Flash CS4 – first impressions
Flash evangelist Lee Brimelow has posted a preview videos of the new Flash CS4 interface and layout. It’s a great overview for a popular application that many were asking if this is really a major release.
This confusion make some sense. CS3 offered a robust new programming language (Actionscript 3) which moved away from novice-to-intermediate Javascript-ish programming into an advanced OOP package-based language very similar to Java. Essentially, Actionscript moved from something you could learn in art school to something you would find in a computer science program. My feelings on Adobe and Flash CS3 are well known – I feel that Adobe abandoned the core base (Flash designers and animators) to attract enterprise programmers into building advanced RIAs.
The promise to provide in CS4 new features for designers and animators was delivered, but they still feel a little off. Most of the new layout and animation features were well established by applications like After Effects, Papervision and Moho (now Anime Studio). But I can’t help feeling that each one is delivered as a Flex programmer’s over-the-shoulder impression, rather than from a Flash artist’s actual workflow perspective.
The Default view has output windows and the Timeline together as tabbed palettes at bottom, something we did by hand in CS3 – it’s a default in CS4. The Properties palette has been moved to the right side, to share tab space with the Library and the new Motion Presets. This move is a welcome change for a panel that had outgrown itself way back in Flash 7 because of components and video.
The dramatic twist starts with the move to place the Tools Palette at the right edge, instead of the left. This change was clearly implemented by someone new to Flash (or even GUIs) who thinks it’s ok to suggest people should now drive on the other side of the road. This garish bit of flare will probably be reset to the left by 99.99998% of actual Flash users. But it’s there and it made an impression. Even if Adobe pulls this stunt with the entire CS4 suite, it’s doubtful that the entirety of all other desktop and online apps will eventually follow along and make this the new standard. But… it could happen.
As an example of a real feature added without thinking about workflow: the new Motion Editor provides an awesome plethora of tween control-bands, similar to those in After Effects. But unlike AE, the rubber bands are only available to use on a per-item basis in a separate tab. There’s still no rubber-bands in the actual timeline, so if you’re trying to match up timing for several sprites at once, you’ll be bouncing among tabs, timelines, frames, and control points for every adjustment. Many long-time AE & Flash animators have been hoping for better integration (although XFL is a good step).
I’m now very curious about Thermo. It looks like Flex is the new development app, Flash will handle animations, and Thermo the layouts. It’s strange to see the flagship upon which all of this is based revert to a set of animation tools, but it’s probably the right step.
I finally made the switch to Flex as IDE this fall. I was reluctant at first, but with my most recent project I was working in Flex natively and forgot I could use Flash. Maybe integrating into CS4 will be just as natural.
