Macromedia flash MX 2004: the latest Flash upgrades add new sophistication.(Brief Article)

Macromedia has released Flash MX 2004, the latest version of its popular Web development software, which has evolved from a simple vector animation tool to a worthy application development environment. The new program includes sophisticated user interfaces and integrates databases, audio, and video. Every serious Flash developer/designer should upgrade to Flash MX 2004, if for only one reason: it creates Flash files that run faster.

Flash now comes in two flavors: Standard and Professional. Most users will likely purchase Professional, priced $200 higher, just to ensure they're not missing anything. The main reasons to purchase Professional are its data-handling capabilities; new data, media, and interface components; and "slide-based" programming (for PowerPoint-style presentations). Those who want to do just traditional frame-based animation need only the Standard version.

Users who work a lot with video might want Professional for the FLV Exporter, a free add-on that enables users to export Flash Video (FLV) files directly from programs such as Adobe After Effects and Discreet cleaner. It achieves better quality and performance than the built-in capabilities of the previous version of Flash MX. However, I question how often professionals will use the FLV Exporter, considering better quality can be had at the same file size (or a smaller file with the same quality) by exporting to the QuickTime format, for instance, and using a stand-alone compression utility such as Sorenson Squeeze ($119 for the Flash-specific version).

FLV files are necessary to use Flash's new progressive video loading feature, which provides an alternative to streaming video and embedded video. Progressive FLVs offer a number of advantages, including reduced memory requirements, which improves overall performance; the flexibility to use different frame rates for different clips within the "container" movie; more control, such as the ability to set the size of the video buffer; and less likelihood that the loaded video will interrupt the movie into which it is loaded.

Flash is now extensible. This new capability already has given rise to nearly a dozen add-ons, ranging in price from $50 to $150, for features like 3D animation, complete with lighting, materials, specular highlights, shadows, and reflections (Swift 3D Xpress from Electric Rain); text and ...