| Q&A |
 Adobe
Systems,
Justin Everett Church, Mobility Content Developer, Adobe
Nov . 2007 |
| |
 |
"We
are always working to improve the performance of subsequent
versions of Flash Player and we try to address all the
issues and feedback our developer community gives us.
For example, with the upcoming update to Adobe Flash
Player 9, Papervision3D and other content will gain
significant performance benefits from the mipmapping
feature as well as full screen hardware scaling."
<3D
in Astro |
|
| |
|
| Q1 |
During
MAX 2007 conference, Adobe has revealed some new exciting features
of Astro (the code name of the next version of Flash Player).
Could you please give a brief summary of these new features? |
| A1 |
A
few new features that we discussed in the preview of Astro,
the code name for the next version of Adobe Flash Player, include
advanced text layout, 3D effects and custom filters, blend modes
and other new effects.
It's expected that Astro will support advanced text layout capabilities,
including support for bidirectional languages and complex scripts,
such as Arabic, Hebrew and Thai, through a new layout engine
and APIs. Adobe is also developing a library of ActionScript-based
text layout components based on these new APIs to provide easy-to-integrate
features, such as multi-column layout of editable text that
automatically reflows, wrapping around inline images, and handling
tables. With this new architecture, text becomes an extensible
part of Adobe Flash Player -- new text layout features can be
delivered without requiring a new player release.
The 3D APIs will add a new dimension to content and interfaces
by extending familiar Flash metaphors to position display objects
in 3D space. These new APIs will provide an integrated, straightforward
way to easily achieve 3D effects while delivering full interactivity
and great performance for ever more immersive user experiences.
Additionally, we expect to go beyond the built-in filters and
effects of the current Adobe Flash Player by leveraging a new
high-performance image processing language, code named "Hydra,"
which will allow developers and the community to create their
own filters and effects. Custom effects can be combined with
existing native filters for unprecedented creative control and
added to applications without any Flash Player update. The Adobe
Image Foundation Toolkit Technology Preview on Adobe Labs <http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/AIF_Toolkit>
has more information to begin learning how to develop and share
your custom filters, effects and blend modes in the Hydra language. |
| |
|
| Q2 |
Speaking
about 3D, do you plan to offer a full featured 3D engine or
only 3D for visual FX? |
| A2 |
In
Astro we are adding perspective transformation of display objects.
By supporting ActionScript APIs for positioning, rotating, and
animating 2D content in ways that are consistent with current
workflows, we are focusing on making 3D effects easy to create
and use for both designers and developers. |
| |
|
| Q3 |
It seems that the Flash community is waiting for 3D capabilities,
do you think Flash is the right platform for 3D on the Internet? |
| A3 |
 Adobe
Flash Player enables many types of content on the web. Adobe
Flash Player 9 and ActionScript 3.0 added features and performance
improvements that have let many community-driven projects, such
as PaperVision3D, add to what is possible with Flash Player.
In this case, the community did not need to wait for 3D capabilities
to be added to Flash Player, but built a great way of making
full 3D experiences part of Flash-based experiences. |
| |
|
| Q4 |
Will
the next release of Flash improve the performances of existing
Flash 3D engines such as PaperVision 3D? |
| A4 |
We
are always working to improve the performance of subsequent
versions of Flash Player and we try to address all the issues
and feedback our developer community gives us. For example,
with the upcoming update to Adobe Flash Player 9, Papervision3D
and other content will gain significant performance benefits
from the mipmapping feature as well as full screen hardware
scaling. |
| |
|
| Q5 |
Could
you please explain what is the role of AIF (Adobe Image Foundation)? |
| A5 |
Adobe Image Foundation (AIF) is a new imaging and effects technology
that developers can use to create their own filters for Adobe
Flash Player. Adobe has made a pre-release version of the AIF
Toolkit available on Adobe Labs http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/AIF_Toolkit,
which includes a high-performance graphics programming language
that Adobe is developing for image processing, code named Hydra,
and an application to create, compile and preview Hydra filters
and effects. The toolkit contains a specification for the Hydra
language, several sample filters, and sample images provided
by AIF team members. The AIF technology delivers a common image
and video processing infrastructure which provides automatic
runtime optimization on heterogeneous hardware. It currently
ships in After Effects CS3 and will be used in other Adobe products
in the future. Astro will leverage Hydra to enable developers
to create custom filters, effects and blend modes. |
| |
|
| Q6 |
What
is the Hydra language, is it a shader language such as cG, or
OpenGL ES? |
| A6 |
Hydra
is a pixel shader language used to implement image processing
algorithms in a hardware-independent manner. Some benefits of
Hydra include a syntax familiar to Adobe Flash developers, which
is based on GLSL (C-based); it will allow the same filter to
run efficiently on different GPU and CPU architectures, including
multi-core and multiprocessor systems; Hydra will abstracts
out the complexity of executing on heterogeneous hardware, as
well as support 3rd-party creation and sharing of filters and
effects, and deliver excellent image processing performance
in all Adobe products that support it. |
| |
|
| Q7 |
What
about the 3D performances? Does Astro leverage a software or
a hardware rendering engine? |
| A7 |
With
Adobe Flash Player installed on over 99% of computers on the
web, the Flash Player team has made it a priority to strike
a balance between increasing the performance of Flash Player
with the need to have Flash Player run well on a wide variety
of machines. In each version of Flash Player we evaluate a variety
of technology choices that advance our goals of high performance
and cross-platform consistency. |
| |
|
| Q8 |
Adobe
has two applications that can display interactive 3D contents
(i.e. Acrobat and Director). Is there any link between those
technologies and Flash 3D capabilities? |
| A8 |
For
Astro we are concentrating on perspective transform of 2D objects
to make high-impact, easy to create 3D experiences. As designer
and developers begin to use these capabilities we look forward
to exploring additional opportunities for using Adobe technologies
to provide our customers with new creative options. |
| |
|
| |
|
