Moho and Flash 5

Post by **Lost Marble** » Wed Aug 11, 2004 6:52 pm

It seems there is a problem with the SWF files Moho exports and the Flash 5 authoring tool. Flash 5 apparently cannot open Moho's SWF files, and the issue may be due to compression. So, what I want to ask here is how important Flash 5 is to everybody. It may be possible to add an option to export SWF files that are compatible with Flash 5.

The positive news is for those of you using Flash 5, you won't have to upgrade Flash. But that's kind of mixed blessing, it seems to me. Ultimately, your Flash file is destined for the web, and there, compression is a very good thing. It makes it easier for your viewers to watch your work, and saves you bandwidth.

So, not having to upgrade Flash is a good thing, but so is compression. Considering that, how important is Flash 5?

By the way, Flash 5 was released 3 1/2 years ago, and there have been two major versions of Flash since then, so it's not exactly state-of-the-art.

nobudget · Post by **nobudget** » Wed Aug 11, 2004 7:43 pm

Not important to me. I still use Flash 4. I can't program to save my life and version 5 and higher rely too much on action scripting and the upgrade prices are too steep for my tastes. I will not ask you to support Flash 4 so for me no changes are required. I'll either export complete Flash animations without extra authoring in Flash or export to video formats.

Reindert.
www.nobudgetvideo.com

wmartinez · Post by **wmartinez** » Wed Aug 11, 2004 7:57 pm

As a personal comment, it is not important to me. I use Mx and I do programming, and I'm fairly new to it, so it is something I will not use.

As a general comment, on the other hand, V5 is important for all those with legacy animations, or working in new ones but cannot afford the upgrade to actual flash versions. In fact, if you have V5 and cannot upgrade to newer versions, having Moho exporting to higher, more compressed SWF is a plus instead of a minus (that is, if your animation doesn't require actionscripting).

BTW, LM, this seems to be an excelent post to be a Poll, that way all readers can vote without the need to write a comment.

w-

Post by **Lost Marble** » Wed Aug 11, 2004 9:18 pm

wmartinez wrote: BTW, LM, this seems to be an excelent post to be a Poll, that way all readers can vote without the need to write a comment.

Yeah, it could be a poll, but I'm more interested in hearing why Flash 5 is still important to people, rather than just some voting numbers.

Post by **Lost Marble** » Wed Aug 11, 2004 9:51 pm

Let's try a test. Here are two Flash files, one with and one without compression. Could somebody with Flash 5 try importing these files and tell me how it goes? (I have Flash MX 2004 here, and can't find a copy of Flash 5.)

Here's with compression (194KB):
http://www.lostmarble.com/downloads/moh ... ash_mx.swf

And here's without (417KB):
http://www.lostmarble.com/downloads/moh ... lash_5.swf

As you can see, compression makes a big difference, even though the files should look the same when you play them back. I'm hoping to find out if the file with no compression can be imported into the Flash 5 authoring tool.

Thanks.

P.S.
Ignore the little glitch at the end of the animation - it's not relevant to this little test.

Squeakydave · Post by **Squeakydave** » Wed Aug 11, 2004 10:37 pm

Ok I just tried it and.....

I can't open either one in Flash 5

I hate to have to upgrade but I am leaning towards spending all that cash for a helper app for Moho. Those file sizes are very compelling!

spasmodic_cheese · Post by **spasmodic_cheese** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 2:49 am

if you dig you can find cheap copies of flash mx(or even the whole studio mx) on ebay, to be honest flash mx 2004 isnt worth the upgrade, since AS2.0 is just a 'wrapper' for AS1.0 and they just made mx2k4 to try and get visual basic developers/java developers into their target market.

Heres a review of mx2k4: http://www.svachon.com/articles/?ref=2003_09_12

Umm theres also the Flash4Linux project ...but its no where near complete at http://f4l.sf.net
which will be crossplatform(it will work on windows too)
im part of that project but its going pretty slowly.

I could create a limited helper app that supports flash mx actionscript, and stitching swfs together, and whatever? I started working on this before but I havent worked on it for awhile, if anyone can list some stuff they need from flash, I'll whip something up.

Lost marble I saw ming.dll, I was wondering is that the whole library? and will
Ming 0.3 be packaged with the final release of Moho 5?

Post by **Lost Marble** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 3:56 am

spasmodic_cheese wrote:Lost marble I saw ming.dll, I was wondering is that the whole library? and will
Ming 0.3 be packaged with the final release of Moho 5?

Yes, it's the whole library. What do you mean by "packaged with" Moho 5? Yes, the DLL will be included, since it's critical to Moho's SWF export ability.

spasmodic_cheese · Post by **spasmodic_cheese** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 4:10 am

sorry,
I was wondering on whether moho 5 will be waiting for an official release of the 0.3 library or will be distributed with the beta?

Simpy · Post by **Simpy** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 4:23 am

I would presume that Lost Marble have made a Windows-Build themselves, and streamlined it into MoHo.

So spasmodic, i think they are using there own windows build of version 0.3.

Correct me if im wrong LM

I come to this conclusion due to the fact that those who have made ming don't use windows versions, and there are a few various builds. So i think it's safe to assume LM has made their own build.[/quote]

spasmodic_cheese · Post by **spasmodic_cheese** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 4:29 am

yes well you have to build from source since theres no official 0.3 dll, as its beta.

its no big deal Im just wondering what version it is, cause then my app (if anyone wants needs it)
could use same library.

Simpy · Post by **Simpy** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 4:37 am

What is your app?

spasmodic_cheese · Post by **spasmodic_cheese** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 4:49 am

Just something for people wihtout flash to wrap up their moho exported swfs together and package them nicely (with preloaders or whatever)

if anyones interested... or got any other ideas, mind you I dont have much time to work on it dont go too overboard

Post by **Lost Marble** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 5:24 am

OK, I see what you're asking. I'm not sure of the status of Ming 0.3, but the beta is working well enough for Moho's purposes, so that's probably what Moho will ship with.

The Ming DLL is our own build, but you're welcome to use it if you want to.

spasmodic_cheese · Post by **spasmodic_cheese** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 5:42 am

cool thanks =D