Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash, a multimedia authoring software developed by Adobe Systems(formerly by Macromedia), is used to create vector graphics-based animation programs, rich content, user interfaces and web applications, and combine videos with web pages.
Adobe Flash is written in C++, and contains ActionScript(a scripting language) for building almost all the interactivity (buttons, text entry fields, drop down menus) in its applications. In order to view standalone Adobe Flash (SWF) multimedia files and interact with Flash content, users need to download and install Adobe Flash Player, which is a multiple-platform client runtime software application.
History
Flash program was built by Jonathan Gay, who began his professional Programming life as a Macintosh software engineer early in high school. After years of game design, he focused on building graphics editors and started FutureWave Software company with Charlie Jackson in 1993. In order to make drawing on the computer easier than drawing on paper, they built software called SmartSketch.
As a competitor of Illustrator and FreeHand, SmartSketch didn't gain success until 1995, it was turned into an animation product FutureSplash Animator for people sending graphics and animation over Internet. The ancestor of Flash Player was also born at that time.
In August of 1996, FutureSplash got big support from Microsoft and Disney Online. Microsoft used FutureSplash on MSN to create the most TV-like experience on the Internet. And Disney Online adopted FutureSplash to build animation and the user interface for the Disney Daily Blast.
In December 1996, FutureWave Software was sold to Macromedia, and FutureSplash Animator became Macromedia Flash 1.0. Since then, Flash becomes synonymous with animation on the Internet[1] .
Authoring tool released timeline
| Product Name | Released Year |
|---|---|
| FutureSplash Animator | 1996 |
| Macromedia Flash 1 | 1996 |
| Macromedia Flash 2 | 1997 |
| Macromedia Flash 3 | 1998 |
| Macromedia Flash 4 | 1999 |
| Macromedia Flash 5 | 2000 |
| Macromedia Flash MX (version 6) | 2002 |
| Macromedia Flash MX 2004 (version 7) | 2003 |
| Macromedia Flash Basic 8 | 2005 |
| Macromedia Flash Professional 8 | 2005 |
| Adobe Flash CS3 Professional | 2007 |
Player released timeline
| Product Name | Released Year |
|---|---|
| Macromedia Flash 2 | 1997 |
| Macromedia Flash 3 | 1998 |
| Macromedia Flash 4 | 1999 |
| Macromedia Flash 5 | 2001 |
| Macromedia Flash MX | 2002 |
| Macromedia Flash MX 2004 | 2003 |
| Macromedia Flash 8 | 2005 |
| Adobe Flash 9 for Windows and Macintosh | 2006 |
| Adobe Flash 9 for Linux | 2007 |
| Adobe Flash CS3 | 2007 |
| Adobe Flash Player 10 | 2008 |
Technology
Standard
Features & Functions
Examples
How to make an animation using Flash?
An animation is constituted by a series of frames. Each frame represents a single static motion. When they are shown in sequence, it looks like the object on the picture is moving. Here is a simple example of making an animation:
First of all, we make two single frames as follows:
Second, we set their lasting time as 0.5 second.
Finally, save the file and display the animation:
How to put Flash into a web page?
The format of embedding Flash in HTML is as follows:
<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/hE1K0ZeTtAw&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="344"></embed>
Market
Sociological aspects
User feedback
Competitors
Future development
Reference
- ↑ Gay, Jonathan. "The History of Flash".