Flash 8 Issue: RANT

[Winchester]

Flash 8:
I created a flash entity using basic tools like; squares, lines, letters, and pictures. These have been around since the beginning of flash. However, now when you create a "box" it is called a new feature, "Enhanced Stroke," which is only for Flash 8 and cant be exported as an earlier version.

This MAJORLY sucks because when people have Flash Player 7 the movie still plays but leaves out the "Flash 8" Enhanced Stroke layers. It NEVER asks to upgrade to Flash Player 8.

This just pisses me off. It is just a fricken square.

BTW: The only reason I am trying to export as v7 is because it doesnt ask to upgrade to 8 if you have 7. So I am trying to make everything work in v7.

 

[GoingUp]

Why not detect the version of flash of the user and then prompt them for an install of the latest plugin? You can easily detect the version of flash and then send them to Macromedia if they need the latest plugin.

 

[Modeps]

Any person who publishes a flash piece to the web should also include a flash detection javascript. Mook's FPI is the best one.

 

[Winchester]

I dont want users to have to leave the site or restart their browser. I just want it to prompt like it would if you do not have flash installed to begin with.

I am dealing with people that have little to no computer experience so this needs to be as simple as possible.

 

[Modeps]

Well, if you're doing a Flash 8 only ability, then you really need them to suck it up and install the proper plugin. If I save a photoshop file in CS2, it's not going to open properly (or probably at all) in photoshop 7.

 

[Modeps]

Plus, that FPI will allow you to detect that the users are using the wrong version of the plugin and well... allow you to take whatever action you want.

 

[Winchester]

I downloaded the FPI. It looks like it still sends the surfer to macromedia. I do not want that.

 

[Modeps]

There are different versions of it in there, you can do content switching with Javascript or page redirection. If you dont want that, then you're gong to have to stop using Enhanced Stroke.

 

[Winchester]

All I did is use the fricken square tool. Nothing else.

I did try creating it in Fireworks then importing it. I think that worked. I am just trying to figure out why my flash files go from 250k to 2.5MB when it is only 2 layers and 3 frames.

 

[rh71]

what happens when you try to publish as version 7 instead of 8 ? Shouldn't that simplify your square automatically ?

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: Winchester
All I did is use the fricken square tool. Nothing else.

I did try creating it in Fireworks then importing it. I think that worked. I am just trying to figure out why my flash files go from 250k to 2.5MB when it is only 2 layers and 3 frames.

"flash files" as in the .fla or the published .swf ? The FLA will be bigger because of the imported objects obviously.

 

[Winchester]

When I publish as Flash 7 the square does not appear at all. However the other stuff does.

The actual SWF file is 2.5mb, the FLA is 400k


EDIT: I think I figured it out. The SWF originally exports at 369k as Flash 8. Then I tried exporting it as Flash 7 and it was 1.6MB. Then I went back and exported it as Flash 8 again and it is 2.5MB. WTF?


NM I found a bug. The "compress movie" box unchecks itself when changing versions.

 

[rh71]

I've kept my site published at Flash 5 for the reason of simplicity. It is also the most saturated version of flash player (something like 97%). If you wanted to keep things simple for these users, you should definitely get Flash MX 2004 installed again and use that instead of Flash 8.

BTW, do those target users have ANY flash plugin installed at all ? You mentioned you didn't want them doing anything too difficult but downloading it for the first time and upgrading would be the same path.

Found this thread.

 

[Winchester]

If the users dont have flash then it is not an issue, as it automatically asks the user to install Flash 8 and the proceeds to install it in the background without ever leaving the site. The issue I am having is with people who have Flash 7. It does NOT prompt them to upgrade to Flash 8 and therefore does not utilize the features of Flash 8 but continues on playing what is compatible with Flash 7.