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Web Design & Productivity
Review: Adobe Creative Suite 3 Web Premium
5/29/2007
Other scripting changes include some subtle (but very nice) tweaks to the Actions panel. There are now additional buttons on the panel toolbar to aid in quickly commenting and uncommenting single lines or blocks of text. Code folding has also been added, allowing you to select a text block and collapse either the selected block or all the code outside that block. This functionality also extends to collapsing code just between the braces of a selected function.
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Proficient ActionScripters should be pleased with the addition of a new debugger in Flash CS3, one that shares its roots with Adobe's Flex Builder product. The debugger has a handy feature that takes you directly to erroneous code in the Actions panel when Flash encounters a compilation error.
Shifting gears a bit, the ability to reuse motion is a huge new feature in Flash CS3. It works like this: A designer can use the Timeline to create animations as they normally would, and instead of having to go through the rigmarole of copying and pasting keyframes and swapping out assets from the Library in order to duplicate animation, it's now as simple as selecting the frames, copying the motion, and then pasting the motion onto another instance of an object on the Stage. Everything then gets transferred over: colors, filters, position, rotation, scale, you name it. There's even a Paste Motion Special command that allows you to only transfer the specific properties you want. And for designers who have to hand off motions to ActionScript programmers, you can also copy and paste motions as ActionScript 3 code, allowing scripters to precisely replicate keyframed animations entirely in code.
Changes to Flash's Component architecture are also big attractions, not so much for what they do (which is functionally similar to previous versions), but for how easy they are to customize. Just drag a Component onto the Stage, double-click it, and the clip opens to reveal thoughtfully laid-out elements that make skinning a trivial task. Unfortunately, the new Components are only available in ActionScript 3 projects, which, if nothing else, serves as ample incentive to get up to speed with AS3.
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Flash Video has also been tweaked throughout the Flash CS3 environment, and while the changes aren't as earth-shattering as the ones that Flash 8 introduced, there is a decent amount of i-dotting and t-crossing to fill in some of the leftover issues.
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