Spark Skinning and Flash Professional

Hello,
In transitioning to Flex Builder fom Flex 3, I am running into a wall with the whole spark component architecture. I used to create my visual content in Flash, convert those assets to symbols and then reference the skin classes using an external CSS file. This may not have been the most elegant way to do things, but it allowed me to leverage my proficiency in Flash (and tons of existing assets) to create a workflow that was as flexible as I needed it to be, while at the same time allowing me to make changes easily and rapidly.
I am a single designer/developer, so this 'separation' of everything between 'designers' and 'developers' is creating some serious drag on my workflow. I just don't understand how this new spark workflow model can possibly be viewed as 'efficient' when it adds so much overhead and boilerplate code to my projects. I used to go from vector graphics (using 9 slice scaling) directly into my Flex projects, and now I have to filter all of these vectors through catalyst, and then create these skin classes which require the tweaking of the catalyst output for me to use them (which, in effect, destroys the round-trip editing of the catalyst projects).
I must be missing something major because, it just doesn't make any sense to me. I know that I can always use the mx components to continue to work the way I am now, but to what end ? I get these warnings that all but tell me the mx buttons are going to be deprecated sooner or later so what should I do ? Just because it's possible to represent vectors with xml doesn't mean that it's a good idea. It seems as if Adobe took something that was optimized (at least for my workflow), and turned it upside down and made things so much more labor-intensive, with no real benefits. I'd use CSS until I couldn't achieve the appearance I wanted, and then for the rest I'd skin the components in Flash Professional.
If you are still reading this, thank you. I really only have a couple of simple questions: Are MX components going to be deprecated ?, which, I know only Adobe folk can answer, and the more important question (for me): Does a workflow exist between Flash Professional and Flash Builder for the skinning of spark components. I have read a couple of other posts which ask similar questions, and some have 'solutions', but again, these seem to be ways to work around the new component architecture, rather than how to maximize it's efficiency and effectiveness.
I feel like I should have just stayed with Flex Builder, and Flash Pro because the newest version of Flash Builder just seems more and more like a tweener version that I could have skipped altogether and waited for the platform to mature a little more.
Thanks for staying with me, I apologize for the rambling.

I can't really help you pick the best MVC framework, but I can recommend that if you are moving your Flex 3 projects to Flex 4, make as few changes as possible for moving components right now.  Like you said, we are in the middle of a transition.  The Adobe guys recommend not porting all of your mx Projects over to Spark.  I have a large Flex 3 project that I'm almost finished moving to 4.1 and I have changed as little as possible.  The only reason I converted it was to take advantage of some of the nice things they've done with data services and binding.
I don't think it is a waste of time to take Flex 3 projects and make them run in Flex 4.1 or higher, but I do think it is a waste of time to convert all of those components over to their Spark counterparts at this time.

Similar Messages

  • I recently downloaded Adobe Bridge CC and Flash Professional CC on the Creative Cloud and I cannot find or access them on the computer - where did they go?

    I have the creative cloud that I use for my schooling and I downloaded both Adobe Bridge CC and Flash Professional CC on the Creative Cloud and I cannot find or access them on the computer - where did they go?

    Hello,
    I only can answer what concerns WIN. By using a file manager I can see, that all my Adobe programs are stored there:
    Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe Bridge CC aso.
    Hans-Günter

  • CS3 and Flash Professional CC?

    After an hour of digging around the main site and searching these forums, I could not find the answer I'm looking for. A company I'm applying to requires that I learn  CS3 for  building projects for their games. (I would be hired on as a writer, but need to build my projects using .fla's and such provided by others.) I'm getting everything I need now to start and one of the things I'm trying to figure out, and have apparently missed, is if Flash Professional CC can work on projects and save in CS3. It would need to be able to open up files that are already based in that language for re-writes as well as creating new projects to upload. All I was able to find was that it can handle CS6. Yes I understand CS3 is older, but that's what they use. Is it possible or am I going to have to go buy a version of CS3 for way more then I really want to at this point.

    Flash CC will not be able to save a CS3 file as a CS3 file.

  • How to Multi-Screen android tablet application on Adobe AIR and Flash Professional

    hello,
    I have done app in ipad with Adobe AIR thats work fine in ipad,
    but now i have to create android tablet app for multiscreen resolution like this,
    2560*1600, 1366*768, 1280*800, 1280*768, 1024*768, 1024*600, 960*640, 960*540, 854*480, 800*600, 800*480, 800*400
    and my current .fla file resolution is 1024*768 so how can i create android tablet app with multi-screen?
    thanks

    If your app is mainly code layout interface, then you'll have to just change your code to work with arbitrary widths and heights, instead of a fixed width and height. If instead your app is basically one graphical scene, like say Angry Birds, or a highly graphical scene, you could take the approach I use.
    Read my reply to this message:
    http://forums.adobe.com/message/4735070?tstart=0
    In that message I describe things in Portrait, because I was answering a question about portrait, but it all works out too if you substitute landscape numbers.

  • Spark skins, modules and custom themes: linking issues?

    I've read some other threads on this topic that were related to the pre-release versions, but I can't get a complete answer get. I also opened an issue in the bug tracker (https://bugs.adobe.com/jira/browse/SDK-30748), but I'm also posting here, hoping to get some help.
    Basically, I have a bunch of skin classes for the standard Spark controls (e.g. s:Button), as well as other skin classes for my custom SkinnableComponent objects. I need to reuse those skins in many projects, so I created a theme: I put in a Flex Library Project all my skin classes, all related graphical assets, and a defaults.css stylesheet that associates each component with its correct skinClass.
    Now, in my modular application project, what is the correct method to link this compiled theme SWC? I tried different ways, and found some issue for each one:
    In <app>-config.xml, using the <theme> compiler option: this way, modules don't pick up the skinClass correctly (default components use the standard Spark skin, and for custom components I get many skinNotFound errors).. its a pity, I like this method because command-line invocations of MXMLC (build scripts) automatically apply the settings in the config.xml file, while I have to manually keep in sync any additional compiler argument.
    In <app>-config.xml, using the <theme> compiler option and add -compiler.isolated-styles=false: seems to work, but not always.. moreover, the option must be put in additional compiler argument, and not in <app>-config.xml, to have effect... I understand that the config.xml file, in a modular application, is only applied to the main application (or that it must replicated with correct name for each module)?
    In additional compiler arguments, using the theme+= option.. these arguments should be used also for modules compilation, and this seems the most effective solution at the moment (swf size of compiled modules has slightly increased), but skinNotFound errors still happens sometimes, usually going away after a clean build.. maybe this has something with the incremental build performed by Flash Builder and/or optimization of modules?
    Right now, I've tried adding also -keep-all-type-selectors in the compiler arguments to see how it goes...
    Is my scenario supported by Flex 4? How should I setup my environment? I read how to create custom themes in the official documentation (http://help.adobe.com/en_US/flex/using/WS2db454920e96a9e51e63e3d11c0bf69084-7f85.html) and a specific help section exists about using styles with modules (http://help.adobe.com/en_US/flex/using/WS2db454920e96a9e51e63e3d11c0bf69084-799a.html#WSda 78ed3a750d6b8f1b97f82d12508050aa0-8000), but it only cover simple style sheets, no specific information about compiled themes and the suggested linking strategy.
    I'm using Flash Builder 4.5.1 and compiling with Flex SDK 4.5.0 (both application and theme), the project use some Halo components (e.g. DateField) but almost all components are Spark, and I use Spark component for <s:Application> and <s:Module>. Modules are optimized for the main application, and are loaded using the ModuleManager.
    Thanks in advance for any help.
    Cosma Colanicchia

    I'm not sure Spark components will work if the compatibility mode is set to
    3.

  • Adobe Air and Flash Future on Desktop and Mobile Devices

    Hello,
    iam interested to develop for mobil and desktop devices with AS3 and Flash Professional and i have any question.
    I see also many benefits to develop in flash as in java because javas gui development is based on swing a old java graphics engine.
    Next reason is the plattform like Linux,Windows,IOS.,the Game Development and other stuff.
    With Flash i can create nextgen interactive stunning cool gui interfaces for apps.
    I dont know why flash sucks for the market and devices.
    My question: is as3 and flash save for the future ?
    Make it really sense to learn as3 and Flash ?
    I have read many blogs,threads on adobe and other forums year 2012 Adobe stop flash development,
    and now 2013 google androids kitkat now have removed api features that kills complete flash !!!
    Other comments says Flash is dead for the market!? Many frustradet flash developers he work 10 years and more with flash are crying.
    So what is really the Future for the A3 and Flash Development ?
    Thanks and greetings

    Hi mc_gfx,
    > You think i can get started with flash and air development without worries?
    Software development always involves risk, so you can't really do much without worries.       AIR in particular is a cutting (bleading?) edge technology. Adobe is attempting to solve a difficult problem with limited resources, and the results aren't always ideal.
    If you want to deploy to Android and iOS, and you write two native apps, you face a 100% risk that you'll have to write your app twice. While this may not take twice as long as writing it once, it will come close.
    If you use AIR, you only have to write your app once, but you face other risks.
    Here's the problem. In AIR, Adobe is attempting to create a framework that translates ActionScript into bytecode for two different platforms. This isn't easy. Every time Apple or Google upgrades their operating system Adobe has to try to refine AIR so that it translates everything correctly for the new OS. AIR also has to maintain backward compatability with all previous OSs (is that the plural of OS?). AIR also has to work with many different models of Android and iOS devices. This includes supporting most, though not all, of the many different capabilities that these OSs support. Adobe, wisely, doesn't try to support every new feature immediately. Instead, it picks and chooses which new features it will support, and how soon. But even taking this approach I have the impression that their task is daunting.
    If you research this forum you'll find numerous examples of people complaining about features that don't quite work correctly. For example, I've put ~6 developer months into developing a language learning app, only to find that AIR's MP3 playback support has some limitations which severely impact the playback of voice recordings, which severely degrades the value of my app. I'm hoping that Adobe will fix this bug, but it's been two months now, with no movement. Another serious bug, involving audio recording using the device microphone, took three months to get fixed. During that period I had no idea whether it would get fixed, or whether I'd have to disable an important feature of my app on iOS.
    So, you want "without worries"?  
    Some people are lobbying Adobe to include support for Windows Phone in the AIR framework. IMHO, this is madness. Adobe clearly has limited resources. Let them first focus on making basic features like MP3 playback work properly on the platforms that they already support.
    The same issues probably apply to all the other cross-platform development frameworks - Sencha, Xamarin, etc. They face the same difficult technical challenges. I can't speak to the question of how well they're addressing them, but I'd want research them carefully before I invested a lot of time into developing with them.
    With regards to AIR, here's my advice: Before you start a non-trivial project using AIR, make a list of all the things that your app will do, then see if you can find existing apps created with AIR that do these things. Make sure that the feature works on both Android and iOS. You won't be able to test on every device that you'd like to support, but pick a few and test on them.
    You don't need to worry about your app's logic - ActionScript is great for that - and AIR translates it just fine. But think carefully about your app's 'skin' - all the ways that you want it to interact with the outside world - input and output - and confirm that apps exist that demonstrate that AIR can handle these features. Also think about the app's infrastructure - network interactions - database interactions - etc.
    You'll probably end up with a list of features that you haven't been able to confirm. You can vet these by creating a proof of concept that confirms that AIR will support these needs. Do this before you start developing the full app. Once that's done, pray that everything that works now will continue to work with future OSs and devices. Adobe has a pretty good record on this sort of things, but there aren't any guarantees.
    Don't worry, be happy        ?
    HTH,
    Douglas

  • Visual (WYSIWYG) Spark Skinning

    Hi,
    I've been having a very tough time with the transition to the Spark components. I've already authored another post about trying to skin spark components with Flash, but I'm going to give this another shot. First, let me say that I am not exclusively a designer or a developer, but rather I have to do both ends of each project. With that said, this new spark skinning is creating an impossibly long and complicated workflow for me.
    I used to use the combination of the Flex Component kit in Flash and CSS to modify the appearance of all my components. I like it because from the design side, I knew exactly what my component would look like and if I wanted to modify it's appearance, I could use the Flash drawing tools to modify it, recompile the swc, and everything was just fine.
    While I understand the performance gains of the Spark architechture, I just think that it has come at the expense of smaller designer/developers like myself who have too much work to do already than to spend tons of time coding to modify the appearance of components. I know I am whining, which is probably because I'm more of a designer than developer, but the only solution I keep hearing is to use Flash Catalyst, which is no solution at all. The interface stinks, and the more I use it, the more I feel like a developer because it's like Flash with training wheels, and about as useful.
    I have only a couple of questions, now that I am done whining:
    1. Is there a workflow that exists between Illustrator or Flash and Flex for the purpose of skinning spark components (other than Catalyst) ? and:
    2. Is there a resource that can make sense of spark skinning and how to streamline the process ? (Learning how to create them and use skins) ?
    Flex 3 seemed so intuitive and my development time was so much quicker, that I am condsidering going back. I like to actually design my applications using design tools (Illustrator, Photoshop, and Flash). The notion that you can acheive the same result while using skins is absolutely crazy, and it doesn't make any sense. I'm not minimizing the benefits of spark in terms of performance and applying effects and animations on the fly, but the drawbacks far outweigh the benefits for me personally.

    I can't really help you pick the best MVC framework, but I can recommend that if you are moving your Flex 3 projects to Flex 4, make as few changes as possible for moving components right now.  Like you said, we are in the middle of a transition.  The Adobe guys recommend not porting all of your mx Projects over to Spark.  I have a large Flex 3 project that I'm almost finished moving to 4.1 and I have changed as little as possible.  The only reason I converted it was to take advantage of some of the nice things they've done with data services and binding.
    I don't think it is a waste of time to take Flex 3 projects and make them run in Flex 4.1 or higher, but I do think it is a waste of time to convert all of those components over to their Spark counterparts at this time.

  • Making a Photoshop app in FLASH PROFESSIONAL??

    Just wondering does anyone know any resource video tutorials about developing for PhotoshopTouch SDK and "FLASH PROFESSIONAL".
    I am finding it diffcult to find a tut as most point toward FLEX or FLASH BUILDER.........

    http://blogs.adobe.com/crawlspace/2011/05/connecting-to-photoshop-with-flash-flex-and-air- 2.html
    You could ask Daniel Koestler about resources.

  • I have FB4 and Flash Pro CS4 installed and get the message "This feature requires Adobe Flash CS5"

    I have intalled CS4 Design Premium and Flash Builder 4 (the trial version).  According to this Adobe
    training video they should work together "http://tv.adobe.com/watch/adc-presents/flash-builder-4-and-flash-professional-cs4-workflow /".
    However, when i try to create Flash Professional component for use in Flex as specified in the  the workflow  video to (i.e. copy a .fla to
    Flex Project lib directory or drag "custom" Flash Professional component onto state to link to Flash Pro) - I get the  "This feature requires Adobe Flash CS5"
    error mesage.
    Thanks for your help!
    Bob W.

    I have intalled CS4 Design Premium and Flash Builder 4 (the trial version).  According to this Adobe
    training video they should work together "http://tv.adobe.com/watch/adc-presents/flash-builder-4-and-flash-professional-cs4-workflow /".
    However, when i try to create Flash Professional component for use in Flex as specified in the  the workflow  video to (i.e. copy a .fla to
    Flex Project lib directory or drag "custom" Flash Professional component onto state to link to Flash Pro) - I get the  "This feature requires Adobe Flash CS5"
    error mesage.
    Thanks for your help!
    Bob W.

  • Adobe flash Professional won't show it's downloaded in CC app (But it is?) (Win8 pc..)

    Ok, so yesterday I paid for a Creative cloud membership and had (attempted) to download Photoshop, Media Encoder, and Flash Professional.. Photoshop downloaded but the other two did not show the downloaded in the Creative Cloud Desktop app, showing errors with Microsoft C++ Distributable and the like, although they *Had* been downloaded. Any help with this? o.o

    you need to fix those errors.  it's not clear what they are, but this may address your error - [Premiere Pro] Installation error - MS Visual C++  problem

  • Flash Builder crashes Flash Professional CS6 on save

    Hi,
    I'm using Flash Builder 4.7 and Flash Professional CS6 for game development. When I'm saving an action script file in Flash Builder it sometimes crashes Flash CS6. It happens several times a day and it's really annoying. I'm working on iMac with Mac OS X 10.9.1. I've also checked that I've installed all available updates.
    Please tell me how to fix that problem,
    Regards

    Here are some things that help me:
    Open the version of Flash I want to use to compile the project first
    Turn off Build Project Automatically and use Ctrl-B instead so you're just compiling when it makes sense for you rather than at every change.
    Shared asset libraries may cause crashes during the "updating assets" phase, so avoid them if you can. If you really need them, open the file in Flash before you try to publish from FB.

  • After Effect CC and Flash Pro CC did not successfully update 19th June '14

    After Effects CC and Flash Professional CC did not successfully update, even after several attempts. All other Apps are currently up to date with today's update release. 19th June '14

    Hi Rob,
    Did you get any error message when you tried to update After Effects CC? Can you share more details?
    Thanks,
    Jyothi

  • Installing and using Adobe Air SDK 2.5 with Flash Professional CS4

    Hi,
    I am trying to install the Air SDK 2.5 with Flash Professional CS4 with the intention of creating a program to use Actionscript 3 to communicate with the UDP interface using datagrams. (The server is the IL2 device link interface) As I am very new to this development environment I was wondering if anyone could answer a few questions.
    1) Can I use datagram sockets with Air 2.5 with Actionscript 3 and Flash CS4?
    2) Is there special procedure for installing the AIR SDK 2.5 or do I use the instructions layout in "How to Overlay the Adobe Air 2 SDK for Use with Flash Professional - Flash professional CS4"?
    3) If I do use those instructions, when I edit the namespace for my application do I set it to 2.0 or 2.5?
    4) As a stepping stone to building my program I was trying to try to build the Actionscript 3  DatagramSocketExample program that is published by Adobe. Unfortunately I am getting a '1046: Type was not found or was not a compile-time constant: DatagramSocketDataEvent'.
    Is there a step by step tutorial on how to get the example code up and running?
    Thankyou for your time and patience with my noob questions
    Ian

    This was part of the AIR 2.0 beta release note, but I used this for 2.5 and it works nice.
    You can try it too an make sure you use 2.5 wherever the not says 2.0beta2.
    Goodluck.
    How to Update Flash CS4 to Use the AIR 2 Beta SDK
    If you use Flash CS4 Professional to build Adobe AIR applications, please follow the instructions below to manually update the version of the AIR SDK to use version 2.0.
    Update Flash CS4 Professional to version 10.0.2 at http://www.adobe.com/support/flash/downloads.html or select "Help > Updates... " from within Flash CS4.
    Quit Flash CS4 Professional if it is open.
    Navigate to the Flash CS4 installation folder. The default location on Windows is "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Flash CS4\" and on Mac OS "/Applications/Adobe Flash CS4/"
    Within the "Adobe Flash CS4" folder you should see a folder called "AIK1.5". If this folder is not present repeat step #1.
    Rename the folder "AIK1.5" to "AIK1.5 OLD" or delete it if you do not need to save a copy of it.
    Make a new folder called "AIK1.5"
    Download the Adobe AIR 2 SDK from the labs website and uncompress the contents of the folder to the new "AIK1.5" folder you just created.
    Copy the "airglobal.swc" file located within the "Adobe Flash CS4/AIK1.5/frameworks/libs/air/" folder into the "Adobe Flash CS4/Common/Configuration/ActionScript 3.0/AIR1.5/" folder.
    Flash CS4 is now configured to use the AIR 2 beta 2 SDK.
    In order to take advantage of the new AIR 2 beta 2 features, you will need to update your application descriptor file to use the "2.0beta2" namespace.

  • How to add norwegian language to my ipa-file in Adobe Flash Professional and Settings for AIR

    Hi,
    How to add Norwegian languages to my ipa-file in Adobe Flash Professional and Settings for AIR?
    The Norwegian users get my apps in english instead of Norweigan. Desperate for help!
    Regards Ylva

    Sorry but you will not get help here for that problem. This forum is about AIR Help, an online help format produced using AIR, it is not about AIR itself.
    I'll see if I can move it.
    See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips
    @petergrainge

  • Trying to reinstall CS5, but I've lost the Serial Number from Flash Professional 8, and it's no longer shown on my account page.

    Something like 10 years ago (2004ish), I bought Flash Professional 8, and I upgraded to CS5 back in 2011. Following a number of hardware upgrades, including a new hard drive, I need both serial numbers to reinstall; I've done so several times in the past, but now the Flash 8 number isn't on my account page anymore, and the original e-mail is gone. The chance of finding the box is basically nil, so am I just screwed?

    Helbereth I would recommend contacting our support team directly at Contact Customer Care and provide any alternate e-mail or phone numbers which the other software title may have been registered under.  You can find additional details on how to locate registered serial numbers at Find your serial number quickly - http://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/global/find-serial-number.html.

Maybe you are looking for