FLASH: Flashette

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Welcome to issue 0 of Flashette.

Flashette is a non periodic non publication for the Flasher list.

Flashette is whatever you want it to be.

This issue is just a test and if you like it please feel free to take

the idea over and think about doing a further issue.

So without further ado FLASHETTE<applause>


</applause>

This last week has seen some interesting threads on the list. Two main

subjects surfaced one relating to copyright and another relating to

Flash format editors.

The rumours that Adobe is preparing a 'Flash killer' have been flying

around for the last couple of months. The Knife has certainly helped

them to spread but lately leaks have shown a bit more of what it can be.

'Killer' is a bit to strong even if we do take into account all the

enthusiastic babble Flashette received from someone identified as a beta

tester.

If the rest of us want to start getting a feel for what Adobe is

thinking of doing then Flashette can only recommend that those with

Illustrator version 8.0.1 download the SVG format plugin. This is quite

a nice little product and it will allow you to export your Illustrator

files in SVG format.

If you want to see the results of your tests you can either also

download the svg reader plugin for Netscape and I.E. from Adobe, this

one is a stable preview release, or surf over to IBM's AlphaWorks and

download a Java based reader, an early access release.

Flashette had lot's of fun over the weekend using both the Adobe SVG

exporter and Macromedia's Flash Writer and comparing results.

File sizes are not really comparable mostly because Adobe's reader

plugin still has a limited feature set, but it's quite easy to output

similar results in SVG and SWF.

The most notorious problem with SVG is that Adobe's plugin is a hefty

4Mb download and Flash as you all know is a small and quick download,

plus nowadays it's almost always pre installed.

What Flashette wonders is if Macromedia will be introducing a Save As

... SVG option in Flash5 (David, if you're reading this is there any

work in this area?)

Even if this doesn't come to be in a version 5 edition of Flash,

Flashette thinks that we will see third party tools capable of parsing

Flash files and converting them to some form of XML from here it's a

quick step towards a SWF to SVG converter. If Macromedia can reach a

quick consensus on the terms of the license agreement that will

accompany the FLash SDK then these 3rd party tools might see the light

of day even earlier.(Maybe shutting the lawyers in a closed room without

food or water would get them to speed things up?)

OK enough on this SVG stuff or our readers brains will start to look

like that bottled brain Flashette saw this week in a great article. Keep

up the good work Branden.

And this leads us to the second main topic, copyright issues.

This has always been a sensitive area when discussed, and the latest

examples are a confirmation of how things can heat up quickly in a mix

of the classical snowball and domino effects.

Flashette has no new pearls of wisdom to throw but as we've been talking

so much about Adobe let me point you towards a FAQ on Adobes site :

http://www.adobe.com/web/features/copyright/main.html

This is a good read even if not 100% applicable towards the type of

discussion on this list.

For a 0 issue this is about enough before signing off a few tips:

<tip type=for newbies>

Before posting to the list try searching for answers online in the best

Flash resource, Macromedia's tech notes.

</tip>

<tip type=remember digest subscribers>

When replying to a post please quote only relevant parts of the message

you are replying to

</tip>



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