Product: Macromedia Flash 4
Company: Macromedia
Website: http://www.macromedia.com
Estimated Street Price: Full Version $299.00 (Reviewed) - Upgrade $129.00  
Review By: William Sossamon

The Features

Macromedia has again achieved an excellent level of quality with Flash 4. With each release, Flash continues to allow web developers create high resolution/low size, professional animations through the simplicity of its' well defined and easy to use features.

Here are a few of Macromedia Flash 4:

• MP3 streaming audio allows exporting of both streaming and event audio with MP3 compression to create impressive soundtracks while maintaining small file sizes for a lower bandwidth delivery. You can visually synchronize animation frames to streaming audio and drag and drop individual audio tracks to any button state.
• Editable text fields allows users to edit text while a movie plays. This feature can also be used for form fields; password entry fields, surveys, registration forms, etc. All text entered into password-specified text fields will automatically convert characters to an indistinguishable form. Use custom fonts embedded in your site or default to fonts available in the Web browser. Create Web application front-ends using Get and Post actions to place text from and to a Web server easily. Pass data to any CGI script for closer integration with Active Server Page, ColdFusion, or Macromedia Generator dynamic graphic servers.
• The publish command permits exporting of movies in an array of formats along with the supporting html file in an once step process. You can customize the properties of each format before publishing, and create your own external template file which tells Flash how to write specific HTML Syntax.
• Import and export custom color sets to ensure consistent use of colors throughout your website. 
• Create a motion tween in one step with the Create Motion Tween Command
• Motion-tweened objects automatically snap to a motion path drawn on a motion guide layer
• New layer controls easily display, hide, lock and unlock layers
• Improved library window makes it much easier to manage of files for larger projects. Basic features include: sorting of assets by name, date created, kind, or number of times used; grouping assets through folders for items commonly used together; a preview pane for all assets; usage selection for assets currently not being used; collapsible views to accommodate large and small monitors; reuse, sort, group, and preview assets options.
• Create fully-functional interface elements such as slider controls, radio buttons, application menus and more
• Object and transform inspectors view and manipulate the position, scale, rotation and skew of selected objects.
• Edit symbols in a separate window or in relation to other  artwork on the screen
• The scene inspector manage and edit multiple scenes in Flash animation
• Flash 4 comes with an excellent set of lessons and tutorials, a printed manual, and the Flash Developers Center Website 

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