

Adobe releases Flash to HTML5 converter - siddhant
http://thenextweb.com/dd/2011/03/08/adobe-releases-flash-to-html5-converter/

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bane
Next up, endless complaint about how Adobe's javascript code is slow, or
they're doing something horrible to the canvas or some other B.S.

(I can't _wait_ for my quad core computer to grind to a halt with dozens of
unblockable canvas advertisements wallpapering every website I go to from now
on... _sigh_ , the end is near)

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bobds
NoScript to the rescue, it can block all kinds of embedded content, even
custom fonts.

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damncabbage
Or entire websites!

(Thanks for the javascript ball of mud, Gawker.)

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andybak
Currently Webkit only (uses CSS3 animation with the Webkit prefix). Did a
fairly good job on a keyframe/tween animation I'd done. There were a few
problems with masked images but I imagine that could be fixed.

Most features are supported where the HTML/CSS equivalent exists. No support
for any Actionscript conversion (oh if only AS3 hadn't decided to reinvent
itself as Java 2 this might have been possible).

Questions:

1\. How modular is the code produced? Could I easily use Flash to create
chunks of animation but then control them via Javascript?

2\. Will Mozilla ever support CSS Animation? Last I heard they weren't too
keen on it.

3\. IE? Scratch that. I'm not even going to ask.

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bdonlan
Compiling Java to JavaScript is far from impossible - GWT manages to do it,
for example. I don't know if Adobe is willing to go that far, though...

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andybak
True. Compilation isn't an ideal solution however as you end up with code
that's not human readable or editable. I wanted to make the point that
Javascript and Actionscript used to be so similar that some form of conversion
that left the code usable might have been possible.

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streptomycin
> Compilation isn't an ideal solution however as you end up with code that's
> not human readable or editable

Sounds pretty ideal for Adobe.

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Newky
Regardless of performance at this point, I still can't see how this can be a
negative thing.

Hat's off to Adobe for now, as I can't see anything evil in this.

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mlok
Two possible negative things :

1\. It _could_ be the Microsoft scenario : Embrace. Extend. Extinguish.

2\. This tool _could_ be used to spread FUD : "Look this is my project
converted into html5, it looked much better in Flash"

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queenOfEngland
Adobe makes authoring tools, and directly makes no money on Flash Player: If
advertisers need a way to attack every iOS user with ads, Adobe wants to be
there with a tool.

However I laugh at point #2 -- it is simply inconceivable that Flash, with
over a decade of a head start in heavy animation, actually does look better in
many cases (which it does) -- it has to be FUD.

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jokermatt999
_However I laugh at point #2 -- it is simply inconceivable that Flash, with
over a decade of a head start in heavy animation, actually does look better in
many cases (which it does) -- it has to be FUD._

I don't think the FUD was that things will look better in the original Flash.
That really only would make sense. The FUD was that "Oh, this thing that
converted my Flash into HTML5 looked like crap afterward; therefore HTML5 must
be crap", when it could really be an issue of the conversion process rather
than HTML5 itself.

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shadowpwner
Wow.. I wonder what extent the animations stay the same after the conversion.
Can anyone throw up a before and after?

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dools
I can certainly throw up at the thought of a Flash to HTML5 converter ...

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thailandstartup
<http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/wallaby/>

>"Wallaby" is the codename for an experimental technology that converts the
artwork and animation contained in Adobe® Flash® Professional (FLA) files into
HTML.

Not quite as exciting as a SWF -> HTML5 converter. I wonder about the
feasability of that.

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jcitme
uneditable html, probably.

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nailer
Did you actually look at the converted HTML?

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jasonkester
Testing it out, it seems to be a dialog that accepts .fla files and tells you
it can't convert them. At least that's all I could get it to do with any of my
Flash projects.

Has anybody managed to find a subset of Flash that it will actually convert?

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NetMonkey
It worked pretty well with an animation from an old project: Html5:
<http://enwire.dk/Wallaby/Html5/> Flash: <http://enwire.dk/Wallaby/Flash/>

At least it works in Chrome but it looks kinda funny in IE9. For basic
animations it could probably be useful.

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nailer
Looking at it in Chrome (no love in FF3, but I suspect FF4 willchnage that)
I'm actually impressed. That's a reasonable 1.0 effort.

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andybak
FF4 isn't slated to support CSS animations AFAIK

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program
I'm playing with the tool and it seems that actionscript 3 isn't supported.

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thailandstartup
How about Actionscript 2? Flash basically has two VMs . . . one is used to run
legacy content (up to Flash 8, AS2), the other for newer content (Flash 9+,
AS3). But my reading of the project page suggested it was just converting
graphical and animation elements in .FLA files.

~~~
program
I have tried different .fla and if there is a line of actionscript (even if
not used) the conversion fails.

[http://blogs.adobe.com/jnack/2011/03/wallaby-flash-to-
html5-...](http://blogs.adobe.com/jnack/2011/03/wallaby-flash-to-
html5-conversion-tool-now-available.html)

~~~
tsta
Same here. I have tried all the samples from
<http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flash/samples.html> \- and everytime the result
is "FLA version not supported"

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BoppreH
Now we will have a great environment to work with when HTML5 gets solid
acceptance.

Can we stop with the silly demos, people complaining "it doesn't work on my
browser!" and articles on how a couple of tags would kill Flash?

I for one can't wait to have the best of both worlds.

EDIT: The adobe page on Wallaby links to a "release notes" wiki page and a
forum board. Both are suspiciously empty.

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ItsBilly
<http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/Wallaby#Release_Notes>

"Actionscript 1,2 - Unsupported"

"Actionscript 3 - Unsupported"

Then it's not Flash. I really don't have a need to convert any animations from
2002 into the hippest standards. I've never thought to myself "Boy, All Your
Base is still really funny, but if only the underlying technology that powered
it was open and modern....."

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zrgiu
when action script will easily be converted to html5, then all mobile apps
will finally move to the cloud

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marcamillion
I have not read this article, but I would never use this.

I hate these converters that take one language and 'port' them to another one.

Especially any made by Adobe.

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gloob
I'm actually a big fan of compilers, but maybe I'm just old.

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tomelders
What don't Adobe get? It's not that Flash is bad "just" because it's not
HTML5, it's also bad because it enables crap things. HTML5 or not, that's
always going to be the case.

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andybak
This kind of knee-jerk anti-Flash thing is getting tiresome.

We get it. You don't like animated ads. I don't like them either. You can make
annoying animations using any technology.

Are you seriously implying that animation/interactivity in general is a bad
thing? I seriously doubt that. Stop blaming the tools. Use Adblock and get
over it.

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wlievens
Flash is great when used for the right purpose. HTML is great when used for
the right purpose, too. Some may overlap; no problem as competition is good
for tech.

What bothers people is the fact that sometimes entire websites that would work
perfectly in HTML are built in Flash.

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andybak
I quite agree but Apple's anti-Flash play has almost certainly made this a
thing of the past.

OP seems to be saying something different and altogether less defensible:
"Anything made with Flash is bad". This is denying an entire range of
applications that are currently unfeasible with HTML-based technologies.

