Flash Article

Flash: Ten years, ten perspectives

Mariam Dholkawala

Years of Flash experience: 6

How did you get started in Flash?

It's amusing to think about it today but the reality is that I started working with Flash only coincidentally. I was a hardcore Macromedia Director fan who could never think beyond Lingo. Initially I used Flash to create animated objects and then imported them as sprites into Director. I am talking about the days of Flash 4. While doing this, I realized that it was so much simpler to create and edit graphics in Flash compared to other raster editing tools. Interaction was faster to achieve, too, with no complex syntax, and content performance was good.

I then told myself, "I've been loyal to one tool for nearly two years, and now I have a new tool competing with the first! Can we be a perfect threesome?"

The answer was obviously no! Although Flash 4 scripting was not strong enough to completely satiate a game programmer like me, I loved the feel of the graphics in Flash and the fact that we could create so much more in such small file sizes. So this became the beginning of a never-ending liaison with Flash.

How have you used Flash in the past and how do you use it today?

With the web becoming completely "Flashed," I was compelled to learn Flash for my game development. It also had to do with the demand and supply ratio: my company's clients wanted their games done only in Flash. Luckily Flash 5 released on time and I felt I could hone my programming skills to suit this requirement.

I started learning Flash on my own. The Internet was like a mecca of information for me. I must have purchased a couple of books but browsed through hundreds of websites and downloaded thousands of sample files to learn Flash well. It all helped!

Today I use my Flash skills to develop mostly for mobile devices.

What does Flash mean to you personally?

Flash is a part of my lifeline. It is something like an addiction. Once you get the hang of well-heeled development, you just can't think of another tool to use. I really enjoy working with Flash.

What does Flash mean to you professionally?

My work profile has Flash projects listed in abundance, so that speaks for itself. Flash is very important to me professionally.

Actually, Indiagames is one of the leading mobile and online gaming companies in the world, so Flash figures as a high priority for game development for both these streams. Flash has also helped us win two awards for mobile game development with Cryptic Capers and Acorn Mafia.

What has Flash taught you about software development and the web?

It is amazing to see that Flash can be published for so many different platforms: web, desktop, PDAs, interactive TVs, mobile phones, and other handheld devices. Flash simply scores because of the easiness with which you can prepare content.

I'd like to share an incident with you. I once tried to create an application in Java which required me to move objects along a path. I think it was the most cumbersome task to actually hardcode the values, but this is how Java functions.

I then decided to do the same application in Flash. The task not only got simpler, but development was quicker because Flash provided a complete environment for coding, designing, compiling, and testing. Moreover, the designer and developer could work independently of each other to make minor changes after the application was put together. I found this truly amazing.

Which feature(s) of Flash amazed you the most, and why?

The release of Flash 8 threw designers and developers into a vast field where opportunities for development seem endless. The one thing I really love about Flash 8 is the Filters feature. It allows you to create magnificent, Photoshop-like visual effects not just to vectors but also bitmaps and video. These effects can also be interactive and animated to create a pictorial extravaganza. Truly amazing!

I also like using the Snap feature. It comes in handy most when you need to align graphics or join open strokes.

How has Flash enhanced your creativity?

I think creativity is very subjective, but I would like to mention that Flash has provided me with a great set of tools to translate ideas into a digital canvas to display to a global audience. I mean, a simple circle can be duplicated and each instance can have completely different properties and look unlike the other—and all of this at the cost of one movie clip. Which other tool can offer such great features?

What's your favorite Flash tip or lesson?

Because my projects are mostly mobile-based, I'd like to share a Flash mobile graphic tip.

The most important point to remember for mobile devices is that graphics should have as few nodes as possible. Because screen sizes are small, graphics do not need to be perfectly shaped. In fact, they sometimes look blurred. Instead, you can use straight and angled lines to produce good, sharp output on mobile displays.

For instance, if you're creating an eye for a character that is approximately 80 x 80 pixels or smaller, you can make it a square and yet pass it on as a circle on the device's display. This tip comes in handy even during file optimization.

What cautionary tale can you relate to other developers?

Plan, plan, and plan your project well!

I think most of us start with a clean project but end up cluttering it (hinting at the library!) with unnecessary symbols. Although the unused symbols in the library don't add to the final file size, the sheer mess makes it difficult to search for important symbols.

Where will Flash be 10 years?

In my experience using Flash for six years under the Macromedia flagship, I have seen Flash evolve from a simple, lightweight web animation tool to a rich application development tool.

Now with Adobe's strategies of redefining software and technologies, and setting new standards for delivering content, I can see Flash reaching a new peak with every version release.

I would expect Flash in the coming years to have a dynamic image saving function. I had always wanted to make a Flash card application where a user could drag and drop predefined objects, write text, and then save the card as an image on a location on their desktop.

I would also want to see Flash have vector 3D creation and animation tools. This would save us a lot of time and money purchasing third-party tools.

Finally, I would love to see a feature that makes it possible to convert vector graphics to bitmaps within the Flash authoring environment. This is, of course, bypassing the export and import route.

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