Jimco Software Reviews - Macromedia Flash MX Professional and Macromedia Video Kit(continued)
Interface
The main Flash interface (shown in figure 1) is famous for confusing newcomers. Given that fact, you may wonder why we rated Flash's interface with a 5 out of 5 for this review. There's a good answer for that. While Flash can be overwhelming in the beginning, as you work with it, you learn to appreciate the interface. It's designed so that you can quickly move panes out of the way and then access them again quickly when you need them. In fact, all of Macromedia's Studio MX applications are designed in this way. Other companies would do well to learn a thing or two from Macromedia's approach.
Figure 1 - The Main Interface
By default, Flash doesn't display the toolbars that you may be used to in most software. As with other Macromedia applications, Flash is more keyboard-centric. This makes the learning curve greater, but once you learn the keyboard commands you need, it makes for a much faster development process.
There isn't a keyboard shortcut chart in the online Help, but there is considerably support in Flash for remapping the keyboard and creating your own keyboard shortcuts. You will also get keyboard hints when you hover over tools. If you just can't deal with not having toolbars for opening files, saving files, etc., you can display one via the Window menu.
Usability
To create a Flash movie, you can use vector art (imported or created in Flash), bitmaps (graphic files), and sounds. Flash has always excelled as a vector graphics program, and Flash MX 2004 is no exception. Flash's unique drawing tools are powerful and flexible. When you draw a shape with Flash, the shape is made up of the filled area and the lines that border that area, each as separate entities. If shapes are drawn on top of one another, Flash will use the intersection between the two to cut out the first shape as shown in figure 2. This functionality makes Flash an extremely powerful tool for vector drawing.
Figure 2 - Vector Drawing in Flash is Powerful
Flash isn't the easiest application to use right out of the box simply because the functionality of it is a bit overwhelming at first. There are some tasks that simply aren't that intuitive. This is no fault of Macromedia's. It's simply that Flash is a complex application. Getting used to how to draw in Flash takes some time. Once you've mastered drawing, then you have to deal with animation. Patience and experimentation are the keys to success in Flash.