Macromedia Flash 5.0 Free Download

Macromedia Flash 5.0

1. Introduction

Flash 5 and Generator 2 are two authoring tools of Macromedia web site development products. The former provides a platform to create animated, vector-based web content. It also has a custom language �ActionScript�, which is based on JavaScript specification, supporting simple interactivity. The later is aimed at providing a template mechanism to automate content updates. With Generator integrated with Flash, user can not only design rich media content of text, graphics, animation and audio objects but also convert them into Generator objects when prototypes are needed for dynamic content delivering. The methodology of Macromedia Flash and Generator can be a useful reference for designing high quality, complex distance learning authoring system. In this report, I will first summarize the features and key technologies of Flash and Generator, and then comment on some insufficient factors based on my experience of using both tools. At last, a comparison of Flash format (SWF) and Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) will be briefly discussed.

2. Flash

Flash and Flash player

����������� Flash 5.0 is a vector-based technology that supports animation, sound and interactivity. It evolved from a product �Splash� in the mid 90s and aims at delivering scalable and high quality web content over the Internet.

Flash player is a viewer to show Flash content (SWF), which is either generated by the Macromedia Flash authoring tools or exported from other leading designing tools. Flash player is small (about 200K) and quick to automatic download for Windows, Linux, Solaris, Macintosh, IRIX, and Java through most web browsers.

User can create Flash content (SWF) with Macromedia authoring software, such as Flash 5, then save and publish the result artwork (including text, graphics, animation, sound objects and attached actions) as flash movie � an editable format (.fla) or a final format (.swf). The former format can be read by Flash and the objects (items on the stage) can be altered. The later is a compact binary format optimized for web delivering, therefore, not editable.