Flash 4

Tweaks and tweening

Each of these interface changes are undoubtedly important, but perhaps the biggest improvement is the new Create Motion Tween command. Tweening automates the creation of animated effects by smoothly interpolating all the movements between two keyframes. In fact, this functionality has always existed, but in Flash 3 it was hidden away as a drop-down option on a tab in the Frame Properties dialog. Now, this crucial command is available directly from the right-click, pop-up menu. Another improvement is the ability to reposition a symbol in the middle of an existing animated sequence, and have Flash automatically add a new keyframe and split the existing tween in two. The program will even automatically convert objects into symbols where necessary.

In many ways the changes to tweening-based animation are more cosmetic than fundamental, and it might seem like they only took the Flash developers around ten minutes to program. Their real significance is the way that they highlight Macromedia's new concern with usability. In fact, it's these small changes that make all the difference. Other examples include the new ability to drag symbols on to the stage from the list of file names in the Library, rather than just from its Preview window, and the fact that traditional Windows-style, Shift-selection is now the default for selecting multiple objects.

These are all steps in the right direction, but there's still a long way to go. Flash still has bizarre and totally inexplicable idiosyncrasies, such as the way in which fills and outlines are treated as being completely separate from each other. Dragging a rectangle only to find that you've left behind its outline is profoundly irritating. Even worse are Flash's connection and segmentation features. These mean that overlapping objects of the same colour automatically combine, while overlapping objects of a different colour knock each other out. This can easily ruin hours of work and it offers no discernible benefits. To really become a mainstream package, Flash should try to operate like every other drawing program, rather than trying to re-invent the wheel - and starting off with a square.

Embracing MP3

Users will still find themselves occasionally pulling out their hair then, but there's no denying that Flash 4's usability has been massively improved throughout the production process. So what about the program's functionality? By far the most important new feature is the addition of MP3 support. In fact, Flash has always supported sound but in the past this was only really practical for 'event' sounds, such as button-clicks, as longer sections of sound (such as background music) were simply too download-heavy. Now, thanks to the amazing compression capabilities of MP3, this problem has been solved.

Taking advantage of MP3 is simple. WAV files can be imported, just as they always have been, and automatically appear in the Library palette. Right-click on the filename in the list and you can access the Properties dialog. Select MP3 from the drop-down list in the Export Settings section, and you can then select a target bit rate and preview the sound in the context of its size. The maximum compression, to 8Kbits/sec, will cut the file by around 99 per cent. Unfortunately, the quality is unlikely to be good enough at this setting, but 16 or 20Kbits/sec is likely to be acceptable and results in files of only around two to three per cent of their former size. This means that Flash can offer high-quality streaming sound over normal modem connections.