will there be an aim to make xara create flash?

[rpc9943]

Hi...

I think xara is amazing... do you guys think eventually xara will be enabled enough to create flash? I mean I dont own macromedia flash but I have used it before.... I think it could be done pretty easily... implementing some transformation tables and a timeline, right?

RonC

[gwpriester]

You can create Flash *.swf file in Xara and assemble them in Flash or any similar program. I do not think that Xara is going reinvent the wheel by having their own Flash front end.

Gary

[RTK]

Ron,

There's been zero mention of implementing flash animation features in Xara X. There are a lot of applications out there that do it well... I highly doubt that Xara X has the resources to start a chace of that nature. The applications are well established, and the echonomic reward would probably be very questionable. I think it's pretty clear from thousands of posts in different "wish-lists" that people are mainly looking for enhancements/additions to what Xara X does best.

[MerryOtter]

You can create Flash *.swf file in Xara and assemble them in Flash or any similar program.

I tried using the .SWF export, and found that if a file is even the least bit Xara-esque it will result in a very messy output. The help file mentions some, but not all, of the limitations one faces when exporting to SWF:

Some Xara Xtreme features do not exist in the Macromedia Flash format:

• Bitmap fills. Flash does not support repeat inverted tiling. Other fill features export correctly.
• Conical fills, Diamond fills, Three-color fills, Four-color fills. These are simulated as they do not have an exact equivalent in Flash.
• Brush stroking of lines.
• Feathering.
• Arrow heads and dash patterns on lines.
• ClipView

I also found that drop shadows, bevels, most Live Effects, and many transparencies didn't work either. My rollover buttons (even limited to one object) had weird results. SWF is not the "editable" format for Flash; .fla is. So generally without a separate utility you cannot "clean up" the defects, but only place a .swf object wholesale into Flash.

In short, unless you're willing to start from scratch designing for Flash (and even then going through trial and error) it's just not a useful export option.

Merry

[RTK]

In short, unless you're willing to start from scratch designing for Flash (and even then going through trial and error) it's just not a useful export option.

Start from scratch? Wouldn't that be the normal way of going about doing things? Meaning, you decide to do a Flash project, and you create the necessary elements for it, using Xara X?

The Flash format is quite limited, however if you export everything from Xara X as plain vanilla shapes, you can massage it to your heart's content in your favourite Flash application.

[amoore]

Egg will probably speak up about how he uses the swf export. Following his lead, I've used it to get vector shapes from Xara into SWiSHmax for flash creation. While there are limitations, it's been useful in that regard.

[MerryOtter]

No, actually. I would think one would be building their collection of illustrations using the full palette of tools available to them in Xara, and then having a need to do something in Flash one would simply attempt to export a favorite design element as needed.

If I already have a "look and feel" established for my web site, and a gallery of buttons and visual design elements to go along with it, I wouldn't want to have to recreate them when I wanted to add a small/simple flash animation.

Suppose I work for XYZ company. I've already got our logo and dozens of product illustrations in Xara format. Why on earth would I want to start from scratch on a fresh version of them for a Flash tour?

I don't know of any design professional who wants to start from scratch for every possible presentation venue. They want to design once, and then output anywhere, whether that is for print, screen, web, etc. Sure there are exceptions (16x16 pixel icons are best done in an icon editor) but it's not the rule.

Not to mention all the techniques and methods you learn for doing things would have to be thrown out the window. You might as well use Flash itself since 3/4ths of your toolkit in Xara is useless.

Show me a single image from the built-in clipart gallery that exports in WYSIWYG format from Xara to SWF. I've already tried most of them.

Even designing from scratch things don't work predictably. I've spent a lot of time trying this and it's just not a good export format.

The Flash format may be limited, but I think more effort could be made to properly rasterize effects and translate objects so that what you see in Xara is what you get in Flash. Either that or drop SWF export altogether.

Merry

[RTK]

Merry,

As for "scratch"... that goes back to the help file... of what isn't supported in Flash. If your illustrations are too complicated and feature rich for Flash - you simply have to dumb down the file. Be it removing bevels, feathering etc. from your logo - or finding other ways to represent them. That goes for the "clip-art" also,

As for your suggestions for improving flash export. I'm sure you are right - there's always room for improvements. Yes, an export filter that exports everything to anywhere would be wonderful, but I doubt we will see that anytime soon.

I know Egg uses Xara X and Flash in his day-to-day work successfully. I doubt he is "torturing himself".

[MerryOtter]

Well, you know Egg better than I do, but some people like that sort of thing.

No one is suggesting that "everything to everywhere" is the goal. Simply that export to SWF work reasonably well with the typical Xara illustration. You give it a passing grade, I don't. I look at the SWF export support in Adobe Illustrator and Expression 3.3 and I'm much more pleased. (Yes, I know I'm free to use those programs instead, but a pity I'd have to.)

[gwpriester]

We are arguing for the sake of arguing.

This is painfully simple. There are many things that Xara can do that are not supported in Flash, as M. Otter has quoted from the Xara Help files.

The fact that these effects do not translate into Flash is not Xara's fault. Flash simply does not support these effects.

So, if you want to design for Flash, then design for Flash as Risto as suggested. And if you insist on ignoring the limitations, then you have only yourself to blame.

Patient: Doctor, it hurts when I walk this way.

Doctor: So, don't walk that way!

:-)

Gary