Adobe has pushed the Flash name further into the shadows as its pro animation software becomes an HTML5-first tool.
Adobe's Flash interactive media format was once the king of the web. But since the rise of HTML5, the Flash Player has been in slow but terminal decline, with milestones along the way including the rise of the Occupy Flash movement in 2011 to Google killing the use of Flash in its browser this September.
Now Adobe's moving still further away from the 'Flash' name by officially ditching its use in the Creative Cloud authoring tool, Flash Professional which has been rebranding as Animate CC.
You can see a sneak peek of the new tool in the video above and Adobe will be live streaming further demos throughout the week here. See our Adobe Flash Pro CS6 review for a reminder of what Flash offered.
Animate CC will continue supporting Flash (SWF) and AIR formats but it's more than just a name change. Adobe says new features in Animate CC will include:
Vector art brushes – Modify the path of a stroke after it’s been drawn, and scale them to any resolution. Make custom brushes and import brushes created with Adobe Capture CC.
360° rotatable canvas – Rotate the canvas on any pivot point as you draw to get the right angle and strokes.
Improved pencils and brushes – Draw smooth, precise vector outlines along a curve; faster live previews.
Easier audio syncing – Control audio looping directly on the timeline, without having to code
Faster color changing – Naming tagged colours lets you change one color and have it automatically update your entire project.
Colored onion skinning – Adjacent frames can now have different color and alpha values, making it easier to orchestrate complex animations
Adobe Stock – Browse and license millions of high-quality photos, illustrations and vector graphics directly in Animate CC. Add life to static content by adding animations to them.
Creative Cloud Libraries – Access colours, vector graphics and brushes directly within the software.
Multiplatform support for HTML5 Canvas, WebGL, Flash (SWF), AIR, video, and custom platforms (such as SVG) via extensions.
4K+ video export – Export videos with custom resolutions for the latest Ultra HD and Hi-DPI displays.
Custom resolution export – Revitalize older content by resizing and optimizing them for any resolution, such as Ultra HD and Hi-DPI displays.
.OAM support – Export your project as an .OAM file for easy importing to Adobe Muse, InDesign, DPS and Dreamweaver.
When the new release becomes available in January, it will be listed as 'Adobe Animate CC' in the Creative Cloud desktop application. When you install or update Animate CC, it will be found on your computer as Adobe Animate CC 2015, not Adobe Flash CC 2015.
