and layout of a web document. Software such as Dreamweaver write this language automatically.

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