Comments on: Dreams Un-deferred

By: Trace

Trace — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 08:04:34 +0000

John, Thought you'd like to see a really fun (and FUNNY) use of Flash on a website: This is a dutch store. All in Dutch. But click on the link and don't do anything. Just watch: http://producten.hema.nl/ Cheers, Trace [Good stuff, Trace; blogged it a while back, but it's worth another look. --J.]

By: Issac

Issac — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 07:14:15 +0000

Hi John,
Sorry I haven’t commented sooner: Great blog man! Like Derek said, thank you for fighting the good fight. In the near future, there will prolly be whole columns devoted to the use and understanding of Flash panel/Photoshop integration—and I can’t freakin’ wait.
Thanks again and all the best~
(:
~Issac

By: Michael Wypasek

Michael Wypasek — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 05:56:10 +0000

John-
I appreciated your comments and insight before, but I never realized that you were involved in LiveMotion. I was in awe of that simple application– I’ve got CS3 Design Premium on my iMac at home, but for flash animation, I still use LM 2 running on the same machine!
I bow repeatedly in your direction. I was still uneasy about the interface changes in PS CS4 till I read this–now I trust it’ll be good. Shoot, it’ll take me a while to upgrade but I’ll do it just to get a more usable Flash.

By: JonPad

JonPad — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 10:46:24 +0000

User generated tool tips would be pretty awesome. Even if only across a workgroup.
Waiting is hard, but is it harder than fighting an uphill battle? Sounds like F-word compatibility wasn’t an easy point to sell.
Keep up the great work there, John.

By: Dan

Dan — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 02:56:27 +0000

"But dammit, I'm not just whistling Dixie, and we're going to make things happen come hell or high water." I wanted the F-word, here, man! For every story which portrays you as a f-word user and abuser, I see none here in which you swear like a maniac. [Not like a maniac--like an eloquent general. --J.]

By: George Penston

George Penston — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 21:46:37 +0000

I was very disappointed when LiveMotion was cancelled. (I just recycled a lot of the packaging I had from 1.0 and 2.0 this year.) One of the great things about LiveMotion was that it adopted the timeline and auto-keyframing features found in its bigger brother, After Effects. I felt it was far superior than the clunky keyframe workflows Flash ever has had. It’s great to learn that Flash has finally come around to get much of the same treatment. It took a long time to get back there but I guess we’re finally almost there. Thanks John and the rest of the CS crew.

By: Julie Meredith

Julie Meredith — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 20:24:11 +0000

Ken from KY Lynda.com has very reasonable online training. Subscriptions allow you access to ALL titles with more added pretty much on a monthly basis. http://movielibrary.lynda.com/html/index.asp Flash CS3 Specific http://movielibrary.lynda.com/html/modListing.asp?pid=267 Mr Nack - I apologize if this was an inappropriate comment -please feel free to delete.

By: Michael Critz

Michael Critz — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:15:21 +0000

I think this sounds well and good. I'm interested in After Effects & Flash integration. XFL sounds nice but what's this thing about in the future? How married are Flash and After Effects in CS4? Thus far, I'm not convinced I should upgrade this product cycle. [AFAIK, it's a one-way import for CS4 (AE into Flash), and I don't know the details of what's preserved (though that doc to which I linked probably has details). I'd expect it to be an evolutionary process, as things like PSD import have been. --J.]

By: Derek Pell

Derek Pell — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 13:50:54 +0000

You’re fightin the good fight, John-boy. Keep it up!

By: jimhere

jimhere — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 13:41:19 +0000

I agree 100% that the LiveMotion (AE) timeline is the way to go. I always thought flash had the oddest ui (did ex-MM emplyees at Adobe give you trouble?). I remember LiveMotion being pretty easy to use (I first used both in 1999 or something). [It definitely got some things right. Of course, I'm the first to say it got a bunch wrong, too. (I used to call it "Crouching Vector, Hidden Bitmap.") None of that was lost on me at the time. We just didn't get enough cycles (just 1 for me) to make the product I came to Adobe to build. --J.] So thanks -- after 9 years of using Flash, I look forward to actually... using it (great demo video by the way). But you should quit implying you're the only one who thought all this or it'll cause trouble when you try to be Adobe President. [Let me *not* imply that I'm the only one who thought of any of this stuff. I'm sure lots of others have as well. I just feel a strong sense of vindication when I see some of my very old work and concepts get a whole new (and much bigger/better) life. --J.]

By: Ken

Ken — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 13:21:38 +0000

Jack,
Thanks for the reply about adobe Air.
I own CS3 web premium. I love the “stuff” in suite, but being an “adobe dummy” I don’t know how to set up or use flash or Illustrator.
I don’t blame adobe for this. At age 62 I made a decision to be “good” at least one type of Software. I started with Elements when adobe brought it to market. After talking with “pros”, I upgraded to PS years ago. I was told, PS would be “the” program for the digital workflow, so I made a commitment to myself to do something I did not think I could do. Today, PS is really an overkill for what I do. But the self satisfaction in being “pretty darn good” at PS, I thank Adobe for helping me overcome some personal issues.
What takes only hours for some propeller heads to learn in PS takes me 60 days or longer….I really am a slow learner. Kelby Training has help me in this process. If I could find a wishing well, I would love to have a job where I could use PS full time in a job in my local community.
Though I have the whole suite, I have not learned or use the other apps.
Can you suggest a company that has online training on flash that does not cost a KY arm and leg??
Kind regards
Ken from KY

By: Jeff Carlson

Jeff Carlson — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 13:17:17 +0000

Did you just obliquely quote Grosse Pointe Blank at the top there? You're bringing out the fanboy in me. [I was thinking Langston Hughes, actually. If you hear me talking about "doing business with leadpipe cruelty" and so forth, *then* you know I'm talking GPB! --J.]

By: LD

LD — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 13:15:25 +0000

Thank you deeply for your dedicated work and prolonged efforts to pull Flash Panels into Photoshop, John.
As an animator in the making, I’ve turned to Photoshop’s video layers to help me sketch out and time my animations at 30fps. Not having the direct-view feedback of a Cintiq display, I praised the high heavens when I found out that Photoshop allows canvas rotation (that one feature was a deal maker for me, along with 64-bit integration and default black stroking). I work directly with a Wacom Intuous 3, and I’ve spent too many unmentionable hours fixing lifeless strokes and wishing that I could work like I could on paper. This version allows that and many hundreds of powers more in my book.
I know Photoshop isn’t the first piece of software to come to mind when the word “animation” is mentioned, but for me, it’s the first step in the process. It’s too powerful not to consider in a paperless workflow. I can make sketches that appear EXACTLY as they use to on paper without the added scan time and can fix proportion errors on the fly with a lasso selection and scale transform. I’ve created actions that pull the tedium out the longest hurdles in traditional animation with results that make the work fun.
In short, I’m extremely indebted to Photoshop and couldn’t work without it. Especially now that I can apply Photoshop-only filters to sequenced images rendered in After Effects and Flash (don’t get me raving about Flash’s new Timeline improvements that couldn’t have come at a better time).
Thank you and celebrate this release as a great success. The work is evident. Your seeds aren’t drying on fallow ground.
[That's great feedback, LD; really nice to hear. --J.]