Unplugged
Launching a Flash site has always been a background project – it’s not as if I’m unhappy with the current site – and it’s pretty easy to find a reason to keep it in the garage and keep tinkering away. Learning ActionScript3 was the latest reason for such delay, but I’ve convinced myself it was probably the right move. Just like that Iraqi reporter didn’t target Dumbo Bush with old sandals but chose his latest genuine Timberlands, it would feel a shame to launch an ActionScript 2 version. Even now, when I feel I’ve cracked ActionScript 3, I’m sure I’ll find other reasons for delay – that light at the end of the tunnel could always be a fast-approaching train.
Still, intense beavering-away does sometimes deliver fruits ready for public display. I already had some Flash-based galleries on this site, all based on SlideShowPro and ActionScript 2. They were all powered by Director, SlideShowPro’s online content management system, and adding new images was a simple matter of running a Lightroom export and choosing which album to target.
I had a couple of less-edifying but more-visual reasons for switching these to ActionScript 3. A big one was that with a single line of ActionScript 3 you can make a Flash movie colour managed – see John Nack’s post (for this to be visible, the visitor has to be using a colour-managed browser and the Flash Player 10).
Secondly, I liked the look of SlideShowPro’s new ThumbGrid component. It’s a $24 add-on to the SlideShowPro Flash component, replacing the built-in navigation, and it is only for ActionScript 3. See how it works here.
The only regret about not launching the fabled Flash site has been its stubbornly-constipating effect on putting new pictures online. So for an example of ActionScript 3 + colour management + ThumbGrid, see the mostly-new American Civil War gallery.