Product Reviews

Macromedia Flash MX is here, and it delivers on what the pre-release promised (see Reviews, 8 March 2002, p60). Importantly, it's now a native Mac OS X application. It still works in Mac OS 8 and 9, but OS X users no longer have to run Flash in Classic mode. But there's more than just Carbon in Flash MX - Macromedia has also tackled some of the complaints about its complexity and learning curve. It hasn't been totally transformed, but this is the most accessible version of Flash so far.
Particularly useful is the way the interface has been reorganised. Grouping of features is more logical, and a number of preset palettes are provided in the Window menu. Pick your preference when you first launch Flash MX - Designer, General or Developer - and the most appropriate sets of palettes (called panels in Flash) are opened for you. Different sets for larger screen resolutions can be selected from the menus, and you can even save your own palette layouts. It isn't clear how to switch from one preference set to another, but as this is nothing more than a convenient way to hide and show different palettes it's not really a big problem.
Editing object properties is much simpler with the new Property palette, and the improvements to the Timeline are very welcome; Layer folders in particular will be a great help for those with complex, deep timeline structures.

The drawing tools haven't been improved that much, so creating complex graphics can still frustrate. The new Free Transform

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feature helps, but FreeHand or Illustrator are best for precise design work.

Flash in the pan
The new Sorenson video codec built into Flash MX and the new Flash player provides a way to use video footage in your Flash projects. Video can be manipulated like bitmaps and controlled with ActionScripts. This could raise the usefulness of Flash dramatically, as it offers an attractive way to deliver controlled video content with true scripted interactivity. Handling objects in the many different forms required for different kinds of use can be confusing. Dealing with timeline layers and objects is still a chore, although Layer Folders do help.

If you're interested in creating interactive Web content, then Flash MX offers the most compelling set of features by far. While the latest Flash player isn't yet as widely distributed as older versions, the upgrade can be virtually automatic for Web surfers. If you're more into making Flash-style animation than scripted interactivity, then tools such as Adobe's LiveMotion offer an easier solution. Flash, however, remains the only serious way to tackle projects that need built-in interactive intelligence.
ActionScript hasn't been made less technical, but the new Actions palette helps users insert and modify scripts without having to know as much about the language.

Older Flash documents will have their ActionScripts automatically updated to the new syntax where necessary. For old ActionScript hands, it's worth noting that, while dot syntax is the preferred way to structure things, the old slash syntax is still supported. This is important for retaining compatibility with the Flash 4 player. For Flash users still struggling with scripting, the documentation covers ActionScript fairly well, explaining script logic as well as keywords.

Flash MX is the most powerful tool around for building interactive media for the Web. It's a demanding, application, but it can produce results that are sheer magic.
Needs: Mac OS 9.1 or OS X 10.1, Power Mac, 64Mb free RAM, 1024 x 768 display