This version of LiveMotion 2 is more sophisticated than
the initial version. Not only does LiveMotion 2 come with
a User Guide but it also comes with a Scripting Guide and
this is just for starters. This new version is geared toward
the web designer and developer who needs scripting, debugging,
and coding tools to create animations in multiple formats
such as Flash and QuickTime. However, LiveMotion 2 can still
be used as an excellent and straightforward animation creation
program that can build complicated and varied animations without
delving into its scripting components.
The requirements for LiveMotion 2 for Windows are:
Intel Pentium II or faster processor
Microsoft Windows 98, ME, 2000, or XP
64 MB of Ram with 128 recommended
50 MB of available hard disk space
800 x 600 monitor resolution with 1024 x 768 recommended
CD-ROM drive
The requirements for the Macintosh are:
PowerPC, G3 or faster processor
MacOS 9.1, 9.2, or Mac OS X v.10.1
64 MB of RAM with 128 recommended
50 MB of hard disk space available
800 x 600 monitor resolution with 1024 x 768 recommended
CD-Rom drive
LiveMotion 2 sells for $199.00 for a new user version with
an upgrade price of $99.00 and special discounts for product
combinations. For those, see Adobe's
website.
The target customers for LiveMotion 2 are Professional Web
Designers, Professional Web Developers, and the Part-Time
Web Author who works for a small to mid-sized business or
nonprofit organization. In other words, the target consumer
is a professional one who will make use of LiveMotion's emphasis
on scripting, coding, etc.,, and needs the tools to not only
build sophisticated flash based content for websites, construct
compelling animation, but be able to integrate it with or
easily use other products such as Adobe GoLive, After Effects,
or Photoshop. While the first version of LiveMotion was mainly
a version that relied on the manipulation of "graphics"
and the appropriate manual commands with some behaviors (simple
scripting options) available, this new version has robust
scripting options while maintaining and even building on the
graphical strengths of the first. I am reviewing this from
the perspective of a graphic artist.
Immediately
looking at the interfaces of LiveMotion 1 and 2, one will
see the differences and changes that have been made. One could
say LiveMotion 1 has grown up. Of course, liveMotion 2 has
kept its excellent collection of both vector and raster creation
tools that it had in its previous version for those who do
not have Photoshop or Illustrator available or just want to
make a quick change to an object or create a shape without
leaving the program. LiveMotion 2 has been integrated into
what I will call the "scripting" revolution complete
with its own language guide that will instruct the user on
how to write scripts to control behaviors, create and play
movie clips, use event handlers, control dynamic data through
XML socket communications, write debugging scripts, etc.
Through JavaScript based Automation scripts and Live Tabs
which are Automation Scripts with a User Interface attached
to it, complex tasks and actions can be easily performed.
Adobe will be making these available on its English-language
Adobe Xchange Web site of http://www.actionxchange.com
The
Script Editor is a key tool in LiveMotion 2.
It allows developers to code both ActionScripts and
automation scripts. The following are some of the major functions
of this powerful tool according to Adobe. It is a Movie
Clip Navigator. It can organize code by States and
Handlers which allows developers to view it in easy to
edit sections. It can "contains" Built-in Syntax
Descriptions of LiveMotion 1.0 Behaviors, ActionScript
Syntax, and JavaScript Syntax. It, also, can execute Find
and Replace and create Break Points. LiveMotion
2 also contains a Debugger and preview mode in order to see
how scripts will execute in the authoring environment. To
learn more about the Script
Editor, click here.
The screen capture below shows a new item on the top menu
"Automation." On the screen capture below,
click on the red words to see the Live Tabs that already
are part of the LiveMotion 2 CD, and click on the green words
to see the Scripts that are included on the CD.
Aside from scripting, Adobe has introduced other elements
to make working in LiveMotion 2 faster and easier. Layered
Photoshop and Illustrator files can be converted to animation-ready
objects, groups,or sequences. Once placed, however, these
files can still be edited in their native application. That
is a big time saver and a big plus. Illustrator 9 and 10 files
complete with transparency can be dragged and dropped into
LiveMotion 2 and the files retain their functionality. Both
Photoshop and Illustrator files work in similar manners. Raster
tools (some similar to filters) that are resident in LiveMotion
2 can be used to change the characteristics of an object either
instantaneously or through time. These include distortion,
opacity, color, etc. and can be used on an object created
in LiveMotion 2 itself or used on an object placed into the
program. Illustrator layers, for example, can be turned into
scripted buttons, one can jump between LiveMotion and the
native graphic program for editing purposes. In addition,
LiveMotion 2 recognizes layer names and bounding boxes as
well as producing smaller SWF files from Illustrator content
than previously.
While SwF and QuickTime are names everyone knows, they aren't
the only file formats that LiveMotion 2 delivers. LiveMotion
2 can deploy animated content in CD-ROM interfaces, for Microsoft
PowerPoint presentations, wire phones, PDA's, promotional
kiosks, etc. LiveMotion 2 can Import and Export:
GIF, JEPG, PNG, EPS, TIFF, PICT, PSD, .AI 7.0-10, plus
20 sound formats including MP3, AU, AIFF, and WAV. Below are
some examples of export options for some of the choices:
Flash
Animated GIF
As with LiveMotion 1, when using the Flash (SWF) export file
format, individual objects can be compressed so as to make
the actual final file size as small as possible. In addition,
the Preview Export Optimization feature indicates if
an object will export as a vector or as a bitmap image.
QuickTime Main Screen
Compression Settings
Sound Settings
Added to LiveMotion 2 are new and exciting type effects and
easier text handling. Animating text is now a snap! Animated
text effects can be saved as styles and used over again; thus,
simplifying the work load. There are also many pre-built effects
that come with LiveMotion 2. These can be found in the Styles
and Library palettes.
As stated earlier, LiveMotion 2 integrates with GoLive and
After Effects. Using Using LiveMotion templates, Flash content
can be updated site wide in GoLive. In addition, GoLive can
connect to LiveMotion through its web workgroup server to
manage all site assets and files such as SWF's QuickTime,
etc. Other automation between the two programs is also available
in this new version of LiveMotion.
The timeline is based on the one found in Adobe After Effects.
The timeline in LiveMotion is not based on the traditional
one, found in most other animating software, that is based
on frames but on one that is based on time-lapse. With this
new version, one can speed up or slow down animations by simply
dragging the endpoints with a modifier key. LiveMotion distributes
the time change proportionally among the frames.
Timelines in both Versions of LiveMotion
LiveMotion 1
LiveMotion 2
Movie Clip Scrubbing is also supported with this timeline
and can be viewed when the timeline is scrubbed with a modifier
key. Also, supports for multiple states in a movie clip allow
for the creation of rollover buttons, navigation schemes and
more.
While LiveMotion's timeline is based on that of After Effects,
LiveMotion 2 also integrates with features in After Effects
such as the ability to import precision motion graphics.
The integration of the scripting with "traditional"
animation as per LiveMotion 1 was a lot easier than I had
imagined when I first saw this new version. I admit I was
a little bit daunted by the scripting. However, once I realized
I could combine the old part of LiveMotion which I did not
want to relinquish with this new added realm, I really began
to see how I could use it creatively and not just as a time
saver. The small animation below is an example. It is a simple
Photoshop file containing a layer and a background. The text
was added in LiveMotion 2 and a simple preset script was applied
to it. Then the opacity of the text and the layer was changed
to go to 0% simultaneously.
This new version of LiveMotion has added a tremendous
amount for the professional web developers and designers,
who Adobe states are the target audience, however, the more
I used it, the more I realized that it also has added a sizable
amount for the artist in terms of its integration with other
Adobe products as well as its ample amount of preset scripting
that can be used creatively by an individual who does not
use scripting in his daily work.