Bruce Von Stiers

As the Internet has grown, the need for bigger, better, faster has gotten intense. So much so that companies have been hard pressed to come up with application software that brings ideas and content to advanced Web users. One of the software companies making great strides in this arena is Macromedia. They have programs like Dreamweaver and Freehand. Their best selling program is Flash. There are supposed to be more than one million web professionals that utilize Flash for providing Web content. Macromedia has just released a new version of Flash. This version is called Flash MX.

There are several new features in this new version of Flash. One of the top new features is the ability to design in MX and then save it as a Flash 5 file. This will help designers who are unsure if the user will upgrade to the new Flash player or stick with the Flash 5 one. And as Macromedia has gotten behind the Accessibility issue, more of the Flash content can be seen or heard by people with disabilities. There is also now support for the Korean and Chinese languages.

To streamline the design process, and to unclutter the work surface area, the most used features of the programs now are contained in a singe, context-sensitive Panels and Property Inspector.

I probably need to back up a minute. I haven't even mentioned what Flash MX is. The short answer is that Flash MX is a software program that lets you design and publish professional grade animations and content for the Internet. The output is set up so that a user who has a 28.8 modem can view the completed content on the same level as someone with high speed Internet access. A completed animation is called a movie. You can even export a Flash movie as a QuickTime movie.

Getting back to the features of Flash MX, we find that there are also some enhanced tools for content developers. The video capabilities have been beefed up. You can import .dv files along with .avi, mpeg and .mov movie files. Video files can be embedded in the body of a Flash movie for easy adaptation and editing.

As items designed in Flash are considered movies, there is a Timeline that is used by the program. The Timeline feature has also been enhanced in this new version. Layers can be stacked up on the left side of the Timeline and individual frames can be edited.

Basically, Flash MX is a frame by frame animation program. Add scrolling text to a product window on the computer screen. Want a cute animation of a bee flying around the screen? No problem. Simply set the starting and ending points. Then do the Motion Tweening function and you now have a bee buzzing around on the screen. You can also do what is called Shape Tweening that allows you to change a shape in different frames or add other ones. This makes for a real interesting morphing animation.

You can add audio files to your animations. With the advent of MP3, it is nice that Macromedia added it as one of the audio files types that Flash will import into a movie. There is also extensive HTML support, which helps if you are making a Flash movie to embed into a web page. And as XML is getting more recognition and acceptance, Macromedia has incorporated tools to work with that format.

The program has some color mixing tools that will make gradient and bitmap fill editing a little easier. That way you can edit the image in place, rather than using a different program and then importing the image back into Flash. This also works hand in hand with the upgraded pixel-level controls that Flash has.

For people who need their Flash movie to do a whole bunch of things, Macromedia has developed that ActionScript language. This is a little like Java Script and a little like Visual Basic. Flash MX has added ActionScript functions like colored syntax highlighting and code hinting.

Flash MX will not be the easiest program to learn if you are new to it. But there is quite a bit of online help available. Tutorials are also available to take you through some of the more basic steps of designing a Flash MX movie.

As Microsoft has gotten almost all of the PC market tied up with Windows, Macromedia has done the same thing with Flash. There are supposed to be over 90 percent of today's web users that have a Flash player as one of the add-ons for their browsers. That makes for a whole bunch of folks who could view your handy-dandy Flash movie that you added to your web site.

Me, I have liked Flash for quite a while. And the new elements in Flash MX will surely appeal to people who want to add cool animation and features to their web sites without having visitors suffer from slow downloads.

When I have more time (yeah, right) I plan on doing some creative design for the BVS Reviews web site. Flash MX will play a huge part in the new design.

High end animation and the ability to have it download quickly and evenly, even to a low speed dial-up connection, is something you can accomplish by designing content in Flash MX.

The system requirements are as follows:

Windows 98 SE, Windows ME, NT 4, Windows 2000 or Windows XP
64 MB RAM (128 MB Recommended)
85 MB Free hard drive space
1024x768 video display
CD-ROM drive

System Requirements for Macintosh Users:

Mac OS 9.1 or higher, or OX X 10.1 or higher
64 MB RAM (128 MB Recommended)
85 MB Free hard drive space
1024x768 video display
CD-ROM drive

Retail outlets are now carrying Flash MX. Check with your favorite software retailer to see if they have it available. It has a list price of $ 499 for the full package or $ 199 for the Upgrade package.

If you can't get it through your local retailer, or if you want more information about the product, check out the Macromedia web site. It can be found at www.macromedia.com