searchspell:animationcorrected for flash animation
Macromedia Flash, or simply Flash, refers to both the Macromedia Flash Player and to a multimedia authoring program used to create content for it. The Flash Player, developed and distributed by Adobe Systems (formerly by Macromedia), is a client application available in most web browsers. It features support for vector and raster graphics, a scripting language called ActionScript and bidirectional streaming of audio and video. Strictly speaking, Macromedia Flash is the integrated development environment (IDE) and Flash Player is the virtual machine used to run the Flash files, but in colloquial language these have become mixed: "Flash" can mean either the authoring environment, the player, or the application files. Since its introduction in 1996, Flash technology became a popular alternative to add animation and interactivity to web pages and several software products, systems and devices feature Flash content display or creation capabilities. Flash is commonly used to create animations, advertisements, design elements on a web page, add video to web sites and more recently, to develop Rich Internet Applications. The Flash files, traditionally called "flash movies", usually have a .swf file extension and may appear as an element of a web page or to be "played" in the standalone Flash Player.
History
Programming LanguageCreating ActionScript 2.0 in Macromedia Flash MX Professional 2004 in Mac OS X 10.2. The code creates a customizable animation similar to the one seen during the boot process of Mac OS X.
Initially focused on animation, early versions of Flash content offered few interactivity features and thus had very limited scripting capability. More recent versions include ActionScript, a scripting language which has syntax similar to JavaScript, but a much different programming framework and set of class libraries. Actionscript is used to create almost all of the interactivity (buttons, text entry fields, pick lists) seen in many Flash applications. New versions of the Flash Player and authoring tool have strived to improve on scripting capabilities. Flash MX 2004 introduced ActionScript 2.0, a scripting programming language more suited to the development of Flash applications. As seen in the image to the right, it's often possible to save a lot of time by scripting something rather than animating it, which usually also retains a higher level of editability. User privacyFlash can retain information locally (in a manner similar to, but more extensive than, browser cookies), giving the client the ability to, for example, remember the level or score a user has achieved on a Flash-based game, or the settings used on a previously visited website. This can potentially compromise the security of users' data and privacy, and there have been reports of exploitation by advertisers (for example, Persistent Information Element). Most users, including those familiar with Flash who protect themselves from cookies, are unaware of this kind of tracking, which is not curtailed by customary in-browser cookie settings and most cookie-cleaning utilities. The default storage location of these files (for Windows XP) is in the Macromedia\Flash Player\#SharedObjects of the Application Data directory for each user. (More information, including non-Windows platform locations are available at Epic Flash Cookie page.) This data can only be accessed by Flash Movies from the same domain. Player vulnerabilitiesFlash Player is, as any application that handles files received from the Internet, susceptible to attacks. Specially crafted files could potentially cause the application to malfunction, by allowing execution of malevolent code. In November 2005, a security flaw in a certain Windows versions of the Flash Player (all version 6 players and version 7 players up to 7.0.19.0 are affected) was published. This vulnerability could allow remote code execution. However, from version 8 on, this security problems have been fixed and Flash Player is allowed accessing files only locally or remotely, but not both at the same time. Flash content protectionMany times, Flash authors will decide that while they desire the advantages that Flash affords them in the areas of animation and interactivity, they don't wish to expose their images and/or code to the world. Once a .swf file is saved locally, it can then quite easily be decompiled into its source code and assets. Some decompilers are capable of nearly full reconstruction of the original source file, down to the actual code that was used during creation. In opposition to the decompilers, SWF obfuscators have been introduced to provide a modicum of security, some produced by decompiler authors themselves. The higher-quality obfuscators use traps for the decompilers, making some fail, but none have definitively been shown to protect all content. CompetitionFormat and plug-inCompared to other plugins such as Java, Acrobat Reader, QuickTime or Windows Media Player, the Flash Player has very small install size and fast initialization time. However, detecting and embedding Flash Player in (X)HTML is not W3C compliant (External links:Flash W3C valid). The use of vector graphics (like PostScript, SVG and PDF)—especially when combined with program code—allows Flash files to translate to small file sizes which take less bandwidth to transmit than bitmaps or video clips do. In many cases, Flash is a very attractive solution for delivering mixed content. If the content is purely one format (such as text, video or audio), other alternatives may provide better outcome. Also, depending on the type of application or animation created (in particular, transparency or large screen updates as in photographic or text fades) a Flash movie may need more CPU power than alternatives. In addition to a vector rendering engine, the Flash Player includes a virtual machine called the ActionScript Virtual Machine (AVM) for scripting interactivity at run-time, support for video, MP3-based audio, and bitmap graphics. As of Flash Player 8, it offers two video codecs: On2 VP6 and Sorenson Spark, and run-time support for JPEG, Progressive JPEG, PNG, and GIF. Flash as a format has become very widespread on the desktop market. According to NPD study, 98% of Web users have the Flash Player installed [2], with 45%-56%[3] (depending on region) having the latest version. Numbers vary depending on the detection scheme and research demographics. Flash players exist for a wide variety of different systems and devices. Flash content can run consistently on Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, Linux (i386 only) and various other Unix systems (Macromedia has created or licensed players for the following operating systems: GNU/Linux x86, Windows, Mac OS 9/X, Solaris, HP-UX, Pocket PC, OS/2, Symbian, Palm OS, BeOS and IRIX). Olivier Debon has written an open source version of the Flash 3 player[4]; ports of this exist to numerous operating systems, including the Amiga. See also Macromedia Flash Lite for Flash compatibility on other devices. Macromedia has released the specifications of the Flash file format (excluding specifications of related formats such as AMF), and compatible third-party tools exist. However, Macromedia retains control of the format. Since Flash files do not depend on a truly open standard such as SVG, this reduces the incentive for non-commercial software to support the format, although there are several third party tools which utilize and generate the SWF file format and a large and vibrant open source community. Apparently, the Flash Player cannot ship as part of a pure open source, or completely free operating system, as its distribution is bound to the Macromedia Licensing Program and subject to approval. AuthoringUsing Macromedia Flash 8 (bundled in Studio 8) in Windows XP.In October 1998, Macromedia disclosed the Flash Version 3 Specification to the world on its website. It did this in response to many new and often semi-open formats competing with SWF, such as XARA's Flare and Sharp's Extended Vector Animation formats. Several developers quickly created a C library for producing SWF. February 1999 saw the launch of MorphInk 99, the first non-Macromedia or third party program to create SWF files. Macromedia also hired Middlesoft to create a freely-available developers' kit for the SWF file format versions 3 to 5. Many open and free libraries based on the information released to the public in 1998, and from later study of the SWF file format, such as the Ming library, exist to produce SWF files on many platforms. Macromedia has made the Flash Files specifications for versions 6 and later available only as a PDF under a non-disclosure agreement, but is widely available from various sites. Many shareware developers produced Flash creation tools and sold them for under $50 USD between 2000 and 2002. In 2003 competition and the emergence of free Flash creation tools, most notably OpenOffice.org, had driven many third-party Flash-creation tool-makers out of the market, allowing the remaining developers to raise their prices, although many of the products still cost less than $100 USD and support Actionscript. As for open source tools, Flash4linux has started to develop a SWF authoring tool including an interface similar to that of Macromedia's. KToon can edit vectors and generate SWF, but its interface is very different from Macromedia's. Adobe wrote a software package called Adobe LiveMotion, designed to create interactive animation content and export it to a variety of formats, including SWF. LiveMotion went through two major releases, but failed to gain any notable user base. Adobe cancelled it in 2003. In February 2003, Macromedia purchased Presidia, which had developed a Flash authoring tool that automatically converted PowerPoint Files into Flash. Macromedia subsequently released the new product as Breeze, which included many new enhancements. Since that time, Macromedia has seen competing PowerPoint to Flash authoring tools from Articulate, PointeCast (not to be confused with PointCast), and PresentationPro. In addition, (as of version 2) Apple's Keynote presentation software also allows users to create interactive presentations and export to SWF. In November 2003 Microsoft announced that it had started working on a competing product, now called Microsoft Expression Interactive Designer, whose release would coincide with that of their next-generation Windows operating system, Windows Vista. Although the target audiences of Expression Interaction Designer and Flash overlap somewhat, Microsoft is targeting its product on creating user interfaces for Windows Presentation Foundation programs, while Flash focuses on user interfaces that run on many platforms, primarily over the web. AbuseProbably due to wide usage of Flash in web advertisements, tools have emerged for blocking Flash content in some or all web sites, or temporarily or permanently turning Flash Player off. For example, FlashBlock, JohnHaller.com's Disable Flash/Uninstall Flash page and Adblock for the Mozilla Firefox browser. Many web sites rely on Flash being available by default on your browser and will not check if you have disabled it. You may be unable to access a particular website if you disable Flash, or experience a degraded user interface. Macintosh performanceMacromedia has been criticized for neglecting to optimize its products on the Mac OS X platform. This has led to poor web surfing performance on Macintosh computers, since many websites use Flash animations for menus and advertisements. [5] [6] Macromedia has rewritten the bitmap drawing routines in Flash Player 8, using OpenGL planes via Quartz to draw the surfaces. The new drawing code is reported to be actually faster than its Windows counterpart in some cases, where JPEG, TIFF or other bitmap images are composited into the animation. Related file formats and extensionsFlash specific file formats
Generic file formats used by Flash
Product historyFlash MX 2004
Future developmentsMacromedia Labs is a source for early looks at emerging products and technologies from Macromedia, including downloads of the latest software and plugins. Flash 8.5, Flex 2, and ActionScript 3.0 are discussed. See also
External links
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