Linux for Designers

Some days ago i found via the Inkscape Extension Repository an Flash SWF exporter. But it didn't work because it was outdated. So i dive into the code and with some help i get it working again. Here is an example of the Speed Dreams logo icon i made in Inkscape and the exported SWF:

This is a simple Flash SWF export via the PDF format. It requires SWFTools. It may failes with complex graphics or export them as images. For improved results try always the newest version of Inkscape and SWFTools:
* Download the archive inkscape_export_flash_swf_2011.zip.zip
* Install SWFTools (a PPA with up-to-date packages are here)
* As root copy the files of the archive to /usr/share/inkscape/extensions
* Launch Inkscape and create or open a drawing
* Launch Inkscape and create or open a drawing
* At "Save as" dialogue you will find "Flash SWF" at the file types dropdown menu
* If you like to have thumbnails of Flash *.swf files and like to view them without a browser
  then install the packages "swfdec" and "gnome-swfdec" too.

The SWFtools, basis of various other Flash tools and my SWF Exporter for GIMP, are now available in version 0.9. Besides improvement of existing tools the developers added a new tool calles AS3Compile. AS3Compile is a standalone ActionScript 3.0 compiler that is mostly compatible with Adobe Flex. This will open a new chapter of Flash development on Linux.

I updated my Flash SWF Export for GIMP. Now it can generate the XHTML page where the exported flash is embeded.

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Yesterday i discovered a very interesting link that is may the beginning of something cool: Shockweaver. Shockweaver Alpha 0.1 is the beginning of a Linux IDE for Flash based on SWFtools. A Deb package for Ubuntu or Debian is available too.
The website is in portuguese only so it's hard to find how it work. At the moment only simple Actionscript functions are available. I have to explore it more. Hopefully some more developers would help to make it strong

Adobe published now the final Flash Player 10. This version brings a lot of improvements to the Linux platform. Now the Linux Flash Player has the same features as on any other platform. For more details check out the feature page.
Best of all Adobe provides now a Deb archive for Ubuntu 8.04 but they use their own file structure and it seems there is no 64bit build again

To enjoy Flash Player 10 without smashing your Ubuntu:
- extract the Deb archive (do not install it)
- extract the data.tar.gz
- copy as root the file "install_flash_player_10_linux/usr/lib/adobe-flashplugin/libflashplayer.so" to "/usr/lib/flashplugin-nonfree"

Adobe published again a release candidate of the Flash Player 10. This version brings a lot of improvements to the Linux platform:
* optimized sound sound API and sound buffer
* windowless overlay mode now working (Firefox 3 required)
* new embedding modes (explained by the developer Tinic Uro)
* support for the Video4Linux 2
All details about Flash Player 10 can be found at the release notes. And of course the beta 2 is available for Linux too.
Download it and copy the binaries as root to "/usr/lib/flashplugin-nonfree". Shutdown your browswer and restart it, open the url "about:plugins" to make sure it's available.

I found this in my inbox (it seems it is there a little bit longer): "Hi, you have my permission to include the SimpleViewer SWF in your plugin." -this means we will have Flash gallery bling soon in Gimp
So development can start now - thanx Felix!

Adobe released a second beta of the Flash Player 10. This version brings a lot of improvements to the Linux platform:
* optimized sound sound API and sound buffer
* windowless overlay mode now working (Firefox 3 required)
* new embedding modes (explained by the developer Tinic Uro)
* support for the Video4Linux 2
Older details about Flash Player 10 can be found in my older post or at the release notes. And of course the beta 2 is available for Linux too.
Download it and copy the binaries as root to "/usr/lib/flashplugin-nonfree". Shutdown your browswer and restart it, open the url "about:plugins" to make sure it's available.

Besides commercial solutions for rich media development there are strong open source solutions too. OpenLaszlo is such an premier open-source platform for rich internet applications for Flash and XHTML.
The 4.0.11 version ships wuth many bugfixes, you can download it here. The Project is still working on full support for Flash 9.

Adobe releases the third update of the Flash plugin. This Update includes a lot of new features like support for H.264 video and the High Efficiency AAC (HE-AAC) audio codec. This pushes Flash to HD quality and allowing you to play back existing MP4, M4A, MOV, MP4V, 3GP, and 3G2 content. Many performance improvements were made too.
Installing the new version from the Tar binary archive is easy, just copy the "libflashplayer.so" as root to "/usr/lib/flashplugin-nonfree" (check the correct permissons).