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Flash MX adds content and animation to Web pages. Flash MX movies use vector graphics to reduce size and download time. Movies can be “streamed” into a Web browser, which means they can begin playing before they are fully downloaded.
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Flash MX adds content and animation to Web pages • Flash MX movies use vector graphics to reduce size and download time. • Movies can be “streamed” into a Web browser, which means they can begin playing before they are fully downloaded. • Flash MX movies can include interactivity to allow the viewer to enter input, including two-way messaging. Introducing Macromedia Flash MX – Lesson 1
Flash MX supports vector and raster images • Although Flash MX is vector-oriented, it does provide support for raster images as well. • Vector images consist of lines and curves and descriptions of their properties. • They are usually smaller than raster images, download faster, and scale better. • Raster images are created by mapping the placement and color of each individual pixel. • These are also called bitmap images. • They are usually larger than vector images and tend to distort or lose quality when scaled to a large magnification. Introducing Macromedia Flash MX – Lesson 1
Scaling a raster versus a vector image At standard size, a raster image and a vector image may appear identical. However, when scaled up to a larger size, the vector image will maintain a smooth edge while the edge of the raster image becomes very jagged. Introducing Macromedia Flash MX – Lesson 1
Flash MX file formats • Flash MX is primarily vector-based and can open images from other vector-based graphic programs, such as Fireworks. • It can also support several raster image types, including: • BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, PICT, PNT and TIFF. • Files saved from Flash MX are saved in FLA format. • Files saved in FLA file format can be used to create stand-alone movies, HTML files, and SWF files. Introducing Macromedia Flash MX – Lesson 1
Create stand-alone movies You do not need the Flash Player installed to view movies on your desktop. Flash movies can be converted into ”projectors,” which are stand-alone executable files. This Windows desktop shows two icons. One is for a standard Flash MX FLA movie file. The other is for a Flash MX movie that has been turned into a projector. Introducing Macromedia Flash MX – Lesson 1