This handy little extension for for Firefox lets you install multiple versions of the Flash plugins in the same browser. This way you can test your Flash movies using the same browser. It’s interface is very easy to use, and installing the plugins is as simple as dragging some files to different directories. The only draw back I can see to this is you shouldn’t just rely on this when testing your movies. While Firefox has gained alot of market share in the past few months, IE is still king (like it or not) and one should always test on as many browsers as possible. I personally like to use MS Virtual PC for windows. You can run multiple versions of an OS with different config’s to see how your site will respond. BTW MS Virtual PC is now FREE from Microsoft… so there is no excuse for not using it and testing with it.

On2 Flix can now do “Chroma Key”. For all your interactive developers who haven’t worked with alot of video. Chroma key is the process of removing a color or range of colors from one layer of an image to reveal a different image in the layer below. This is the technique they use with your local weather man. More and more sites are using chroma key (or greenscreen-ing) with characters.

Inovartis – Flash Video Loops, Alpha Channel Flash seems like it has some fast / easy to use stock flash video. Many of the images here look like stuff you could produce in 5 seconds using After Effects, or my favorite eye-candy tool Partical Illusion by WonderTouch. But if you don’t have time and you are in a rush this looks like the place to find good stuff for use in Flash.

JK Rowling Flash website – Case study – Web Access Centre is an excellent read about how to make a website more accessible. Often what makes a site more accessible also makes it more search engine friendly. I would read this article… gives great points that would help make any Flash site more search engine friendly. If a client asks me to create a full-Flash site I typically use the SWFObject and create a secondary text only site for search engines to crawl. This way we get the best of both worlds.

The best solution is to create a Flash CMS system for you client that updates the .SWF files and the  text only site. I’ve done this in the past for a few clients and it works very well.

FITC has posted the my complete talk: How to manage creative projects and make more money. Taped live at FITC Toronto 2006 on April 23, 2006 at the Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto, Canada. And the blurb from FITC: This presentation is aimed at anyone creating interactive media who wants to understand how to manage clients better.

Users can expect to walk away with a better understanding on how to manage creative projects. In particular audience members will learn hands-on approach to the following:

• How to convert short term projects into long term clients
• What types of documentation work best (ie. extranet types)
• How to setup a PHP extranet for non-technical users -How to manage the difficult “creative client”

Etsy is an excellent example of a site that uses Flash very well. Flash adds value to this site, and helps looking for content very easy. Use the color sampler to find items in a color your after. This is an excellent example of how Flash is used to “add value” to a site.

What I like about the design here is that you are using Flash but it doesn’t stand out as a seperate element on the site. The Flash here could be AJAX or any other technology. This is the beauty of this site, the pieces work well together. As you start to move around the site you will notice that these are really easy to use. They have spent alot of time getting things right here.

Cons
Labratuvar is a fun little site, but after spending some time on it you begin to become frustrated with how to use the UI. This is a perfect example of what Steven Krug calls “Mystery Meat Navigation” … I’m all for creating interesting UI elements. The trick is to create something that is easy to use out of the box. Imagine if every time you sat in a car you had to re-learn how to use the steering wheel. This is exactly what sites like this make you do.

Pros
On the bright side of things this site does a good job of putting in the “bread crumbs” at the top of the site as your move through the layers. This is the saving grace of this site since it lets you at least move backwards out of section. It also enables users to see where they are in the site.

2Advanced the king of fast moving, detailed oriented flash goodness has launched their new site. The new site carries on the tradition of large graphics and beeping sound effects (although taken to a new level). The new site tries to address the “back button” problem that 100% Flash sites often suffer from. The back button does in fact work in FireFox and Internet Explorer.

I’ve decided to repost the old Flash 99% Good site that won all the awards back in the day. (The site won Communication Arts site of the week, Macromedia Shocked Site of the Day.. and a bunch of others!). It’s hard to believe that this site got all that attention in retrospect. For those of you who are not familiar with the story here is the short version.

Chernobyl Legacy is an amazing Flash piece that does story telling about the terrible accident at Chernobyl. The Flash piece is highly emotional yet uses very little interface controls that get in the way of the story telling. Fantastic photography / narration are the main “sprites” here.. not Flash eye candy. This is an excellent example of how Flash can be used for story telling online.