Adobe makes it easier for beginners to get started with animation in Flash, and further integrates the app with other tools.
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Get ready for a new, object-based animation model in Adobe Flash CS4. You no longer have to define a symbol and create a span on the Timeline. Newcomers to Flash should like this, but it could also mean fresh challenges for those used to ActionScript coding.
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The new Motion Editor lets you fine-tune animations by adjusting curves on a graph.
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Flash introduces fun creative tools, like Bones, for connecting related moving parts, like the parts of a machine, or the body parts of an animated character.
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The new Deco tool creates repetitive patterns, such as a background of blinking stars in the sky. Here, we're making a Vine Fill effect.
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With 3D rotation and animation, you can twist and turn text and images every which way in space. Here, we're distorting Spaghetti the cat, but this feature is probably more obviously useful for making fonts--such as in movie titles--that stand out.
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There's new support for H.264 video.
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You can publish content as a Web-based Adobe AIR application for the desktop.
Flash CS4 also introduces XFL, a new XML format for Flash that other applications can read. We're glad, however, that Adobe isn't forcing this as the default format when you save work.
