Macromedia Flash 5 Upgrade for Mac (B001139F4W) - Reviews and Prices

Editorial Review:

Macromedia's Flash 5 brings substantial changes and improvements to this dominant player in the Web animation tools arena. A new and customizable interface and improved scripting are the most notable of the new features. These, among other enhancements, make this upgrade almost essential to any serious designer. Flash 5 now uses Macromedia's standard interface library, making Flash look more like other Macromedia products. Almost all commands can be accessed through onscreen dockable tabbed windows (palettes), which can be docked to each other or torn off and placed elsewhere on the screen. This means that layouts can be named, saved, and recalled, depending on the kind of work being done or a particular designer's working style. Keystroke commands can be customized as well, allowing for the designer to tailor the feel of the program. The most important "under-the-hood" change is the revamping of ActionScript, Flash's internal scripting and interactive language. ActionScript is now more like Java than ever, making it easy for coders to shuttle between the two. The Movie Explorer window is another important new feature. This allows developers to view the entire contents of a project in a hierarchy where edits and search-and-replace functions can take place. The pen tool has, finally, been improved as well. It now behaves more like a Bezier drawing tool found in programs such as Adobe Illustrator and Macromedia's own FreeHand. Speaking of FreeHand, Flash 5's integration with FreeHand is now tight as a drum, too. Flash 5 isn't really one of those upgrades to think about. The Flash format is constantly evolving, and it behooves any content creator to stay current. Flash, like the Web itself, is a dynamic medium. In order to push the boundaries, one must keep pace with the tools. --Mike Caputo

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