For more than 10 years the Flash community has been incredibly unique in it’s vibrancy and creativity. This is a community that was essentially created by the users. It was driven by the beautiful, amazing, and downright cool things that people were creating with Flash. In the beginning the most innovative works were created by designers, artists and other non-developers. These people created the “hype” that made Flash rise above, way above, any similar technologies – but today these enthusiasts are becoming an endangered species.
Flash has matured incredibly in the past decade, but it has done so in a way that has blocked non-developers from even getting started. The simple fact of the matter is that with older versions of Flash you could learn the tool and how to program ActionScript almost entirely through creative play. With the latest iterations, unless you have a background in object-oriented programming, that method of learning by doing is simply not an option.
HYPE is a creative coding framework built on top of ActionScript 3. A major goal of HYPE is to allow newcomers to Flash and ActionScript to creatively play and express themselves while they are learning how to program.
To get started, the user needs only the most basic knowledge of programming – variables, conditionals, loops, and functions, for example.
As the user learns more about programming they can extend HYPE and thus grow their skills, while at the same time inspiring the next generation.
Now, that’s not to say HYPE is just for people who are new to programming. Instead, HYPE is for anyone, regardless of skill, who wants to play with code. Fundamentally, the point of HYPE is to make Flash fun again. We made HYPE to help bring back the playfulness that once defined our community.
Lee Brimelow with some experiments using Thibault Imbert’s Wii Flash project that provides integration between Wii remotes and flash apps. Very cool stuff.
A quick search for other projects that bridge the gap between hardware and software via AS3 discovers Marcos Weskamp’s explorations coming in at #1 on Google.
Alas, the things you don’t know about your friends sometimes are exactly that which makes them all the more amazing.
This is awesome and a bit out of control. Sprint recently put up a page of loosely associated widgets on their Now Network, that document our world’s various data flows. It’s all done in flash, and is well worth a visit. Especially to hear some sexy computer voice say, “feel free to touch it,” and “buckle up and enjoy the millisecond.”
If you are in SF, and are interested in learning about the latest features in Flash CS4 authoring and Flash Player 10, this is the event for you.
And check out the perks!
It’s going to be a blast, with Adobe catering, free coffee/espresso bar, tasty snacks and healthy ones, beer but also smart drinks, lunch and dinner. Additionally (on Friday and Saturday) we will employ a masseuse to help you stay loose and focused on coding and building rich experiences with Flash Player 10. So get there early and sign up for your free massage!
Lee Brimelow with an in-depth video review of Flash CS4. Some great observations here on the new workspace, and on the timeline’s new features. Definitely worth a watch.
The problem isn’t doubts about the hardware, once costs drop. Instead, says John Jacobs, director of notebook market research at DisplaySearch, it’s a lack of software designed to work well with touch. For instance, few applications are written to support multitouch, he says.
Perhaps Adobe should get out in front of this with Flash multi-touch APIs. Anyone know of existing libraries of such type, created by the community?
Flare is an ActionScript library for creating visualizations that run in the Adobe Flash Player. From basic charts and graphs to complex interactive graphics, the toolkit supports data management, visual encoding, animation, and interaction techniques. Even better, flare features a modular design that lets developers create customized visualization techniques without having to reinvent the wheel.
Check out the demo examples. My favorite is definitely the bar chart animation. So smooth. So fluid.
Ethan Eismann is an Experience Design Manager at Adobe Systems. This blog is about Flash, Flex, AIR, Flash Catalyst, RIAs, design management, and design writ large.
