Flash Catalyst isn’t even in public beta yet, but based on the potential I see with the preview release handed out at Adobe MAX, I could see Flash Catalyst replace the Flash IDE eventually.

Now currently, FC is being billed as a tool for interation designers for creating UI mockups to use for wireframing, adding interactivity to your AI, PSD or FW files, getting client sign-off and handing off to your developer.  The big goal is that behind the scenes, FC is  built on Eclipse and actually is building a Flex Project file (FXP actually) to take into Flex Builder and wire up to live data.  Talking this idea over with others, I’ve heard some same that isn’t the focus of Flash Catalyst or its not intended for that, yada yada.   But when FutureSplash hit the market, who thought we’d be building web applications with it eventually?

Looking very briefly at both Flash CS4 and Flash Catalyst while wearing the “designer hat” , in both tools I can draw, import from existing Photoshop, Illustrator, and Fireworks files, animate using the more intuitive After Effects-like timeline ,  add interactivity via built-in features/behaviours and even go “behind the scenes” and add more advanced interactivity via ActionScript.  I can easily see users looking at FC to build what they currently use Flash IDE for.  Even Adobe’s own marketing on the FC site states “Flash Catalyst can output a finished Flash SWF or AIR application that’s ready to publish on the web.”

Ok.  so Flash Catalyst 1.0 won’t kill off Flash CS4, but given a bit of work and some tools we haven’t seen yet, and the desire by Adobe, I could easily see FC 1.5 or 2.0 replace the Flash IDE and for the record, I see that as a good thing.   Here are the PRO’s for killing off the Flash IDE in favor of Flash Catalyst 2.0

1. The Flash IDE has a horrible ActionScript editor.  We complain about it all the time, and I’m not convinced that Adobe wants to fix it.  Seems like a lot of Flashers jump into Flex for the code editor first, and then play with the Flex SDK later on.
2. No longer held back by the Flash .FLA file type.   The .FLA blows.  Every new version of Flash creates a new FLA that isn’t backwards compatible.  Its not efficient when working with a team who uses SVN (can’t be diffed).
3. Finally on a level playing field with the “Flex guys”.   Under the hood, we’d be using the same tool, same code base, same components and would have a shared project file. No longer feeling slighted because one or the other got tools that the other didn’t.

So for this to happen, a lot of work would need to happen to Flash Catalyst to make it compete with the Flash IDE.  First off, we’d need more drawing tools.  The preview release of Flash Catalyst from Adobe MAX only had the bare minimum of tools, and I would image Adobe is hard at work on a lot more drawing tools.   We’d also need a Motion Editor for Flash Catalyst, along with the 3d and IK tools that the Flash IDE has.   There are more items that would be required but those are the essentials to bring Flash Catalyst on par with the current Flash IDE.  Its something that I think is very achievable by Adobe.   And maybe… its something they are planning as well.

I have to admit I’m a bit puzzled about the Z axis in Flash CS4 and how Flash chooses to rotate an object.  I was toying around with some animations just visually and then tried to set up some objects there were pointing in a particular direction and was running into issues.   The Z coordinates were changing while I was rotating the object.  It took a few minutes for me to figure out what was going on (I wasn’t my normal sharp self – haa haa).  The 3d rotation tool was always picking the center of my object to rotate around, instead of the registration point.   I guess I never noticed that its that same way for 2d transforms as well.   Of course, my limited experiments using just code of course using rotationY, rotationX, and rotationZ only rotate around the registration point.   I spent all these years forcing myself to work with 0,0 as a registation point because it was easier when working when working with dynamicaly sized objects and loading of assets, and it seeems if you want to play with 3d, at least in the IDE, you’re better off only using a center registration point.     It would be nice in a CS4.0.1 update if there was a way to set this as default in the system prefs.   Maybe a nice little toggle in 3d Center Point?  (Hint Hint Adobe)

The other part that is just sort of an annoyance is that the 3d position and view information only shows X,Y and Z coordinates but you have to get X,Y,Z rotation from the transform panel.  I know the Transform panel is where rotation has always been, but if you are going through the hassle of redoing the interface, it seems fairly logical to maybe cluster these pieces together finally.

I don’t want this to sound like I’m only complaining.  I really love Flash CS4.  Years ago, I dreamed of an After Effects timeline in Flash.  Seems like only yesterday that I was dreaming of what Flash CS4 was to become (Dec 2005:  Return of LiveMotion). Just need that motion vector Blur and I’ll be 3 for 3.

December is also our big user group raffle. We’ve got Adobe swag and software to raffle off.   We’re also going to be collecting canned and other non-perishable food to donate to a local charity.  You can earn extra raffle tickets for each can of food you bring.

See ya on the 8th.

Did we mention the schwag giveaway? – A copy of Adobe CS3 Design Premium and a copy of Flex 3 when it is released. Everyone in attendance will be entered into the raffle.

Did we mention the schwag giveaway? - A copy of Adobe CS3 Design Premium and a copy of Flex 3 when it is released. Everyone in attendance will be entered into the raffle. 

Flex 3 is a feature-packed release, adding new UI components like the advanced datagrid and improved CSS capabilities; powerful tooling additions like refactoring; and extensive testing tools including memory and performance profiling, plus the addition of the automated testing framework to Flex Builder.

Adobe AIR is game-changing in so many ways, extending rich applications to the desktop, enabling access to the local file system, system tray, notifications and much more. Now you can write desktop applications using the same skills that you’ve been already using to create great web apps including both Flex and AJAX.

If you can’t make it in person, be sure to join us online at : http://adobechats.adobe.acrobat.com/vegasaug/ Type in your name and enter as Guest. Cya there!

If there is enough interest, we’d like to bring John out here to Las Vegas to do one of his two-day Papervision3d workshops. If that would appeal to you, be sure to let us know at the meeting or drop me a note in the comments here.

Come join the VegasAUG.org year end meeting on December 12th, at 7:00 PM for a very special presentation on the open source Papervision3D! If you work with Flash, Flex, ActionScript or are interested in interactive 3D experiences, this meeting is for you.

Our presenter will be John Grden who is a member of the open source Papervision3D team. John Grden will be joining us via Adobe Connect to demo his Papervision3D Flash CS3 Component. John’s PV3D component allows Flash CS3 designers and developers to leverage the Papervision3D open source 3D engine using a design-time component. He’ll provide information about the Papervision3D project and how to work with 3D models, materials, and animation.

Can someone make a recommendation or two?   I’ve seen the LG Prada phone, but I’m unsure if you can develop for it w/o a browser.   I’ve also looked over the Nokia N800 series devices.   Thanks in advance.

http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/flex/

http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/air/

Someone needs to create a plugin for this…if they haven’t already.

Due to unforseen circumstances, D×3 has been cancelled.

For further inquiries, please contact: registration@dx3conference.com

Wow! I had just gotten approval at work to attend this conference too. Maybe we’ll find out more in the next few days. I hope they re-schedule because the conference looked awesome and had all the right people and topics that mattered to me.