Do you use Flash?

[ShadowTiger]

How proficient are you with Flash? I've tried to use it a number of times, (Approximately half a school year, actually.) .. But I just never quite got it. It seemed too tedius to me. Frame, after frame, after frame. Wow. Got better things to do, like build things for people in ZC.

You? Do you like Flash? Or do you just admire the hell out of it for what it can do? ;)

[JayeM]

It's something I'd love to learn...I've added it to the long list of other things I'd love to learn but will probably never get around to. :(

[{DSG}DarkRaven]

I've worked on it a fair amount, since it's part of my degree, but it's really not as hard as you think once you get the hang of it. I agree, it's tedious and a bit overwhelming at first, but if you can get the basics down, you'll catch on quick.

It's really very deep, and some of the things it's capable of are amazing. Very annoying at times, but also very amazing. When you first open it up, however, there's a lot of sub menus, pallettes, and toolbars. I tried it once back in 2001, and I gave up after about thirty seconds. Just give it a little time, and try to find someone who can show you around.

[Rijuhn]

I was introduced to Flash back in 1998. I used Flash 4 on my older computer and I had a blast creating all sorts of cool stuff. Then I got Flash 5 when it came out and then got my new computer and made even more stuff.

Most recently I used Flash 5 to draw Issue 1 of my web comic, so check out my signature for a link to my page on DeviantArt.

Flash 5 is the latest I have and I think it is very tedious. I do know they have Flash MX and other stuff like that but I have no clue about it. I'm very interested to check out the latest in Flash technology, but I'm fine with Flash 5.

[vegeta1215]

Flash is nice on some site where it is used well, but otherwise it is annoying. When I surf the web I have all plugins (including flash) disabled until I absolutely need them. (via a quick preference in Opera)

[{DSG}DarkRaven]

I have Flash MX, heck, the entire Macromedia MX suite, here at school. I couldn't begin to tell you the differences between that and version 7, however.

If you're really interested in upgrading, I'm sure you could find a cheap copy of an older version out there, or at the very least, get a haxed registration code for version 6 or 7. Some of my less intelligent classmates did that in my web design class back in high school, with no regard for possible consequences. Never heard that anything went wrong, but it was still a bad idea at the time.

[AtmaWeapon]

I'm buying Flash MX at the end of this year once I can properly evaluate my budget. There's plenty of academic discount type stores on the internet, Flash MX goes for ~$99, but I'll just scoop it up from the campus store.

I want to learn it because I have this idea for an AGN project I stole from somewhere else and I think everyone will agree it is fantastic.

[{DSG}DarkRaven]

Really? Any chance I could find out? I'd be interested to know, if not possibly lend some aid. Not that I'm any sort of flash Guru, but it'd be nice to try at the very lesat. If you care to inform me, that is.



$99 for FMX? I wasn't sure it was that low. Are you sure you aren't getting a "student" version that's somehow different (i.e. WinXP Home VS. WinXP Pro)?

[Mercy]

It seemed too tedius to me. Frame, after frame, after frame.
Tweening is your friend.

I never found Flash difficult or tedius but that is probably due to my experience with similar applications prior to trying it. If you really want to become proficient in it you need to work with Flash constantly until it becomes second nature. There are some good books available on the subject and more tutorials on the 'net than you can shake a pointer at. That amount of work may not be worthwhile though if you do not have much call to use Flash. There is nothing wrong with just admiring the work of others.


m.

[{DSG}DarkRaven]

When he said frame after frame, Mercy, I assume he wasn't working with tweens yet, but you have to admit, there is a lot of little tedious work involved with setting up frames.

I really think that if you have someone show you the basics, the initial furstration will be gone, allowing you to progress much easier. I was confused as heck until someone showed me how to use tweens, and then someone showed me this quarter how to use action script. It's not so overwhelming now, and I can work with it easier, discover things easier, without being so frustrated.

[Mercy]

Being OCD means never having to notice if something's tedious. There is generally a lot of work involved but I guess whether or not it is tedious is all in the mind-set. Rather than viewing the repititious work as a drag I think it helps to regard it as perfecting what came before. If you get one frame done, the next should be that much easier. Build on successes.

I caution anyone against getting too used to action scripts until they have a good basis in the application without them. The scripts are a crutch unless you make your own. Like being given the answer to a problem without knowing why the answer works. They make great reference material though and are definitely worthwhile once you understand how they work.

I have watched a lot of people just not 'get it' with Flash for a while. Sometimes they never did but usually something would *click* and it would all fall into place. You just have to make friends with the application. Get bogged down by the frustration and you will have a rough time seeing beyond it. Considering some of the truly hideous examples of Flash I have seen on the 'net, I am pretty confident that anyone who puts in a modicum of effort can pick it up eventually.


m.

[{DSG}DarkRaven]

Tedium can be a mindset, I agree, Mercy. I suppose I meant that it would be tedious to someone who isn't advanced and used to it, like you seem to be.

[AtmaWeapon]

Tedium sometimes has great results. I still suck with Photoshop, but ever since I figured out that good work takes more than 10 minutes, what little work I do has improved greatly. I figure Flash is going to be the same way, but 20 or so hours of work is so worth it if even two or three people enjoy your work.

Unfortunately, Mercy is right about Flash and pretty much everything else that has to do with multimedia. You only get good through practice. I never really get good with anything because I run out of projects to do, and my skills fade. I learned Perl in February but haven't used it for a single thing, so if I had to write something in it I'd have to pull out the book again. Same with C++, it's been a year since I really did a C++ project.

And yes, Flash MX full version is $99 at my campus store. Office 2k3 is $149 and Photoshop CS is like $270. I'd love to jump at the Photoshop (I have crappy Elements) but I just don't have that kind of cash. Academic discounts are very useful and are often not limited like you have implied. The free ones that come with textbooks are usually shareware, but everything you can buy in the campus store is full-featured for its package, if not better. For example, Visual Studio .NET 2003 Academic is equivalent to VS .NET Pro, but the academic package comes with a different license and some student tools.

The software vendors figure if they can get a college student to use their program enough for it to become second nature, they will work for a company that uses said program so in the end they will still make money.

[{DSG}DarkRaven]

Ah, I must have been thinking of Photoshop elements. I hate stripped down versions of stuff like this. Or anything, really.

[MANDRAG GANON]

I use flash all the time. I sometimes colour pictures in flash.
I've made many animations in flash, but I haven't uploaded any.
Its not to hard to learn flash.
Also you can use tweening (inbetweening) instead of doing every frame seperately, can make life alot easier but can make animation look choppy and awkward.

[VEL]

I've never used it, but I'd like to someday. My dad has talked about buying it, if he does I'll probably try using it.