Nathan Pitman has pointed out two really nice and useful Fireworks Autoshapes:
Autoshapes is a relatively new feature in Fireworks that allows you to create complex shapes just as easily as you would create simple shapes like circles or rectangles.
MM-Exporter recognizes installed versions of Dreamweaver, Flash and Contribute and selectively saves:
[Link via flashmagazine.com]
Ben Forta has a very nice article that discusses Understanding the ColdFusion Flex Relationship.
[link via John Dowdell]
With the release of Macromedia Flex just around the corner, I thought it might be time to start talking a little bit about this new product. Flex is a presentation-tier solution for generating enterprise level Rich Internet Applications (RIA).
Flex is a soon to be released server product from Macromeida that enables programmers who want to develop RIA’s. Flex integrates on top of existing J2EE application servers and allows you to create swf files dynamically from your application server.
Flex enables developers to describe an application’s user-interface layout, UI controls and data-binding using a familiar, standards-based programming model using an XML text-based format.
It is important to note that Flex is not a replacement product to Flash, but rather a technology that may bring the richness of Flash development to the enterprise.
To find out more about Flex, visit the Macromedia Flex FAQ.
centralmx.com has some excellent Macromedia Central Tutorials. The lessons are video based and the list is being updated often.
Central is a new product from Macromedia, that allows developers to create content that plays outside the traditional browser. The product also has built-in e-comerce and micro payment features.
learnbyheart.com offers Practice Macromedia Certification Exams. If you are interested in obtaining any Macromedia certification, you should definately check this site out.
The exams are being offered for free while the site is beta testing. You can currently take exams in Coldfusion, Dreamweaver and SQL while Flash exams are coming soon.
(via An Architect’s View)
Macromedia Central is now available from the Macromedia Website.
To help you explore the potential of Macromedia Central, this public beta release includes “first looks” at the Movie Finder and Weather applications.
Macromedia Central offers a clean, unified place for your Internet work, and features a customizable console for your most important information, as well as a portable Internet experience to support your work even when you can’t get a connection.
Here are some other useful links regarding Central:
Here is a very good article about Paradigm Shifts and how it relates to the new release of Macromedia Studio MX 2004.
Macromedia – Studio MX 2004 has just been announced! New versions of Dreamweaver, Flash and Fireworks will be included – all with some great new features. Unfortunately a release date has not been advertised, but you can now get a good sneak peak at the upcoming new features in the product line.
The most exciting new product is Flash MX 2004 Professional. This version of Flash is aimed at traditional application developer who are familiar with forms based development products like Visual Basic. Essentially it gives those developers and opportunity to write Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) without having to learn the traditional Flash Timeline based development paradigm. The Professional version also simplifies access to XML and Web Services as well as improved video enhancements.
Flash is reported to run twice as fase and will import EPS and PDF.
Dreamweaver offers “robust CSS support”, a built-in image editor and cross browser validation.
Check out the Breeze Presentations online…
Studio MX 2004
Flash MX 2004
Dreamweaver MX 2004
Studio MX 2004
MacCentral also has a good article on the upcoming version of Macromedia Studio MX 2004
Ultrashock as a good article on the New Features in Flash MX 2004
Scott Manning has a review of Fireworks MX 2004 – note the inclusion of Product Activation – I would guess that means that all of the 2004 MX family will have this “Feature”
Macromedia recently announced that version 2 of their Contribute product will be released near the end of July. If you’re not aware of Macromedia Contribute, it is a fantastic product to easily allow end-users to maintain websites that professionals create with Dreamweaver. Part of the announcement also indicated that Macromedia is about to test Product Activation with Contribue.
Product Activation means that you will need to activate your serial number over the Internet (or by phone) before you can use Contribute. Macromedia will allow you to install the product on up to two machines (recognizing that many professionals use both a desktop and laptop system), but if you want to install your product on a third machine, you will need uninstall the software and deactivate the license.
It looks to me like Macromedia is getting serious about pirated versions of their software – I expect we will see this in all future Macromedia Products
Visit the Macromedia Product Activation Centre for more details.
