Can’t make it to MAX? Watch the keynotes online!

Posted by Serge Jespers on Sep 26, 2011 in MAX2011 | 1 comment

One week until Adobe MAX 2011! We have some very exciting news to share during the keynotes and like previous years we also have some very well known guests on stage! There really is no substitute for being live at the keynotes in the Nokia Theater but MAXonline is probably the next best thing.

Mister Ryan Stewart and I will be hosting MAXonline again this year and we promise to give you a behind the scenes look at MAX as well as exclusive interviews you won’t see anywhere else!

Watch on your desktop or Flash-enabled mobile device using Adobe’s video streaming technologies including HTTP Dynamic Streaming with Flash Media Server 4.5 and experience Flash Player’s peer-assisted networking technology for media delivery. Or watch it on your Apple iOS device using HLS powered by Adobe Flash Media Server 4.5!

Just make sure you don’t miss it! Register today!

3 “hidden” gems of Adobe Labs

Posted by Serge Jespers on Sep 23, 2011 in labs | 2 comments

With the big announcements about Flash Player 11 and AIR 3 earlier this week you may have missed some of the other exciting new goodies available on Adobe Labs. Here are some of my favorites.

Visual Size Report
Hot off the grill, as they say. Visual Size Report is an extension for Flash Professional that allows for easier size optimization of SWF files. Designers and Developers often need to consider file sizes when creating content in Flash Professional, especially when deploying for mobile platforms or creating advertising assets, regardless of platform. This extension installs a graphical panel (“Size Report”) that allows you to see the various elements of a SWF file by category and their size. You can just double click an element to find it in the appropriate workspace window.

Pixel Bender 3D
Pixel Bender 3D is a version of the Pixel Bender kernel language that allows you to produce vertex and fragment shaders that run on 3D hardware to generate output images. These kernels operate on 3D objects and affect their appearance. Pixel Bender 3D is built on the Stage3D APIs, previously codenamed “Molehill,” and found in Flash Player 11, which handles the display of 3D objects in AIR and Flash Player. Pixel Bender 3D provides a quick and convenient way of supplying shaders to Stage 3D. Where appropriate hardware is available, Pixel Bender 3D is GPU accelerated.

Alchemy
Alchemy was released 2 years ago as an experiment and hasn’t really been updated since. That is about to change and it’s going to blow your mind! ;-)

We have not updated the original Alchemy prototype, and while we noted from the beginning that it should not be relied upon for production content, we’ve received persistent requests from developers asking for official support in the Flash runtimes. We’ve been listening and have decided to invest in creating an improved version of Alchemy, which we plan to release as part of a paid production offering for commercial development. We intend to make non-commercial use free of charge.

The production release will offer significantly better performance and productivity over the Labs prototype. By re-architecting major portions of the technology, we aim to enable code execution approaching native performance, scalable support for large code bases, full debugging support, up to 75% reduction in code size, and seamless integration with ActionScript – all while reaching virtually every connected computer on the web.

More on the Flash Player blog

ColdFusion Online Developer Week starts today

Posted by Serge Jespers on Sep 12, 2011 in ColdFusion | Comments Off

UPDATE: If you weren’t able to join the sessions you find the recordings here: http://www.adobe.com/devnet/coldfusion/events.html

You know what? ColdFusion is actually pretty cool and I’ve been using it in various projects over the last couple of years… In fact… I’m using it today for a fun MAX project which you’ll hear more about soon. I’m also not just saying that because Ben “ColdFusion” Forta is my boss ;-) It really is cool but don’t take my word for it… Just join one or all of the ColdFusion Online Developer Week sessions this week and check it out yourself.

All times inUS/ Pacific time. Registration is free but required (the Connect meeting room URL will be emailed to you).

10 years later…

Posted by Serge Jespers on Sep 11, 2011 in off topic | 1 comment

September 11 2001… There was no YouTube. No Twitter. No Facebook. The only way to get the latest news was to watch news channels like CNN. This weekend I was wondering what that day would have been like if those sites would have existed… I think it would have left an even deeper mark. Not that this one isn’t deep enough… I remember that day as if it were yesterday… and I’m sure you do too.

I was home sick. I was lying on the couch and was channel surfing when I saw the reports of the first plane that hit the World Trade Center. I could not believe what I was seeing. I remember that I texted my girlfriend and called my mom. And just when I was trying to grasp what was happening I saw the second plane hit the WTC live. Even though I was on the other side of the world I was in shock.

I worked at the biggest commercial broadcaster in Belgium at the time and called my colleagues who were frantically scrambling to get the news on our main site. The adrenaline rush made me forget about being sick and I remember snapping screenshots from CNN to send to them.

And then the news came in from the attack on the Pentagon… The collapse of the South Tower… The crash in Shanksville, PA… And then later the collapse of the North Tower… I was glued to the TV in shock. I remember zapping between all the different news channels and just couldn’t believe what was happening.

Today I am a New Yorker as I flick through the “Here Is New York” photo book and watch the memorial on CNN.

Unity demos Flash output

Posted by Serge Jespers on Sep 2, 2011 in Flash | 1 comment

The Flash and Unity communities are buzzing about a sneak peek that was posted on the Unity blog. And for good reason! The Unity team is doing some amazing work utilizing the new Stage 3D (formerly known as Molehill) APIs available in Flash Player 11 (currently in beta on Adobe Labs). The blog post on Unity’s blog was so popular that it crashed their server earlier today ;-) But now that it’s back up you just have to check it out!

Unity is also organizing a Flash Day during their Unite conference in September. If you happen to be in the San Francisco area on September 27 I’d suggest you book your seat today. The Unity Flash Day is a free event but registration is required. Hope to see you there! Flash on!