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Confusion about HTML5 and Flash

J

jotade11

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 2, 2009
113
0
Hello everyone!

I have been trying to figure out: is there a similar program to Flash, built for HTML5? I understand that, in a way, the two things are totally different, but is there a content creator (other than the DW plugin for HTML5) that would be similar to Flash CS5?

Sorry if this is a ridiculous question, I'm just a bit confused, but eager to jump (possibly) ahead of the game xD

Gracias!
 
Truffy

Truffy

macrumors 6502a
May 9, 2005
978
7
somewhere outside your window...
Isn't the point/value of HTML5 (at least in part) to ditch Flash?

You don't say what it is about Flash that you're trying to recreate. Video? Interactivity? Games? Teeny tiny text that cannot be read or resized?

This might give you a start: http://www.apple.com/html5/

Oh, and you're definitely ahead of the game, since most users' browsers don't actually support HTML5 yet.
 
J

jotade11

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 2, 2009
113
0
I'm looking for the interactivity, video and animation. I was just wondering if there is a streamlined application (or a 'toolkit'), like Flash is, except it spits out only HTML5, not a .swf file.
 
Cabbit

Cabbit

macrumors 68020
Jan 30, 2006
2,128
1
Scotland
Not yet there isn't, there was however a demo a while back of Adobe Flash making a animation for the HMTL Canvas.
 
UTclassof89

UTclassof89

macrumors 6502
Jun 10, 2008
421
0
Mozilla is working on one called Thunderhead.

And there's no doubt Adobe is working on expanding Flash's Canvas Export capability.

(Flash is actually positioned to be a great HTML 5 IDE, which is why everyone claiming 'Flash is dead' is full of it--even if the .SWF format were to vanish from the web, Flash (the IDE) will still be used)
 
Truffy

Truffy

macrumors 6502a
May 9, 2005
978
7
somewhere outside your window...
UTclassof89 said:
No. The point of HTML 5 is to give HTML 4.01 a 10-year-overdue update. Flash does things HTML 5 can't (even video capabilities that everyone's excited about can't do what Flash video can)
Click to expand...
My comment on Flash was somewhat tongue-in-cheek. I should've made that more clear.

I didn't read all of the blog that you linked to. I'm tired and neeeeed bed. But the pen video concern over H.264 has, of course, been recently addressed satisfactorily (I hope!)

I'm sure that Flash will be around for some time to come, and its IDE for even longer. But I don't care about the IDE as long as it's out putting something that's not SWF. Flash itself as a user experience will pass unlamented by some of us.

To be fair, a lot of my issues with Flash are more down to the retarded developers rather than Flash itself. But I'll shoot the messenger if I can't knobble the message sender.
 
J

jotade11

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 2, 2009
113
0
UTclassof89 said:
Mozilla is working on one called Thunderhead.

And there's no doubt Adobe is working on expanding Flash's Canvas Export capability.

(Flash is actually positioned to be a great HTML 5 IDE, which is why everyone claiming 'Flash is dead' is full of it--even if the .SWF format were to vanish from the web, Flash (the IDE) will still be used)
Click to expand...


So uh, when could one expect to see an update? :p
Is 6 months a reasonable time frame? 2-3 months? A year? More?
 
snickelfritz

snickelfritz

macrumors 65816
Oct 24, 2003
1,109
0
Tucson AZ
HTML5 (video/canvas) AFAIK, does not yet have an authoring tool like Flash Professional or Catalyst.
Apple has made a comparison between HTML5 and Flash in order to support the lack of Flash on the iPad.
But honestly, does Apple really expect the entire internet to evolve to HTML5 in order to support one relatively obscure device?

The key to successful Flash deployment is the fallback behaviors.
It's similar to jQuery; if the user does not have javascript or flash, the site should still be functional.

Adobe includes very good support for swfobject in FlashCS5, but the process of mapping your Flash data into the alternate content div requires "in the wild" PHP scripts and/or a content management system.
Drupal, for example, has very comprehensive support for a partial or full Flash frontend, with SEO, and support for no-flash devices like the iPad.
Very few Flash developers know how to handle this though.
 
UTclassof89

UTclassof89

macrumors 6502
Jun 10, 2008
421
0
jotade11 said:
So uh, when could one expect to see an update? :p
Is 6 months a reasonable time frame? 2-3 months? A year? More?
Click to expand...

Mozilla might take a very long time to roll out a significant new product like Thunderhead.

Adobe updates its software every 18-24 months (but a canvas export feature for Flash might come faster since it's not an overhaul of the whole application--could be a free update sooner).
 
D

designguy79

macrumors 6502
Sep 24, 2009
306
2
Michigan
jotade11 said:
So uh, when could one expect to see an update? :p
Is 6 months a reasonable time frame? 2-3 months? A year? More?
Click to expand...

Keep in mind that the HTML spec is not finalized, and probably won't be for a few years yet. And then you have to wait for IE to support the key features, and then for people to start installing and using it...

Here is an article about it from last year...

http://gcn.com/Articles/2009/08/31/HTML-5-long-road-to-development.aspx

Maybe somebody else has more up-to-date info to share?
 
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