Interview: Adobe’s Director of AIR Product Management Ed Rowe
DMN: Ed, thanks for taking time to meet with us today. Can you begin by explaining what Adobe AIR is and the reason why Adobe has developed this solution?
ER: Adobe is a leader in Web-based technologies. We have Flash, Dreamweaver and Flex. There are millions of amazing Web solutions leveraging these technologies. Developers like the Web for its reach and the immediacy to update solutions. This allows for shorter development cycles and more releases. Customers love this. Customers also love their desktop applications. It is great to have an icon on your desktop and data stored on your system. The barrier Adobe saw is that innovation is not happening on the desktop at the same rapid rate as seen on the Web. Adobe`s AIR is changing this. Adobe AIR is essentially a runtime that allows you to disconnect your Web solutions, using Flash, HTML or AJAX, and run them as applications on your desktop. As a developer and designer you can take the creative solutions you have running in the Web and deliver them to the desktop. This helps fix a huge business problem.
Adobe Flash Player Coming to iPhone – the Facts
Bill Perry, an Adobe evangelist for mobile and devices, provides details on Flash appearing on the iPhone.
Given the lively discussion around this statement over the past day there have been a lot of assumptions made that are not true and I thought I’d share some facts. Here’s the real info that you should be aware of about Flash on the iPhone:
1. We’ve played around with the iPhone SDK since it was introduced and think we can now begin development on delivering Flash Player on the iPhone.
2. More work needs to be done with Apple however, as the SDK and the license associated with it doesn’t enable us to bring the full Flash experience on the iPhone’s Safari web brower.
3. We know lots of iPhone users are wanting Flash. Adobe’s goal is to make Flash as ubiquitous as possible, so that means delivering Flash to as many platforms as we can. Much to everyone’s surprise we announced on Monday that Flash was coming to the Windows Mobile Platform. So if we can do it with Microsoft, we’re certainly hoping that it’s not that complex for Flash to make it to the iPhone.
CGSociety – Horton Hears a Who
Hartline and his crew largely relied upon Maya, along with various plugs-ins to speed up workflow, as well as Linux boxes. An old tool called Follow Through was plied for tails, hair and anything that would flap in the wind. “Just by turning it on and tweaking the settings, you basically wouldn’t have to animate the tail,” he says. “It would figure out the tail’s density and what it would be like if you were to jump up and down. It would automatically do the motions for you.”
The real breakthrough was with hair, which can be labor-intensive and costly for animators. Since the Whos are essentially furry creations whose outfits are shaved into their fur, there could have been problems with penetration of objects such as a table. The trick was turning on the fur bodies in sections versus all at once. “You’re able to see the fur in Maya without rendering it or going through the other processes,” Hartline explains.
The modelers used Maya, and to some extent (largely because it was unchartered ground), Pixologic’s ZBrush and Autodesk’s Mudbox to rough out models, which helped with the editing process. Maya’s ubiquitous presence also could be found in the VFX department, which used Shake and Next Limit Technologies’ Real Flow 4.0 to export the data and proprietary tools, including CGI Studio where shots are rendered and processed, to massage and manipulate the data.
GameDev.net – Product Review – Adobe Premiere Pro CS3, Encore CS3, and SoundBooth CS3
For all the video included in a game, whether it be cut scenes, the game introduction, or even marketing materials, you’ll need a video editing package. Adobe’s Premiere Pro CS3 is an awesome editing package and if you’ve purchased Photoshop and Flash, it was probably included in the suite anyway.
If you’re working with video, then you’ll also need both an audio editing package and a DVD authoring package to create the chapters and menus for the disc. Adobe has these needs taken care of with their SoundBooth CS3 and Encore CS3 packages.
Premiere Pro CS3 and SoundBooth CS3 are both available as a stand-alone package or as part of Adobe’s Creative Suite 3. Encore CS3 ships with the stand-alone version of Premiere Pro CS3 or you can get all three packages as part of Creative Suite 3 Production Premium, which also includes After Effects CS3 Professional, Photoshop CS3 Extended, Flash CS3 Professional, and Illustrator CS3. All three packages are also available in the Adobe Creative Suite 3 Master Collection, which includes everything.
Windows Vista Team Blog : Windows Vista SP1 Released to Windows Update
Today, you can now download Windows Vista SP1 via Windows Update. For those of you eager to receive the benefits of Windows Vista SP1 – you can now do so! We’ve seen quite a bit of questions in our comments so we want to communicate as much as possible surrounding Windows Vista SP1 and today’s release to Windows Update as we can.
For those of you happy to wait – sit tight because SP1 will start downloading to PCs automatically beginning in mid-April (Remember, this happens only if you have your Windows Update configured to automatically download updates and SP1 will automatically download but not automatically install). But if you want to get the benefit of a year’s worth of improvements right now, go check Windows Update today…(Hit the Start Menu, All Programs, and select Windows Update).
Creation Engine, Inc. is an approved Information Technology Provider for the Education Technology K-12 Voucher Program
The California Education Technology K-12 Voucher Program is the result of the settlement of a class-action lawsuit brought by California consumers and businesses concerning certain Microsoft software.
Creation Engine, Inc. is listed as an approved Information Technology Provider for the Education Technology K-12 Voucher Program that can help schools and districts with the redemption of voucher funds for approved software and hardware.
More details on the California Education Technology K-12 Voucher Program can be found at the California Department of Education and the Education Technology K-12 Voucher Program websites.
Collaboration Product of the Year: Mindjet MindManager 7
 This year’s product of the year winner in the hotly contested Document Management/Collaboration Product category is Mindjet MindManager 7.
The competition was intense between Mindjet and the other nominees: Central Desktop, Jive Software Clearspace, Hyper Office, Clarizen, and ThoughtFarmer, with Central Desktop and Hyper Office giving Mindjet a run for the money.
What started out as a simple mind mapping software years ago when I first wrote about it has become a full-fledged collaboration solution, rich with possibilities because of its tight integration with business applications and existing technologies such as web services, RSS, and enterprise data sets. Its core identity remains the mind map because they do it so well. It is insanely easy to use and can turn a boring meeting with spotty note taking and unclear responsibilities into a highly participative, creative, and well-documented session with clear action items.
Life as an Adobe SE: Getting your web design to the browser
I recently presented an online seminar on Photoshop CS3 and Dreamweaver CS3 integration/workflow late last month, and I got a lot of requests for the demo files and additional documentation. Now, to be honest, I didn’t create the assets or the workflow script, so I wasn’t sure what the official line was on sharing these things with seminar attendees.. well, as it turns out, there is a publicly available document on Adobe.com that provides step-by-step instructions plus the source files. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find this document on the site myself, so I’ve just shared the PDF and source files here:
The presentation and the link to the source file can be found here.
PhotoTune 2 and Genuine Fractals 5 Rebate Offer
 
Take advantage of $15 mail-in rebates for PhotoTune 2 and Genuine Fractals 5.
Offer good from 3/1/2008 through 3/31/2008.
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