Macromedia Studio MX 2004
Integrated and Inspiring

BY EDEN MAXWELL

Editorial

Computer
Connections

TUTORIAL –
Web Design Part 2

REVIEW –
Macromedia MX
2004

Shareware Hits

Photo Page

Qaptain Qwerty’s
Qorner

From My Keyboard

Volunteer
for Express!

A couple of years ago, I used Studio MX to create my art and blog (web log) website. Dreamweaver MX, in particular, with its third party, developer, downloadable extensions and customizable templates gave me the courage to confront Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), the more enticing and elegant approach to controlling site design, where style and substance can soar beyond the clunky limitations of an HTML page. I also spent some quality time designing a great splash page using Flash. I loved it.

Before launching my site, however, I pulled the spiffy page (which could get old all too fast), and decided that a Flash animation would work best as pure content (fine art). It's on the "to do" list for the next version of my site. (There's a lesson in this for all designers; having a boxful of digital tools doesn't mean having to use them all. Discernment is what makes great art and design.)

Naturally, I had a vested interest in the Studio MX 2004 upgrade. Macromedia had raised the ante for Studio's minimum requirements to OS X 10.2.6, 256MB of RAM (512MB recommended), plus a G3 500 MHz PowerPC. I have a five-year old, 300 MHz, G3 Beige MT and had to come up with a solution. You can read about it in the next issue of the newsletter.

In Studio MX 2004, users receive a welcome start screen in Dreamweaver, Flash, and Fireworks that includes: recently worked on files, in-depth tutorials, the ability to create new files, plus templates to get users up and running quickly.

The following are the Studio 2004 (Macintosh) apps with a brief description of each and what’s new in it:

Dreamweaver MX 2004
Dreamweaver MX 2004 is the website-building application. It provides a powerful combination of visual layout tools, application development features and code editing support. It enables developers and designers at every skill level to create standards-based sites and applications quickly. From leading support for CSS-based design to hand-coding features, Dreamweaver provides, in an integrated, streamlined environment, the tools needed by professionals and non-professionals alike. Developers can use Dreamweaver with the server technology of their choice to build powerful Internet applications that connect users to databases, web services, and legacy systems.

Macromedia took the plunge. Dreamweaver’s design environment is now fully built around Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), enabling faster and more efficient development of clean-coded, professional sites. To improve the end-user experience, a dynamic cross-browser validation feature automatically checks tags. (CSS rules for compatibility across all the leading browsers.) This feature is a solid hit for designers supporting a wide range of browsers for their clients,.

Designers can render intricate, CSS-based layouts and designs more easily and precisely than before. Tools allow for quick selection and control of page and site-wide style properties. A built-in graphics editor lets users crop, resize, and make minor edits using built-in Macromedia Fireworks technology without leaving Dreamweaver.

Although the special characters bar is gone from the site panel, Dreamweaver’s streamlined interface features a new Favorites bar that displays objects from all categories in one handy place. You will like it.

Dreamweaver MX 2004: Selecting Page Designs from Create from Samples brings up a dialog box with various options from a basic page to a full-featured, page template to help you get started.

Macromedia Flash MX 2004 –
Standard and Professional
Macromedia Flash is one of the great Internet technology stories. It began in 1995, at a small, tech startup called FutureSplash which developed an efficient solution for delivering rich, user experiences over narrowband Internet connections. Wisely, Macromedia bought the company. Flash was an instant hit, and soon became the standard for dynamic, interactive, web content.

About the author:
Eden Maxwell is a fine artist and published book author. He has contributed to many publications, including Popular Science, Art Calendar Magazine, Drachen Foundation Journal, Popular Mechanics, MacStreet Journal Online, Omni, MacUser, MacDigest, and Computer Gaming World. His art has been exhibited on both the West and East Coasts and his work has appeared in the Encyclopedia Britannica. Eden is currently writing a book for artists to be published in 2004. Visit Eden’s Atelier and Gallery website. You may also reach him via email.

The Flash MX 2004 Workspace: the center work area is called the stage where you create movies using scenes. The Timeline is shown above. In this scene, the Actions code is displayed in the lower left, Transform to the lower right, Behaviors and Components on the right.

Macromedia Flash MX 2004 comes in a standard and a top of the line Professional edition. It is a multimedia application you can use to create compelling applications, presentations, animations, and websites. Users can integrate images, drawings, audio, video, and text into their Flash documents. Flash uses a scripting language called ActionScript (version 2.0) that is similar to JavaScript and Java. Although Flash has a scripting language, it isn’t necessary to know code in order to build an interactive application. Functionality can be dragged and dropped into Flash documents using components and behaviors.

Flashers will welcome the addition of Timeline Effects (Flash-based assistants that help create sophisticated effects). Users can now accelerate common, timeline interactions and reduce the need for explicit, keyframe animation and manipulation (which can be tedious with complex animations). Common tasks formerly requiring repetitive actions can now be achieved in one step. These effects are non-destructive and can be repeatedly modified or removed after being applied. They include: Transition, Transform, Copy to Grid, Distribute Duplicate, Blur, Drop Shadow, Expand, and Explode.

Users can now further reduce the need to script simple tasks like media and navigation controls. Behaviors include event handlers (movie clip loading/unloading, stop/play, and z-depth sorting) and video/sound control (play/stop, load, rewind/forward, and show/hide). They can be written to automate the workflow, or behaviors can be downloaded from the Macromedia Exchange.

PDF and EPS File Support integrate rich, media content faster with direct support for PDF and Adobe Illustrator 10 files. Files can be imported and mapped into the Macromedia Flash interface with a variety of settings, for example, segmenting layers and pages into the Macromedia Flash library and timeline.

Complete documentation is accessible from the Help panel (including in-context reference, a language guide, and tutorials). Automatic content updates are available from Macromedia.com . After running the Flash 7.0.1 updater, a message in the help panel asked if I wanted to download the latest help text. I sure did.

It’s now possible to achieve consistent design across HTML and Macromedia Flash content with new Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) support. By sharing style settings between Macromedia Flash and Dreamweaver, content can be more visually consistent and the workflow is improved.

As I said before, ActionScript 2.0 supports object-oriented programming and a more robust, European Computer Manufacturers’ Association (ECMA) standards-compliant, programming model, thereby making it a familiar working experience for Java programmers. ActionScript 2.0 code can be compiled to ActionScript 1.0 (truly retro) for playback on earlier versions of Macromedia Flash Player.

Professional Flash MX 2004 is a hotbed of improved tools. It’s a bit controversial, as this edition (and the standard to a lesser degree) is aimed at more hardcore, technical developers (those who write code and scripts versus the drag and drop elements crowd). Developers can quickly build effective, data-driven applications with forms-based development, powerful data binding, and Microsoft Visual SourceSafe integration. Video professionals can add interactivity and customized interfaces to high quality video, and deliver to the world’s largest video client, the Macromedia Flash Player (more than a half billion served worldwide). Flash is keenly suited for deploying content and applications on devices and mobile phones using device emulators, prebuilt templates, and sample content.

Forms
Forms are what drive commercial sites. You can now develop applications in a forms-based, authoring environment instead of, or in addition to, the traditional timeline. Using the forms-based environment is better for forms-based applications where the end user will navigate from one form to another. Visual developers, accustomed to languages like Microsoft Visual Basic, will find the forms-based approach to programming familiar. You can design one, add components to it, and build your application navigation and logic. Macromedia Flash uses the generic term, screens, in place of the term forms.

Simply begin a new Macromedia Flash document with the File New menu and select Flash Form Application. To turn on the Forms view, select the Window Screens menu item. Use the Insert menu item to add screens and nested screens to the hierarchy.

Advanced Components
The new components provided in this release have far more capabilities than ever. Build interactive interfaces quickly with an extensive set of prebuilt components, including data integration and video playback. All components include: built in tab, focus and depth management, and better skinning capabilities.

Macromedia Flash components are built on an object-oriented framework, making it easy to create one that inherits from the standard components, or in one change, affects all others. This makes it possible to create custom sets for designs and applications. Only Macromedia Flash Professional components are data bound. Wiring them directly to the data sources makes it easy to display data in the application.

By connecting to Data Sources, users can create data-driven applications with minimal scripting using components that connect to such data sources as web services, XML, etc. Users can then integrate, on the back end, with Macromedia Flash Remoting (to keep it all in the family of Macromedia products) with their application server, or ColdFusion.

Fireworks MX 2004
This application is for creating, optimizing, and exporting interactive web graphics. Whether you’re a web developer who maintains and edits graphics, or a designer with creative control, Fireworks gives you the tools you need. Tighter integration with Macromedia Flash MX, Macromedia Dreamweaver MX, and Macromedia FreeHand MX makes cross-product work even smoother. A supercharged, graphics engine and a streamlined, user interface will increase productivity while reducing design and development time. When handling large images and other processor-intensive tasks, Fireworks MX 2004 performs much faster than its predecessor. Common operations such as scaling, applying Live Effects, using brushes, and text editing run faster and more smoothly. New bitmap and vector-based tools give more creative options and help to expand your range. In addition, employing Complete Unicode Support takes advantage of an operating system’s language features. Even users of the English version of Fireworks can create double-byte graphical and alt text, and use double-byte characters such as Kanji and Hiragana in any text field.

Design efficiency is greatly improved with user interface enhancements, such as graphical previews, in the newly enhanced Property inspector. It helps users select the right brush, texture or fill more quickly, and gives the option to automatically save GIF and JPG files in their original format. The revamped Data-Driven Graphics Wizard decreases the production time for repetitive graphics. A simpler, user interface features a number of user-requested improvements. Settings are savable, and users can specify output file names in their source XML data.

With the Transform tool, objects can rotate, stretch, and be resized more precisely. They can be scaled from the center or the corner. Text can be scaled in point sizes. This tool merges the speed of a Drag tool with numeric accuracy.

From the handy Property Inspector, you can select the right brush, texture, or fill with the help of new, graphical previews. A new Fit to Canvas button also speeds this common operation. Other improvements include: larger, more readable fonts, the option to automatically save files in their original format, saving screen space by snapping open and closed panels and columns of panels, and instant access to open documents by using tabs, as in Dreamweaver.

Freehand MXa
FreeHand MX is an illustration, design, and layout tool for creating content for Internet and Macromedia Flash MX projects. Although Macromedia’s vector program doesn’t, as yet, get the 2004 brand label, FreeHand MX has many excellent features, and could easily become the vector program of choice if you work in the Studio environment most of the time. FreeHand includes SWF export and integration (used by the Flash player) with both Flash MX and Fireworks MX.

Macromedia Symbol Library
In FreeHand, you can now store frequently used images, animations, and buttons in a symbol library similar to the Macromedia Flash Library. When you modify a library symbol, it automatically updates all the instances in the file, just as in Macromedia Flash. When FreeHand files are imported or copied into Macromedia Flash all the original symbols from the FreeHand symbol library are retained, expediting workflow while optimizing the Macromedia Flash file size.

The FreeHand MX interface streamlines productivity and design with a customizable, integrated workspace. Dockable panels can be grouped together, collapsed, or expanded as needed. Other consistent, user-interface elements make your job easier when working within FreeHand MX (as well as other Macromedia MX applications).

SWF movie import/re-export and Rich Internet Applications are easily integrated into the design layout. SWF files can be directly imported into a FreeHand MX document. They can also be placed, previewed, and re-exported. SWFs generated from an FLA file (Flash’s native file format) and placed in a FreeHand MX document can be edited in Macromedia Flash MX by a simple click on the Object panel. Updates made to the FLA file in Macromedia Flash MX are automatically applied to the SWF placed in FreeHand MX. Macromedia Flash MX can also open FreeHand MX files directly. Other SWF publishing enhancements include easy to use movie settings and smart optimization of movies for the smallest possible file size.

FreeHand MX allows users to import Fireworks MX PNG files (the Fireworks native file format) and to edit objects and text. Bitmap images placed in a FreeHand MX document can be edited and optimized in Fireworks MX with a single click on the Object panel. FreeHand MX files open directly in Fireworks MX.

This version also has some new tools. The enhanced Pen tool permits spontaneous stroke style changes, and its multiple-attribute capabilities elevate variations to a new dimension. The Bezigon tool creates polygons that combine Bézier curves and corners with precision. There is also an Extrude tool that makes it easy to add simple 3-D effects to objects. After extruding an object, the original shape can be edited.

Rich and Robust
You can build a career by knowing any one of these design applications. Think of what you can accomplish if you master them all; you can call the shots and write you own ticket to success.

Although Studio abounds with promotional culinary words such as rich and robust (makes me want a cappuccino), this upgrade does, despite any heated hype, serve up a satisfying and remarkable piece of programming. Although some users have remarked the release was a bit premature and on the al dente side. While there were bugs in Flash and Dreamweaver, the Macromedia engineers responded quickly with Flash updater 7.0.1, and, by the time you read this, the Dreamweaver updater might be available to address most compatibility and speed issues in Panther.

Of course, it’s easier to deal with common, reproducible bugs among fellow Studio users. It’s the problems that seem to be computer specific, i.e. yours or mine, for example, that hard drive you buggy. In Dreamweaver, for example, I could not select IE 5.0 from the "Show Events For" dropdown menu. It’s a feature that allows users to browser preview how behaviors are performing, from within Dreamweaver, in minimum 5.0 environments. Each time I selected IE 5.0, it reverted to the default IE 4.0. Annoying! This function had worked in Dreamweaver MX, and was important to me because I chose to support newer browsers exclusively for a personal site. I opted for more recent browsers for two reasons: performance on my site was quantitatively superior, and I felt it was important to encourage users to upgrade rather than do code-based somersaults for holdouts using “obsolete” browsers.

I scoured the web, user groups, and mavens on the Dreamweaver forums for a solution. With no answer in sight, I launched Dreamweaver once again and decided to open a “new” page to see if could make my browser preview, preference selection stick. It worked. I then opened a page on my site and “Show Events For” IE 5.0 worked there as well. Apparently, something initialized within Dreamweaver by going this route, albeit intuitively.

Fireworks MX had also been indispensable in creating and optimizing images (both art and text) on my site. I could have used Adobe ImageReady via Photoshop, but Fireworks was already tight with Dreamweaver. This meant fewer keystrokes, and excellent, image manipulation tools for the web. The more I used Fireworks, the more I appreciated its value. Still, despite the merits of integration schemes, be wary when selecting Fireworks MX 2004 from within Dreamweaver when editing a table. Doing so will do strange, unspeakable things and overwrite the table structure in your HTML document. In such a case, don't launch Fireworks from the Property Inspector panel in Dreamweaver. It's safer to edit tables by launching Fireworks externally by clicking on your Fireworks document. There is no significant benefit for trying to replace perfectly workable <table> tags with <DIV> tags and attempt to control it all in CSS. I'm a CSS advocate, not a fanatic.

Okay, enough with the nitpicking already. Check out the Studio forums on the web and you'll read all the war stories. One thing to keep in mind with apps that don't work correctly on your computer, but do on others, is that you may have installed a seemingly, harmless, system wide utility (perhaps a shareware) that isn't compatible with your new operating system, or perhaps with the troublesome app. Some Studio users who upgraded to OS X version 10.2.8 or to Panther (version 10.3), using the "Archive and Install" or "Erase and Install" option, have had problems running some, or all, of the Macromedia applications that use activation. This includes those that are part of Studio MX 2004 and Contribute 2. The most common symptom occurs when the application icon in the dock is clicked and the icon "bounces" but doesn't launch.

As smart as the OS X installer is, the "Archive and Install" and "Erase and Install" processes do not properly transfer activation files used by Macromedia software. To its credit, Macromedia offered an immediate, hot fix, downloadable updater that resolved the issue. (You may find the hot fix didn't cure all the ills. For example, to get my help file working again in Dreamweaver, I had to reinstall the app, but only Dreamweaver, not the entire Studio.)

Take Out the Jargon
Acronyms such as ASP, ASP.NET, JSP, MySQL, PHP are server technologies that are abstract until you need to work with them. If you're a website professional, then you already know the technological jargon. Novices may feel intimidated initially and lose their appetite over what seems daunting. Fret not. Your consternation is but fleeting. For example, I learned the importance of MySQL and PHP when I wanted to run my blog using pMachine on my website.

PHP is a server-side scripting language that allows you to access a database easily, and Structured Query Language (SQL) is the standard language for interacting with relational databases. Sites with dynamic pages (constantly changing content) need an underlying database structure. A database is an organized collection of information that a computer uses to select and display data to enhance your site content.

Upgrade or Not
People who earn a living from website design and development will do well to buy or upgrade to Macromedia MX 2004. In this business, you are swimming with sharks, and to be competitive you must keep up with the latest tools and technologies. Users who work on non-business or personal sites could stick it out for a while with Studio MX, but if you live without that new iPod, I would recommend the upgrade.

The Macromedia mantra is, "Let's make it better." They have succeeded.

Training Aids
Newbies do not be dismayed. Any motivated person can become proficient with the apps in Studio MX. Macromedia provides professional quality tools; you provide the motivation, ability, and energy.

While the tutorials that accompany Macromedia Studio MX 2004 are good, I recommend the following books from Peachpit Press and New Riders Publishers. These titles will give you a hands on experience exploring the features of these applications:

1). Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004: Training from the Source, By Khristine Annwn Page.

2). Macromedia Flash MX 2004 for Rich Internet Applications, By Phillip Kerman.

3). Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004 Killer Tips, By Joseph Lowery and Angela C. Buraglia. (New Riders)

4). Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004 Demystified, By Laura Gutman.

5). Macromedia Flash MX 2004: Training from the Source, By Jen deHaan.

For the latest Studio MX 2004 pricing details, please visit the Macromedia website.

Macromedia Inc.
600 Townsend St.
San Francisco, CA 94103
415.252.2000
Customer Service: 800.470.7211

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