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October 23, 2004
Flash Player 8 Demo Video
Colin Moock posted a video of the first time public demonstration of next generation Flash Player (I assume version 8) by Kevin Lynch. The video is apparently by Colin Moock himself and he states that 'only a few features were shown'.
About the features shown:
New type rendering engine (called Saffron): In the video Kevin Lynch shows that rendering is higher quality than MS Clear Type. Clear Type works for LCD type screens only, it's somewhat like colored anti-aliasing on CRTs. (See excellent explanation by Steve Gibson). So I wonder if there are any improvements for CRT screens... (Probably there are, I assume sub-pixel rendering is there, to be able to beat Clear Type on LCD screens).
Performance improvements: In the video a movie with many objects has dramatic performance improvement.
Note that in the video actionscript performance improvements are not shown. (I really hope there's a JIT compiler...).
How can the player have such a dramatic rendering improvement? It writes on the screen: 'cache as bitmap'. So it seems vector symbols are rendered and cached as bitmap, which of course increases the performance. It will also increase the memory usage, so probably it will be optional, to be used when necessary or on systems with less CPU power but some memory to spare...
Also some other caching option is shown - which I can't read from the video, something like: copy caching.... Update: After release of hi-res video, it's clear that it writes 'toggle caching' there. This 'caching' improves component redraw so most probably it is some other type of caching than bitmap caching...
Realtime bitmap effects: No more creating a drop shadow or blur in Photoshop! What's more it's all dynamic - real time. On top of this the effects can be animated! Very cool. It will be available from drawing API too.
Video alpha channel and realtime compositing: Now, this rocks. Awesome. You can also composite video symbols. If the performance will be OK, then this may create a revolution. See it to believe it.
In conclusion, the video is a must see. Next generation of Flash Player will rock and roll the world! Great work Macromedia!
October 23, 2004 in Flash | Permalink
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次期Flashプレーヤ「8 Ball」 http://www.itmedia.co.jp/enterprise/articles/0410/22/news040.html 先日のMacromedia Flash Conference 2004で、次期FlashPlayer「8ball」の新機能の一部が公開されたそうです。 公開された新機能の内容としては フォントがより美しく表... [Read More]
Tracked on Oct 25, 2004 8:28:12 PM
Comments
Peter Hall posted about Saffron:
http://www.peterjoel.com/blog/index.php?archive=2004_10_01_archive.xml#109866524254140805
Here's the link:
http://www.merl.com/projects/ADF-Saffron/
Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories...
Sub-pixel rendering confirmed: "LCD rendering which exploits the addressable colored sub-pixels of LCDs to increase the effective resolution of the display"
Posted by: Burak KALAYCI at Oct 25, 2004 4:10:19 AM
I was fortunate enough to get a sneak preview of this lot from M.Downey. - but I have commercially sealed lips ;) - the realtime video effects and realtime alpha compositing were truly astounding. It really could be the start of a revolution!! Let's hope so!
Posted by: kosso at Oct 25, 2004 5:02:59 PM
Here's what Stefan Richter ( http://www.flashcomguru.com/ ) said on Flashcomm list:
'Not sure about the codec but I saw some samples, old and new Flash video side by side. To wrap it up in one word: WOW.
Get ready for less artifacts, less banding yet same filesize. In a nutshell I think Flash Video is going up the ladder by 2 or 3 steps and folks who argued that Flash video is lower quality in comparison to WM for example will have to think of new arguments :-)
I don't think it will affect FCS because you can be sure that 'old' video content will still play in Player 8. I bet they have put a better Sorenson based codec in there that is totally compatible with everything to date, including FCS.
No need to get worried but to get excited I think.'
Posted by: Burak KALAYCI at Oct 25, 2004 6:07:33 PM
Mike Chambers (who is the author of the realtime bitmap effects app demonstrated, as you can see in the video) posted the code name of the next generation player: 'maelstrom'.
He also has info on how to apply for 8ball (Flash 8) beta there:
http://www.markme.com/mesh/archives/006207.cfm
Posted by: Burak KALAYCI at Oct 26, 2004 3:30:51 AM
Kevin Lynch posted about the demo:
http://www.klynch.com/archives/000073.html
It turns out there was no other type of caching and bitmap caching was used to improve the performance of component redraw.
Posted by: Burak KALAYCI at Oct 26, 2004 9:20:57 PM
Martijn de Visser posted about the effects code in the video:
http://www.martijndevisser.com/archives/000033.php
Posted by: Burak KALAYCI at Oct 28, 2004 6:53:27 PM
Some more info on Maelstrom now available at:
http://www.macromedia.com/devnet/logged_in/wanbar_maelstrom.html
(by Waleed Anbar, Product Manager, Flash Player and Central)
Posted by: Burak KALAYCI at Nov 9, 2004 6:22:56 AM
MAX 2004 presentation videos are available online from Macromedia:
http://www.macromedia.com/macromedia/events/max/video/2004/
Check 'Day 1' 'Maelstrom demo' by Mike Downey, Flash Technical Product Manager. (You'll need a very good connection, else it displays in 3 seconds video - 10 seconds buffering cycles).
Posted by: Burak KALAYCI at Nov 13, 2004 10:49:03 PM
Mike Downey posted about 8ball and Maelstrom sneaks at Flash Team blog:
http://www.markme.com/flashteam/archives/006391.cfm
Posted by: Burak KALAYCI at Nov 22, 2004 10:38:27 PM
Tinic Uro posted about new Flash features:
http://www.kaourantin.net/2005/01/summary-of-new-macromedia-flash.html
He refers to Zé Fernando's post at:
http://newsfeed.fatorcaos.com.br/000049.html
It's not a particularly long post, so I'll quote only the exiting part:
'In the end I hope we'll be able to make this version the most important one ever, maybe since Flash 5.'
Posted by: Burak KALAYCI at Jan 17, 2005 1:15:54 PM
Maelstrom pictures:
http://www.laflash.org/picture_library/Maelstrom/pix.html
"The Los Angeles Flash User Group hosted Mike Downey this week, with a preview of next-generation Macromedia Flash Player capabilities. The information is roughly similar to that seen at the big shows in Tokyo and New Orleans, but you may see some differences in the dialogs." JD
(via JD: http://www.markme.com/jd/archives/006851.cfm ).
Posted by: Burak KALAYCI at Jan 22, 2005 12:07:45 PM
Does anyone know when this new version will hit the streets?
Posted by: Andy at Jan 23, 2005 8:25:43 PM
Hi Andy,
The ones who know about the release are probably under NDA and can't talk about it. We may guess, but your guess will be as good as mine.
Anyway, I would expect a public beta of the player in a few months at most.
Regards,
Burak
Posted by: Burak KALAYCI at Jan 23, 2005 9:52:57 PM
JD (of Macromedia) just posted the following on FlashCoders list in response to 'Flash 8 launch Date':
'The reason you don't see a date in the weblog reports of these
presentations is because no date has yet been essayed. In the Macromedia
quarterly analyst report I think you can hear CFO Betsey Nelson say we
expect a new Studio towards summer/autumn, but for the exact date a lot
will depend on how the final phases of development go. Too early to
predict for sure yet, but I'm anticipating delivery later this year.
Player adoption has been getting faster lately, but I don't think we'll see
majority consumer status by this time next year... maybe spring 2006...
although with the new visual effects, I wouldn't be surprised to see some
mainstream sites adopt the next-gen Player almost immediately upon release.
Hard to predict for sure yet.'
Posted by: Burak KALAYCI at Jan 27, 2005 8:36:26 PM
New Video Codec for Flash 8: On2 VPx
http://www.asvguy.com/2005/04/new_video_codec.html
Posted by: Burak KALAYCI at Apr 6, 2005 3:26:36 AM
SAN FRANCISCO--Macromedia took center stage at the Flashforward2005 conference here Thursday morning to promise significant changes in its Flash animation software.
Chief Software Architect Kevin Lynch addressed a nearly full Herbst Theater to describe the bells and whistles in store for Flash authors in the company's upcoming release of the Flash 8 player, code-named Maelstrom, and authoring tool, code-named 8Ball. Lynch also outlined plans for FlashCast, a new system in development to help mobile phone carriers run a variety of Flash-based applications.
Read the rest at:
http://news.com.com/Big+changes+ahead+for+Flash/2100-1032_3-5659052.html
Posted by: Burak KALAYCI at Apr 8, 2005 2:36:07 AM
Aral Balkan dissects the 8ball demo at Flash In The Can keynote by Mike Downey and Mike Chambers:
http://www.flashant.org/index.php?p=332
Posted by: Burak KALAYCI at Apr 14, 2005 6:43:32 PM
UPDATE:
More info is now available in the whitepaper An Overview of the Macromedia Flash Platform PDF by Kevin Lynch available at http://www.macromedia.com/platform/ .
Here is a list of what's new:
- New graphical expressiveness:
Image effects (drop shadow, blur etc.), which are also available runtime via image API. Support for GIF, PNG, and progressive JPEG.
- Improved performance:
Performance increase in graphics rendering, text scrolling, component rendering, ActionScript execution, and memory management. "Bitmap surfaces" accelerate rendering through caching.
- Better font readability:
New font-rendering engine that enables arbitrary fonts to display crisply even at small sizes. Additional control for text layout and display including full justification and fine adjustment of kerning.
- Enhanced video:
Support for VP6 video. 8 bit alpha channel allows compositing in real time on top of other video elements.
- New file upload and download:
File upload and download capabilities (under full user control).
- Enhanced privacy control: Automatically block local storage by applications that originate from a domain other than that of the
containing web page. (blocks storage of tracking information that might be placed by ads).
- New IME context switching:
Support for placing the input method in the correct mode for various input fields for large character sets, such as Kanji in Japan.
Posted by: Burak KALAYCI at Jun 6, 2005 1:42:30 PM
http://www.macromedia.com/software/flashplayer/maelstrom/ has the excerpt from the PDF mentioned in the above comment. Might be a good URL to watch...
Posted by: Burak KALAYCI at Jun 7, 2005 5:35:40 AM
Flash Player 8 public beta is now available:
http://www.asvguy.com/2005/07/flash_player_8_.html
Posted by: Burak KALAYCI at Jul 12, 2005 1:56:51 PM
