Even though it may sound like it, Silverlight is not a 1980s cartoon series but in fact a new website browser plugin from Microsoft.

Silver light is in direct competition with Adobe Flash. Like Flash, Silverlight is used to add animation and interactivity to web pages using its own vector graphics engine. It can also be used to integrate video into web pages and to develop rich Internet applications. A Key feature is that it supports playback of WMV, WMA, and MP3 media content across all supported browsers without requiring Windows Media Player, the Windows Media Player ActiveX control, or Windows Media browser plugins.

One advantage Silverlight claims over Flash is that Text content within it is more searchable and indexable than that created with Flash as it is not compiled, but represented as text (XAML).

Both Silverlight or Flash technologies require a plug-in to allow, and once installed, both are invisible to the user. Although that said, you have to embed flash a special way to avoid the “click to activate this plugin” message. I presume that in the future version of Microsoft Internet Explorer that it will come with Silverlight pre-installed, and while IE is the dominate browser this could be a advantage over Flash.

Could this be a real threat to Flash and Adobe and End their dominance in this field? We will have to wait and see, I think it is best put like this:

“Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”
Winston Churchill

In a previous post, I was commiserating with an author who wrote an article about the use of typography for html websites and the restrictions that we, as graphic designers, experience. I went on complaining that technology for websites with regards to html typography hadn’t changed in 12 years. Well, if you read last week’s postings by Mick, our Director of Interactive Media, you, like me… are thrilled! Scalable Inman Flash Replacement (sIFR) is just the answer. It’s as if I called out to the Gods of typography and they heard me… just like when I was waiting and waiting for our window installer to call back, then had a dream about him building me a piano, and he called the very next day.

So, I decided to check out this new technology (this Godsend). I took about a half hour this morning and read through the documentation, the how-to-use files and sample files, and got to work. I would like to preface what I’m about to write by stating that I AM NOT A PROGRAMMER. I change what I need to change, upload what I need to upload, and save what needs to be saved. Sometimes it works and sometimes I fail miserably, but thankfully one of our very talented and personable programmers, Amy, is located two offices down from mine and always ready to help.

Basically, all that is required is setting the typeface in Flash, exporting it as a .swf file, and calling it up within the Javascript in the html page. Magically, at least for me, the type is just as I want it to look: search engine friendly, linkable, and selectable. I’m very excited to implement this new technology in future websites we design. We can now have the best of both worlds… great looking type on websites that work!

Now, I only hope someone reads my post about wanting a new SLR digital camera….

Fonts. Why did it have to be fonts. A quick recap of the my last post: Fonts need to be HTML so that search engines can see them, but web-safe fonts are very limited (to about 6) so designers cannot make things as pretty as they would like. That is until now. Introducing Scalable Inman Flash Replacement (sIFR).

As stated normally, HTML and CSS allow you to use any font but there is no guarantee that it will show up as intended because the user may not have the specified font installed in their system. sIFR on the other hand allows website headings, pull-quotes, and other elements to be styled in any font by enabling the designer to embed the font of their choice in a Flash element that displays the text.

As a result the font used does not have to be installed on the user’s machine…. but wait, if it is just flash then we’re back to the same problem of it being invisible to search engines. But No time to argue. “Throw me the idol, I’ll throw you the whip.” What happens it is uses some fancy Javascript magic, Essentially, any assigned headings (h1, h2, etc…) will be converted to Flash files with the embedded font when the website is loaded. However, any search engine spider coming through your site will still be able to read all of the page content.

sIFR requires JavaScript to be enabled and the Flash plugin installed in the reading browser. If either condition is not met, the reader’s browser will automatically display traditional CSS-based styling instead of the sIFR rendering.

sIFR is not designed for body copy text as rendering greater bodies of text with Flash place formidable demands on the computer.

Commenting in programming is your best friend. Having become proficient in AS programming with Flash, I have learned that it is crucial to include comments for better navigation around the code. Commenting can be used to define the version information of a file or to group or separate various functions. This especially becomes useful when sharing a file between programmers avoiding confusion and decreasing mental process time with unfamiliar code.

When working with a file, whenever I make a substantial change I always increment the filename and save the file. Including version information within the code is also beneficial in case I need to revert to an older version of the file. An example might be…

//—————————-Version Information
// - new background graphic
// - update to menu navigation
// - added shopping cart functionality

Keeping order and clarity within the code is  important and will save time editing the code and finding the best file to revert to should problems be encountered with later file versions.

At Dynamic Digital Advertising, Flash is a big part of our website design philosophy.

When I first started working at DDA, I knew I was going to have to take on responsibilities that were not covered in my training at school.  I never thought, however, that I would ever be tackling web design at all. In this web 2.0 world, Flash website design and coding skills are a must for any business trying to compete in the Internet marketing space. That’s why when I was asked to do Flash sites, I was more than happy to learn.

Now I’ve helped put together over a half-dozen flash pieces for the web. That’s not bad for  someone who had no web experience coming into the job. If it wasn’t for DDA, I probably wouldn’t even know my AS 3 from my ActionScript 2!

We take pride in our ability to create dynamic web 2.0 applications for your company or small business. Let me and the rest of the DDA video department put together your next Flash site, and rest assured that you will have a professional, innovative website that stands tall in the crowded 21st century web marketplace.

I love coming across new ways to work Flash. I am always learning, and it is really exciting whenever I find a new technique that I can use again and again. One such technique that I have found myself using on multiple occasions is Local Connection.

Local Connection is a great tool which I only learned about recently here at DDA while working on a flash objectamation website. What Local Connection (or LC) allows you to do is create “bridges” across multiple flash files, allowing them to communicate with each other without using Java or other external scripting.

Using an LC is useful in an app where you need to create an external control for your Flash. For instance, if you need a control panel outside of your flash movie (on the sidebar, or in a new window) you can use Local Connection. Additionally, you can open the flash in Internet Explorer, and the control in Firefox, and it will still work. You can even open the control locally and the swf on the web!

I’ve found quite a few uses for this technique in the last couple months, and I’m sure there will be more opportunities for me to use it in the future.  I can only hope to learn more techniques like this in the future, and expand my Flash coding skills to be able to create any type of site!

Laurence sent out an extension for Flash CS3 yesterday that really piqued my interest. Written by Lee Brimelow, who is also the author of many very useful Flash tutorials, Event Generator is a CS3 plugin that promises to save us a lot of time inputting simple code.

Here’s how it works;  all you have to do is create a movie clip with an instance name. This is something that any properly organized Flash interactive or animation will have anyway - anything the coder wants to interact with using actionscript must have an instance name. Once that is set up, all you need to do is click that movie clip, then check the appropriate checkbox for what you want to do. Selections include click actions, enterFrame, RollOver and RollOut, and KeyPress actions. Then click “Copy to Clipboard.” That’s it! Just paste the code into your timeline and you’re set.

It’s really so easy a child could do it. I definitely look forward to more from Lee and the other Flash Gurus out there - more extensions like this and we’ll be pumping out AS3 apps in no time!

I’m always trying to come up with new ways to make my animations more interesting. This weekend, I practiced a few cool animation techniques that will hopefully help my animations look more dynamic and visually stimulating.

Probably the thing I found coolest to animate was a procedural snowfall technique. Using one graphic and a little bit of code, you can create softly falling snowflakes that move randomly across the screen. It is a very good technique since it saves a lot on memory. Also, hand animating hundreds of snowflakes can be a huge pain! This way, you get a randomly generated pattern that cycles as long as you want.

This is another example of why Flash is such a great program for animating. Using traditional hand drawn animation is fine, but sometimes if you can code in something to do it for you, it saves hours of work.

This past weekend, I went wine tasting with my husband. As novices, we don’t necessarily swirl the wine in the glass just so or perform all the well-known techniques just right, but we enjoy experiencing the different tastes and smells each bottle has to offer. Under the wine umbrella, there are different variations, including but not limited to merlot, chardonnay, blush, pinot grigio, and riesling, and within each type there are those that are dry or more acidic, those that are sweet or tart, and those that are aged six months to six years and so on. The flavors of each can run the gamut from fruity with specific floral aromas to spiced with a carmel or butterscotch aftertaste.

At the end of the trip, my husband and I were able to agree on a bottle to take home that suited our tastes best. I couldn’t help but think that this process could be applied to that of website design, brochure design, video production, trade show graphics, and more in the field of advertising. While other advertising agencies often utilize a one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to design and development, Dynamic Digital Advertising (DDA) takes on every project as a unique venture that needs customization based on the business, organization, and target audience.

Just like in wine tasting, in website design, there are many different types of websites - ecommerce,  Flash, database, corporate, medical, etc. - and within a certain type, the possibilities (like the flavors) are virtually endless. But unlike the vineyards, we (at DDA) make sure our clients end up with a final product that is exclusive to their company and tailor fit to their distinctive needs. With our team of professionals, we don’t just choose from an extensive list of existing materials, we create it from scratch.

When working on a project, we have to make double certain to keep our files organized in some fashion. The more organized your system, the easier it will be to go back and either retrieve resources from the project, or update the work if needed.

Recently I have been working on changing an animation that I did months ago. At first I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to find the images I needed to change, or the 3D files that I needed to re-render. That probably would have been the case if it was a project from a year ago, when I first started working at DDA. Now, when I do an animation, I use an organizational system that works well for my style of animation.

Another reason to keep your things organized in animations would be to help any other animators that may work on that project. The easier and more intuitive your system, the easier other animators will be able to work with your assets, whether they be using them during the project or coming back to it on an archive CD way down the road.
So organize your files! You never know when you’ll need to go back to them!