Chalk One Up For Macromedia
Studio 8 came out yesterday (Happy Birthday to me…), so I decided I would take the time to scope out what they actually improved about Flash 8. I ranted about this in an earlier post, but the short version of the story is that Flash MX 2004 (that’s Version 7) was a very small upgrade from Flash MX (Version 6). The two most notable changes were an increase in the ActionScript capabilities, and a reorganization of the Menu commands so that I couldn’t find any of the commands I had gotten used to invoking. Since I struggle with the latter far more than I enjoy the former, you can see why I’m a little distressed.
Well, Macromedia is making it up to me (not… only me, but still…) if I act in the next couple of days. As of right now, it seems that the cheapest (legal) way for me to get Flash 8 is to pay $250 (education price). However, the education price for Studio MX 2004 is $200 (education price), plus you get a free upgrade to Studio 8 (with Flash 8 in it). Seems like the better bargain! The tricky part is that Studio goes up in price by $100 on Thursday (yup, two days away!). Act fast!
Oh, regarding what I like in the new version of Flash. Well, it seems as though they’ve put a lot more video support in to the app, which is great from my point of view. However, I don’t use a lot of video, so I was looking for some other cool things. It seems as though they went back to the drawing board on some of their animation capabilities, especially with Tweening. They give you a lot more control in this new version.
Plus, they’ve built Filter effects (a la Photoshop, Illustrator, Fireworks) directly into Flash. I think the quality of animations will soar after this release.
If you want to take advantage of this, snatch MX 2004 from your school software store (but no fair gettin to the copies at CMU before I do!). Once you’ve bought a copy, keep your receipt and all that good stuff, and check out Macromedia’s website for how to get a free upgrade to Studio 8. A little bit of a hassle, but its cheaper than the alternatives I’ve found!