AGI Dynamic Learning: What's New in Adobe Flash CS3?
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New Illustrator and Photoshop import options

Many designers prefer to develop graphics in Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator, and then import them into Flash. Those working with Flash CS3 Professional no longer need to reverse-engineer Photoshop and Illustrator file formats to make them work in Flash. The two programs' respective engineering teams have clearly collaborated to bridge the gap between the programs; you can now import Photoshop and Illustrator artwork into Flash files faster, more easily, and with a greater number of options, including the ability to work with layers from imported files.

The Illustrator Import Options panel lets you view and select the layers in an Illustrator document. The panel also gives users a great deal of control over the imported images and content; it lays out options to convert layer contents into symbols in your Flash library, distribute to keyframes and layers, and even merge layers in the original document as the file is imported.

The new Illustrator Import Options panel gives you additional options for importing external files.

Users can now import Photoshop documents directly into Flash CS3 Professional in the native Photoshop file format. The Photoshop Import Options window includes the same features as the Illustrator Import Options, with full support for layer styles and blending modes.

Photoshop layers can be imported to keyframes and movieclips, and merged on import.

Improved video import and export options

Flash provides full support for streaming an embedded video from a variety of popular formats. The Flash Video Encoder, which exists as a standalone application, is a significant improvement to Flash CS3 Professional. The scrubber bar, which is the bar above the Timeline that allows you to maneuver between the Timeline's frames, is bigger, as is the video preview window. If you work with video, you'll find it easier to encode using encoding profiles that can be saved and reused. You'll also find that encoding is a smoother experience now that the encoding options are more accessible.

Video export has also improved substantially with the Advanced QuickTime Export option. What you see in Flash is what you get in QuickTime, a program that adds full support for complex nested symbols, ActionScript code, and runtime effects such as Blur and Drop Shadow.

A wider view screen and slider for better video trims and more accurate frame-by-frame preview.

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