A case for the "timeliners"

Over the past couple of years, coding in Flash has grown with leaps and bounds, though this is great, it has created a certain gap between coders, and some of the more "hands-on" creatives, called "timeliners", those who still embed their objects manually on a stage, and use crazy things like tweens and keyframes. These days, if you want to do anything serious on the Flash "Platform" you are not going to be able to get very far without getting text-based and probably AS3'd for at least a little while. That is already a turn-off for many of the creatively-orientated people I know.

This doesn't change the fact that some of the most talented Flash creatives I know are timeliners and the way they think, create, innovate is visual/timeline based. Timeliners are a vital and necessary part of the Flash eco-system - it allows people to output their creativity in a way that is much easier for them, where they can physically see what is moving, in stead of having to imagine it and then start coding. Also in terms of fast prototyping, hands-on technologies are great in terms of getting people from different skill-sets involved. I am not going to force them to learn AS3 to express themselves, out of knowing how they normally create and respect for the distinct way of expressing themselves. If coders apparently will "quit their jobs if they have to convert timeline to code" it means that coders are taking some kind of technical highground here, and at the end of the day there's really no right or wrong - though this most Flash threads in forums clearly favours "smarter" coders.

A possible solution is in abstraction layers between coders and timeliners/designers (making it easier/automatic for timeliners to generate basic AS3 code). Some are already out there with their aim to bring the fun back into visual development with Flash - you can't force people to think a certain way to use Flash, that is one of it's great strengths - that creatives and programmers can work together - if you don't see the value in that, then you are missing one of the most interesting things about Flash.

There is no doubt that in a perfect Flash world we would all speak perfect AS4, but this is not the world we live in and Flash coders seem to be woefully out of touch with the diversity and richness of creative intelligence out there - expecting people to adapt to them, because they went through the pain of having to think like a code compiler - this is a completely natural tendency once there is a high barrier to entry to a certain grouping of people.

This barrier to entry can be quite intimidating to people wanting to approach the platform the first time - I think in terms of AS3, there will be some more simple IDE's out there to fill the gap if Adobe and Flash community continues to widen it. Awesome FlashDevelop and FDT have already lured many coders away from the Adobe Flash IDE, further increasing the gap - if Adobe is serious about bringing coders and timeliners together, they should think about making the their own IDE more attractive to coders too (or are the all supposed to use Flash Builder?). Projects like the "Hype" framework are some of the first examples of this happening from inside the community from the creative side. Adobe should support all these technologies and try to integrate into the standard developer experience when working with Flash the first time.

CMS + Support, Hosting & Maintenance - try it first

Back in the day we used to do some web work, but we decided that it was not the best place for a small company to grow in the long run. We still do a lot of web-technology work but only for Breakdesign projects/friends really. The issue was not with building and launching the site (that part was great!), but the maintenance, and long term logistics of running a site, that was what clients really needed - and probably the last thing a small company could commit to. There was no way we could support every client we did a site for, and even today it's hard to find resources which are capable of "running" a CMS on behalf of a client/brand. Looking at how difficult it can be for a brand venturing online for the first time, it's sometimes simpler to first have a "recipe" kind of approach. Truth be told, in 90% of the cases that is more than enough.

Below I have listed a few examples of the current selection of CMS+Services companies out there. These companies give you the ability to create your own micro-sites and communities, but they supply hosting, updates, security and support. You normally pay a monthly/yearly rate that includes everything. The price range varies also, and depending if these sites will be temporary, or exist forever, different schemes could work out cheaper. The advantage of this is that everything is centralized, and standardized, so it's really easy to hand over to someone else, logistically simpler to run and bill. The only thing you might need every now and then is a graphic designer with some basic web knowledge to create assets to insert into templates.

From our experience this can be the most efficient and painless workflows if the complexity of the site is low to medium, we also like the fact that the owner is empowered in the process.

Here are some providers/prices:

http://about.ning.com/spotlight

http://www.concrete5.org/services/enterprise/

http://www.concrete5.org/services/hosting * (I seem to like this the best)

http://www.onesite.com/go/microsites-contests/overview

http://www.modera.com/index.php/products

https://signup.socialgo.com/plans

http://www.igloosoftware.com/pricing/price_matrix

http://www.drupalgardens.com/pricing

http://elgg.com/pricing.php

Flash vs Apple - for us that actually develop Flash

I have seen fellow Flash developers go through highs and lows trying to imagine what kind of future there is for them, not just with the current dispute between Adobe/Flash and Apple, but in general over the past 5 years as mobile has become more dominant. Here are my thoughts, and when the next spat comes out, I suspect this might still be relevant:

I'm overjoyed about all the drama going on between Adobe and Apple - it's never wise to start a publicity war against the masters of PR (Apple). The most obvious thing is that Flash is getting much more attention since Youtube got them back in the game through video - and this has put some serious pressure on Adobe to sort out nagging issues they have been trying to ignore for the past few years.

As you might notice, I am not worried, we are the guys that have been working with "flash lite" one of the many flash-related technologies that Adobe/Nokia have actively/accidentally botched up the past 4 years. In certain aspects things are better now (with Apple playing a very large role in this) - but it just taught us the lesson, if you are working at the bleeding edge (which everyone seems to be doing these days), things are going to be shaky/uncertain, ALWAYS - that is part of the fun of it all - the fact at the end of the day you can only trust your own gut and there are really very few that can tell you what and how you should be doing it.

For us Flash has never been about trying to reach iPhone consumers. For us it has always been an extremely open programming AND creative fast-prototyping tool, that both programmers and creatives could work on together. I don't see that changing anytime soon, even if developers are all C crazy, you still have to get creatives to surrender their tools (which is not easy if you think that some top designers STILL secretly use Freehand) - the point is, you just don't change programmer's and creative's workflow overnight - it might even just wreck it. As long as a tool allows you to develop/prototype your ideas quickly and get actual people to use it, that's enough for me (at this stage).

I think one of the biggest fears is, especially with those who used to be comfortable doing Flash for the web, is that all of a sudden have to think "backwards" in terms of processing power and size, it's scary when things are changing, but Adobe/Apple got us all into the mobile space somehow, and if not prepared for the turbulence, maybe better to paddle out to calmer niches?

I think our saving grace has been that we have always been aware how capricous technology and hardware providers are, and that their sheer size and corporate responsibilities can make them do really stupid things... to expect otherwise is just being out of touch with reality, and will make you feel very angry/depressed. We have been there, our best advice is to get over it and see how you can make the best of it - all your competitors have to do the same, there are very few silver bullets out there!