Archive for the 'Flash' Category
Some Flash Fun on Friday!
This link was passed around my office today.. I got a good laugh out of it so I thought I would post it.
Beckground: In June of last year, HEMA a Dutch department store, was sold to British investment company Lion Capital. They revised their home page, and obviously have a sense of humor about it (and a great Flash programmer!!) Take a look at http://producten.hema.nl/. You can’t order anything and it’s in Dutch but just wait a couple of seconds and watch what happens.
No commentsNew XML based file format coming with Flash CS4!
Just found this blog post today from Colin Moock on the new XML based file format (XFL) that will be available with Flash CS4. This is great news and since its XML based and not binary like FLA, I thinking this could make life easier for companies with big projects and lots of developers to manage versioning and merging of source files.
The XFL file is a .zip file which contains an XML file that describes the structure of the document and a folder with the document’s assets. Colin speculates that this separation of structure and assets will in theory allow you to edit the images of an XFL file directly in Photoshop without disturbing the timeline information also contained in that file!
Check out Colin’s Blog post for more info
No commentsNew Protocol (RTMFP) in Flash Player 10
Justin Everett-Church recently released some new details about the new RTMFP protocol that can be used with Flash Player 10. RTMFP stands for Real Time Media Flow Protocol and is going to be used to leverage the new peer to peer capabilities of Flash Player 10. The communication between peers is going to be managed by a future Adobe server technology (Flash Media Server 4.0???) which will keep a list of peers that can be connected to. If one peer want to connect to another, the server translates the peer IDs to a network addresses, and also assists in setting up the connection if one or both ends is behind a Network Address Translation (NAT) device. RTMFP is a UDP-based protocol and packets are sent directly from one Flash Player to another!
Some pretty exciting stuff to look forward to! I can think of a couple cool applications that could be built using this technology!
No commentsVideo Tutorial - Creating content for Flash Player 10 (Astro)
Lee Brimelow has released a video tutorial that shows you how to create content for the Flash Player 10 beta which was released last week. As of right now there is no tools available to author Flash 10 content but you can download the latest command-line MXMLC compiler to get started creating content. In this tutorial he also shows you how to do that as well as some of the new features.
Flash Player 10 Beta
Adobe® Flash® Player 10, code-named “Astro,” has just been released on the Adobe labs website. The player has some neat new features including native support for 3D effects, GPU hardware acceleration as well as some overall visual performance improvements. Here are some of the new features in more detail.
Taken from the Adobe Labs site..
3D Effects - Easily transform and animate any display object through 3D space while retaining full interactivity. Fast, lightweight, and native 3D effects make motion that was previously reserved for expert users available to everyone. Complex effects are simple with APIs that extend what you already know.
Â
Custom Filters and Effects - Create and share your own portable filters, blend modes, and fills using Adobe Pixel Bender™, the same technology used for many After Effects CS3 filters. Shaders in Flash Player are about 1KB and can be scripted and animated at runtime.
Â
Advanced Text Layout - A new, highly flexible text layout engine, co-existing with TextField, enables innovation in creating new text controls by providing low-level access to text offering right-to-left and vertical text layout, plus support for typographic elements like ligatures.
Enhanced Drawing API - Runtime drawing is easier and more powerful with re-styleable properties, 3D APIs, and a new way of drawing sophisticated shapes without having to code them line by line.
Visual Performance Improvements – Applications and videos will run smoother and faster with expanded use of hardware acceleration. By moving several visual processing tasks to the video card, the CPU is free to do more.
Â
To get the Flash player 10 prerelease go to the Adobe Labs site and download a copy!
No commentsAS3 API for Google Maps Released
One of the things I’ve been waiting to see is an AS3 API for google Maps to surface. Well on May 2nd the people over at the google’s Maps API Team finally released one! This API lets Flex developers embed Google Maps in Flash applications. The API provides a number of utilities for manipulating and adding content to maps through a variety of services, enabling you to embed robust, interactive maps applications on your website.
This is not the first time you have been able to embed google maps into your Flex apps. Previously it could be accomplished using iFrame but that was not a very elegant approach. Then the people at AFComponents implemented a google maps provider into their UMap component. But that was soon replaced with Microsoft Virtual earth due to licensing issues. I have hopes that UMAP will support google mapping again in the future, I prefer the idea of one Universal Mapping API for multiple providers as opposed to being restricted to one provider once your application is written.
You can read the press release HERE
No commentsAdobe Announces the Open Screen Project
Today Adobe announced the Open Screen Project which is an effort put on by Adobe as well as some major technology Leaders to deliver a consistent Rich Internet experiences across televisions, personal computers, mobile devices, and consumer electronics.
This is a big move by Adobe, and I think if everything goes as planned the Flash Runtime will become the standard platform for devices, whether it be mobile, set-top or desktop.
In essence the Open Screen Project will allow developers to have the ability to write an application once and deploy it anywhere across any device. To make this possible Adobe has recruited a wide range of partners to help with the Open Screen Project. Some of these companies include ARM, Chunghwa Telecom, Cisco, Intel, LG Electronics Inc., Marvell, Motorola, Nokia, NTT DoCoMo, Qualcomm, Samsung Electronics Co., Sony Ericsson, Toshiba and Verizon Wireless, and leading content providers, including BBC, MTV Networks, and NBC Universal. One of the big players missing from the List is Apple, but I already saw that one coming after Steve Jobs made it very clear how he feels about Flash. The iPhone and iPod are some of the most innovative mobile devices out there and not having Apple on board will be an issue I think in the future. For Apple to ignore the impact and adoption Flash has on the internet is a big mistake on their behalf in my opinion.
Adobe also annouced some major changes in support of the Open Screen Project today that remove barriers for developers and designers to allow them to effectively publish content and applications across multiple devices. The changes annouced today are:
- Removing restrictions on use of the SWF and FLV/F4V specifications
- Publishing the device porting layer APIs for Adobe Flash Player
- Publishing the Adobe Flash® Cast™ protocol and the AMF protocol for robust data services
- Removing licensing fees – making next major releases of Adobe Flash Player and Adobe AIR for devices free
By Adobe publishing the device porting layer APIs companies can now create a version of the players that is custom for their device, but the source code for the Flash player itself still remains closed source and proprietary. The removal of the licensing fees will allow a company to have Flash pre-installed on their devices without paying Adobe anything!
To learn more About the Open Screen Project check out
Â
No commentsOttawa Flex User Group
The Ottawa Flex User Group happens on the first Wednesday of every month at 7:00pm. Its held in the main floor conference room of the Adobe Tower located at 343 Preston St.
During these meetings presentations are given by fellow members as well as industry guests on all sorts of Flex, AIR and Flash related topics. Its a great place to network and meet fellow developers and talk about some of the cool and exciting things you have been working on. Also a great place to get some advice on best practices and development strategies.
Everyone is welcome, so come out and introduce yourself!
For more information check out Ottawa Flex User Group Website or join the Google Group
Â
No commentsWhat it’s like to work as a Intern @ Adobe
Â
Since September 07 I’ve been working as a Intern at the Adobe office in Ottawa, Canada. I thought I would share some of my thoughts about what its like to work as a intern for a company like Adobe.
Currently I’m in my second co-op term at Adobe working as Software Verification Intern and I just got signed on for a third placement in the summer as a Software Developer. Now prior to my first placement at Adobe I worked as a Developer for Canada Revenue. So I got to get a feel for what’s its like to work in both the public and private sector. Now don’t get me wrong, working for the government definitely has its benefits, but for me, I quickly realized after my first month that working in the private sector at a company like Adobe was the way to go.
One of the most obvious benefits of working for a company like Adobe is that you get exposed to new and exciting technology. In my opinion Adobe is leading the way for the development of Web 2.0 applications and having knowledge and skills in products like Air, Flex and BlazeDS are going to be very valuable assets in the future. Working at Adobe really gives you the ability to learn about these technologies right from the source and can really give you an edge that other jobs cannot.
Another thing I noticed about working at Adobe is the amount of knowledge and information you can acquire while working there. It seems to me that the company really wants its employees to understand the products that are made by Adobe and as you know their product line is very broad. Chances are if you got a internship at Adobe you would work on a team that only deals with a few of their products. So Adobe offers a set of informational sessions that inform employees about what’s going on with their complete product line as well as with other interesting and innovative technologies.
There are “Adobe Developer” seminars that all employees have access to that deal with all sorts of topics from Air and Flex unit testing to GPU processing for rendering and simulations. I just recently watched one on developing iphone applications which was pretty cool.
There are also informational sessions called “Knowing the Business” and they happen pretty much once every other week. During these sessions they will focus on one topic, such as Rich Internet Applications for example and discuss things like how adobe is trying to position themselves in the market, what the competition is doing, and also some of there marketing strategies.
Both the Adobe Developer seminars and the Knowing the Business sessions can be accessed through a Adobe Connect session and can be viewed right from your desk at work. I’ve had days were I’ll be sitting at my desk doing work while listing to a presentation that’s happening in San Jose, it’s pretty neat!Â
So all the information and knowledge you can handle is all at your fingertips, its just up to you to try and sit down and digest it all!
Another great thing about Adobe is that if your a full time employee they will actually pay up to 10K for training if you wanted to take a class in a topic that’s related to your field. I have a co-worker who is currently studying for his MBA and all his schooling is paid for by Adobe.
A few months back Adobe held their Tech Summit Conference which happens in San Jose, California. This conference is put on by Adobe to inform and educate employees about what’s going on in the company as well as in the industry. This year there were over 2,300 employees from all over the world that attended. All the employees had all there travel and board expenses paid for! Unfortunetly they don’t send interns and contractors to the tech summit, so I did not get to attend.
One of my other favorite benefits about working at Adobe is there staff purchase plan. I just got my copy of the CS3 Master Collection last week which includes pretty much every design product Adobe makes including Photoshop, Illustrator, Premier Pro, After effects, Dreamweaver, Flash, Acrobat, InDesign, Fireworks, Contribute, Connect, Device Central, SoundBooth, Encore, OnLocation, Bridge and Adobe Ultra + more…. Now I won’t tell you how much I paid for it, but I’ll tell you that the CS3 master collection retails for about 2,500 dollars and I paid under $300. Which is a steal in my mind!
Another benefit of working at Adobe is the Facilities that the employees get access to. They just built a really nice brand new building at Preston and the 417. There is a full gym with Cardio Bikes and treadmills as well as free weights and machines. There are also exercise classes that you get access to such as a core class, yoga and kickboxing. The gym membership unfortunately is not free. But its only 16 dollars a month which is nothing when you compare it to some of the other gyms you can get a membership to.
The other great thing about the facilities at Adobe is the lunch room. The lunch room is more like an entertainment center. There are 2 foosball tables, a pool table, an air hockey table and a giant 50″ TV that has a Nintendo wii hooked up to it. So it’s nice to be able to sometimes just leave your work behind for a little bit and go shoot a game of pool.
Also there is a kitchen on every floor of the building which are fully stocked with free Pop, juice, Milk, Chocolate milk, Chocolate bars, Coffee and soup. And if you’re a health nut there are Apples and Granola bars too.
Adobe recently celebrated its 25th Anniversary and they threw a party at the Capital City Music hall in January. The headliners for the event were Canada’s own Bedouin SoundClash. The 25th anniversary party in San Jose had Smash Mouth as their headliner which is really cool.
So I hope that gives you an Idea of what it’s like to work at Adobe. Without a doubt it’s the best job I’ve ever had and my advice to any students looking for internships is to keep your eye on their recruiting page and apply if you see something that interests you. You won’t regret it!
For more information about Adobe’s Internship program and available positions go to their Recruiting Page at Adobe.com   Â
No commentsAttn Students: Enter your work in the 2008 Adobe Design Achievement Awards
The Adobe® Design Achievement Awards celebrate student achievement reflecting the powerful convergence of technology and the creative arts. The competition — which showcases individual and group projects created with industry-leading Adobe creative software — honors the most talented and promising student graphic designers, photographers, illustrators, animators, digital filmmakers, developers and computer artists from the world’s top institutions of higher education.
Enter in 12 categories in 3 media areas endorsed by the industry, over 60$K US in cash prizes will be awarded in New York City.
Categories
Both individuals and groups may enter one unique project in up to three of the following categories:
- Interactive media
- Browser-Based Design
- Non-Browser-Based Design
- Designer/Developer Collaboration
- Mobile Design
- Installation Design
- Video and motion
- Animation
- Live Action
- Motion Graphics
- Traditional media
- Illustration
- Packaging
- Photography
- Print Communications
Submissions close May 2, 2008.
Go to http://www.adaaentry.com/ for more info and to enter