 February 2000
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 iBiz's own webmaster takes a look at what is a very hot piece of software right now, Macromedia's Flash Version 4. By Rick Johnson 
Macromedia Flash (www.macromedia.com) has become the animation standard of the web. This well thought out software product has been out for several years and has evolved through several versions, each improving on the last to develop into the impressive package it is today. Now in version 4, released in early 1999, Flash is unsurpassed as a tool to create websites with not only cool animations, but also sophisticated functionality.
What is Flash? Flash is multimedia web creation software. With it you can build animated websites complete with advanced functionality. Flash is a closed authoring environment. Web creators work within the editor to build a Flash movie. You can import graphics or create vector graphics within Flash by using the program's graphics creation features. You can create text, make navigation buttons, and even import sounds as you build your animated movies. Movies are built on a timeline consisting of individual frames much like frames of a conventional movie. For example, to move a graphic across the page, a graphic is placed in the first frame. A copy of the same graphic is placed in the tenth frame but positioned across the page. The 10 frames are then simply highlighted and defined as "motion tween" to create an animation. Flash fills in the in-between frames for you, and when the movie is played, the graphic moves across the page.
Each new release of Flash has brought exciting new innovations and the current version, Flash 4, is no exception. The programming language contained in Flash called Action Script, has evolved into a very powerful programming tool in this latest version. Assigned variables, if-then-while loops, and sophisticated mouse actions are just a few of the features. Importantly, Action Script now gives many ways to input and output data to or from the Flash movie. For example, a text file can now be read in as variables to replace text in a Flash movie. A form in Flash can output data to a CGI script or a database. After the Flash movie has been created, Flash 4 has a new publish feature that creates an HTML page for you that contains and plays the Flash movie. When the movie is exported out of the editor into it's swf format, (Shockwave Flash movie) Flash compresses it significantly from it's editable version, (a fla file). Graphics are compressed, and all extra unused elements are thrown out. When the HTML file containing the Flash movie is viewed in the browser, it calls upon the Flash plug-in and plays the movie. The plug-in now ships with Netscape and Explorer versions 4 or above, or it can be downloaded free from Macromedia and will work on many older browsers. Macromedia claims their plug-in is now installed on over 83% of all computers, and there's no doubt that it has become a standard on the web. It is probably safe to assume that most of the web will be able to view a Flash movie. A well constructed Flash movie is definitely something to behold. The Flash movie uses streaming technology, which allows the movie to began playing even while much of the movie file has still not loaded, something a regular web page can't do! Learning Flash
Why? Well, Flash is a unique environment. Programming Flash movies means learning the software. It's not HTML or ASP. Also, Flash is multi dimensional. Creating graphics that move on a time line is quite different than creating a static web page. With the incredible possibilities with Flash also comes a certain complexity. Often, several programming actions are required to accomplish a relatively simple task. For example, a graphic needs to be "imported", not "opened". Then it needs to be placed in the right frame, with the right frame properties, assuming the frame has first been defined as a "keyframe". The graphic may also need to be converted to a "symbol" or "grouped". Miss a step and things won't work. Nonetheless, Flash programming is extremely satisfying and interesting to those that do master it. A growing Flash community can be found on the web to help developers. Of course, www.macromedia.com is an excellent site and www.builder.com has regular articles on the subject. Is Flash right for your web site? Ever since the early days of the web, people have wanted moving and spinning things on their website. For just as long, experienced web designers and developers have cautioned against flashy animations that serve no real purpose. Are cool flying things zooming across your home page going to sell more of your product or get more customers? Bad or tasteless website production will not help your website, and in the hands of an amateur, Flash might actually hurt you more than it will help. But in this era of increased competition on the web, a professionally done site in Flash can be truly impressive. Combining a solid marketing plan with professional design and real functionality developed with Flash will no doubt put you ahead of the competition. One doesn't have to look far to see a number of big corporate sites developed with Flash, further evidence of it's acceptance as the web animation software standard of choice. Does it always work? Even though Flash has been designed for the web with compression and streaming file loading, the Flash developer must still be concerned with file size and download times. Flash movies can easily get very large since a single movie may contain what would normally be several HTML pages. Adding sound and other elements can also increase file size significantly. The use of vector graphics is just one of the many clever ways Flash minimizes file size. Vector graphics are considerably smaller than conventional graphics, and work well in animations because of their ability to resize without distorting. Using vector graphics can keep file sizes down but can slow performance on a slower, older computer. The experienced Flash developer will reuse graphics as often as possible, using vector whenever he can, and try to program efficiently using loops and subroutines. The well built movie will have load loops that will show the user a "Please Wait" message. This gives the movie a chance to load enough in the background so the beginning can start playing. Flash has several functions that can test for loading … "If frame number 100 is loaded then continue, or else show the loading message". Failure to allow for loading can lock up a movie. If the user selects a menu choice that accesses the end of a movie that's only half loaded, the movie stops working. Movies must load, and the Flash developer of a large movie must either keep the viewer busy with content, make him wait in the beginning, or make him wait several times during the movie to make sure loading is ahead of the action. Even though the Flash plug-in is on most computers, the Flash developer must make sure the proper plug-in, and the right version, is installed on the client computer. The software does a good job of publishing the Flash movie in an HTML file that will detect the absence of the plug-in in most cases. There are some times however, that it will not. For example, Flash 4 has new functions that are not available in Flash 3. Problems arise when the plug-in is detected but because it's version 3, it will not play the Flash 4 movie properly. Here, the developer must go to extra lengths to make sure of proper detection. All things considered, Flash is a superior product, well thought out, and built for the web. The next time you see a cool web site and wonder, "How did they do that?", take your mouse and right click on it. Chances are you'll see a menu that says something like "About Flash 4", which will identify it as a Flash 4 movie. Rick Johnson is a Web Developer with Risdall Linnihan Advertising, in New Brighton, MN. He can be reached at rick@risdall.com. iBiz |