Can I dynamically display a product showing the user's options

Question

I'm a total Flash newbie so please use small words
My customer manufactures small aluminum products that can be
anodized in several colors. The products can have simple line
graphic artwork or user-specified text engraved into them with an
NC milling machine. If the user wants to add text he also selects
one of several possible fonts. The engraving can also be colored to
contrast with the body of the part.
My customer wants a application (Windows or Web) that can
dynamically display the product as the user makes his choices: i.e,
display an image of the product in the chosen color, then show it
engraved with the artwork and/or text. The text should be shown in
the correct font.
The products, colors, artwork and fonts are all known but the
user's text is obviously unpredictable, so it's impossible to
simply prepare photos of every possible combination. Can Flash (or
something else) programmatically generate and overlay text and
artwork on an image? Can it alter the colors or should I simply
have a photo of every product in every color?
Is this possible? Is Flash the appropriate technology?
Thanks

Answer 1

Steve,
I am not sure if you have any software to start with, so I
dunno exactly what you need. You need an image editor, some sort of
html editor, and of course Flash. The easy answer is the Web
Premium version of CS3. It should have all you need. If you already
have some of those tools, then the main thing you need is Flash.
There are also some free alternatives out there from web creation
and image editing, but they don't integrate quite as well as having
all Adobe products.
Some good learning resources can be found at Lynda.com. It
has a ton of tutorials on programs that you would need to do this
including Photoshop and Flash. A subscription is a bit pricey, but
when you think that one book can be $50, being able to access so
many tutorials really seems like a good value. Also, there are some
good print book available there that you could use as a buying
guide. You'll need to get into ActionScripting with with this, so
look for a basic intro to Flash CS3, and then something regarding
getting started with ActionScript 3.
These forums are a good resource as well, but mainly when
you have specific questions. People can answer "Why does my text
disappear when I use a mask over it?" but it is harder to answer,
"I want to build a picture library, how do I do that?"
- B
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