HTML5 vs. Flash has lately become the hottest topic within the global web dev community. Recently released Apple iPad which comes without Flash support adds the fuel to the discussion fire. And while the Open Standards evangelists are walking around the walls of Adobe headquarters wearing signs “The end of Flash is near!”, Adobe Flash fans are desperately defending their platform.

Let’s try to stay away from panic and have an unbiased look at what is going on.

What should happen to make HTML 5 the winner over Flash:

• HTML5 includes a comprehensive, sophisticated audio, video and animation tool set. Flash is much more than just web apps and video, that’s why HTML5 has to evolve considerable to be a decent competitor to Flash.
• HTML5 includes a universally-implementable default codec for the video tag. This could allow developers and customers to save money and efforts they have to put into supporting different players now.
• Canvas runtime is as easy in handling as Flash development interface. When Canvas is easier for non-programmers, it will be able to approximate to Flash’s widespread developer support.
• A wide variety of developer tools for working with the HTML 5 powered animation frameworks appears. Until that HTML5 only looks promising de facto having rather limited capability.
• Internet Explorer 8 supports HTML 5 completely OR Internet Explorer 8 unconditionally surrenders. When HTML 5 beats a Microsoft factor the benefits are obvious.
• HTML5 can be installed into older browsers. That will help new standards beat Flash Player which now has better backward compatibility, hence 98% users choose it for their browsers.

What actually is happening:

• HTML 5 is definitely a revolutionary update for the language that powers the web. It’s a serious competitor to Flash when it comes to web applications. Even with this, HTML 5 standard is still in a draft and it’s still incomplete.
• The browser manufacturers involved in the W3C working group developing HTML 5, couldn’t agree on a universally-implementable video codec, so it seems like a long time before all browsers will support the HTML 5.
• If you want to anime something in Flash it’s practically a no-brainer, while if you want to do the same for Canvas you need to have solid skills both in design and development and that’s surely not an optimistic perspective.
• Currently HTML 5 faces a chicken-and-egg sort of dilemma. Today there is a handful of developer tools for working with the animation frameworks that HTML 5 offers, but at least part of the reason there’s no developer tools is that the Canvas element isn’t widely supported.
• IE 8 doesn’t support very much of HTML 5 and since it is still a major browser vendor (somehow manages to hold between 15 and 20 per cent of the market), HTML 5 loses this tactic position.
• Currently HTML 5 backward compatibility is an issue. You can’t install it into older browser, but you can install Flash. In case you need it here and now, the solution seems obvious.

RECAP: HTML 5 is not a dummy for sure, but it’s not a threat to Flash either. At least so far. Even being charitable and assuming that HTML 5 becomes strong enough to kills Flash, it is going to be at least 10 years before it happens, and that’s is a whole lifetime in Internet years.

As for iPad question, we tend to share the views of Jens C Brynildsen, an experienced Flash developer and editor of the FlashMagazine: “To Flash developers it’s of course sad that so many people can’t enjoy what they’ve created, but the Flash Player can’t be the solution to everything. It’s just a tool that has phenomenal capabilities / reach and as developers we should choose the right tool for the job and not try to bend our tools into solving every task”.

Sean “the flex guy” Moore is a highly visible blogger in the Flex Community. He has been developing web applications for 12 years now and it’s no surprise that he was chosen to be a Flex Developer Community Champion by Adobe for his hard work and dedication to the Community.
FlachSope decided to interview this prominent Flash Developer, and luckily Sean agreed to answer some of our questions:

FS: Can you share with us a little bit of your history? Was there a turning-point in your life when you decided to cast your lot with web development?

Sean: I got into multimedia and programming in 1997. Lingo was my first programming language, shortly after that I studied HTML, JavaScript, Visual Basic, Perl and ASP. I messed with Java a little back then but never got into it too much. I’ve recently starting learning a lot more about Java. My first job out of college was doing CBT programming with Authorware. This was when Flash was just first coming out and gaining some ground. I started messing around with Flash in my free time and really liked it. My second job was doing web design and development for a mortgage technology company. That’s when I started doing a lot of Flash work, both animation and scripting. I think Flash 3 was just being released at this time. I had a good amount of experience with Director, Lingo, Authorware and Dreamweaver so Flash and ActionScript weren’t too hard to pick up. My next job was for an Learning company where I was a full time Flash developer for over four years. When I started that job we used AS1 and Flash MX. AS2 was released while I was working there so we ended up doing a lot of code migration from AS1 to AS2. In 2006 AS3 was really gaining some attraction so I started getting more serious about learning it and Flex. In 2007 I started doing freelance work for AS3 and Flex based projects. In 2008 I started Kannopy, Inc. and have been running the company and working with various clients ever since. Kannopy was the first company to focus on Adobe AIR development.

FS: As everyone knows, you have excellent experience in multimedia and application development. How
long have you been engaged in it?

Sean: I’ve been involved with multimedia and software development for about thirteen years. Believe it or not
I wasn’t really into computers at all until I was about twenty. I used to be heavily involved with art and
music. I started college to become a traditional illustrator doing marker rendering, etc. While in college I
started playing with Photoshop, Director, HTML, JavaScript and VB. The creativity that could be
expressed through interactivity using Director and HTML/JavaScript really moved me. I was determined
to learn how to program and just went for it. The college I attended didn’t really have a “Web
Development” degree or anything. It was either Multimedia or Computer Science. I majored in
Multimedia but it focused more on visual design than programming. I deviated from the degree program
and started taking Comp Sci classes along with the Multimedia classes I thought would be beneficial. At
first I had a pretty tough time grasping the core programming concepts as I wasn’t a huge math guy or
anything in school and this was all pretty new to me. I wasn’t the kid that started programming when he
was five or anything like that. After about a year I finally started understanding the basic concepts of
programming. When I was at the full time Flash job I really got a handle on OOP. I worked with a really
great Java coder who helped me a lot. When I first got into all of this I used to do a lot more design,
animation and 3D work which I do miss sometimes.

FS: You have been involved with the development of numerous Flex and AIR applications. What of these
professional experiences did you enjoy the most? And what is the one you are proud of most?

Sean: Working with Adobe has probably been the best experience so far. The team and talent there is just
beyond awesome and it’s always a great learning experience. I’ve grown a lot by working with them.
Another really great client was Intridea. I worked on an open source AIR application for them. I really
enjoyed working on that project. They were hands off and understood that building quality software
takes time. They allowed me to take the time to use best practices and unit testing. I was also allowed to
fully comment the codebase and produce ASDoc for it. Not all clients understand that these things will
really help the app in the long run. Another really awesome experience has been writing for O’Reilly.
That was a long term goal I set for myself in my twenties and I achieved it. I’m also doing some tech
reviewing for them at the moment. Working with them and Adobe have been two of my biggest dreams.
The full time Flash job I had with techniques.org was also a great experience. That was probably the best
“job” I ever had. That job really contributed to where I am today. (Thanks Ryan, Tim and Joe!!) I’ve also
had the opportunity to work with and become friends with Eric Feminella. He was one of my Flash
heroes and I always read his blog and looked up to him. I contacted him in 2007 about some project
work and he got back to me. I was ecstatic for several days. We’ve worked together on a few projects
since. I consider him my mentor and one of the best Flex developers I’ve ever had the pleasure of
working with. One other experience that was pretty unreal was working with 2Advanced. I had admired
them for years. I was honored to work with them. Another awesome experience was being a guest on
The Flex Show Podcast.

FS: What is the main thing (or crucial moment) when you start a new project? What’s more important to
you – your personal vision or a customer’s opinion?

Sean: The main thing when starting a new project is communication and understanding. The client needs to
know what they want and I need to know what’s expected as the final result. The client’s vision is the
most important thing — period. They need to know what they want to build, understand that building it
will take time and also realize that any quality application takes money to build. Software development
is a time intensive process. It takes money to build quality software. I think there are several crucial
moments when starting the project from a technical viewpoint. Creating an outline of all tasks involved
is important. Creating a design document that discusses how those tasks will be accomplished is also
important. Both of these can give both the client and the developer a general sense of how long the
entire process will take. It also can minimize any surprises about what the client needs and what gets
built. Test Driven Development is important. Proper code documentation is important. Following best
practices and coding standards is important. Using an application development framework is also
important.

FS: Describe how your work process usually flows, how do you like to start, what are the key points to
consider, etc.?

Sean: It depends on the client and the project. When I’m working one on one with a client the process usually
goes something like:
• Exchange NDAs
• Understand what the client wants to build
• Review existing application if they have it (sometimes non Flex based)
• Try to get a feel for some of the details of the app from the client and/or existing application
• Generate a general time/cost estimate for the tasks that can be identified
• Establish cost estimate
• Negotiate cost and timeline
• Start the overall technical design
• Work with client to agree that technical design and program operation and features are correct
• Refine technical design based on client input
• Begin development
• Set up core framework
• Set up unit testing framework
• Create Ant tasks
• Coding / TDD
• Manually test application as development proceeds
• Skinning (if required)
• Run Profiler and Process Explorer to identify any major bottlenecks throughout dev process
• Send weekly builds and invoice throughout dev process
• Review code comments and generate final ASDoc for project
• Send final application to client
• Address any final issues or changes
• Check finished code and ASDoc into SVN
• Send final build to client
• Maintenance
• Add new features and/or fix and bugs that arise
When I start a new project I refine my estimate into more of a task list and start the architecture and
technical design from there. I’ll set up the core framework and unit testing framework. I’ll create the Ant
tasks to build the project and generate the ASDoc. I have an SVN server and will check the code in and
create an account for the client so they can always access the source. I try to invoice the client and send
a build of the application weekly. I’ll also make sure to commit the source code to SVN when sending the
invoice and build. When I send this to them I’ll send an email with an update and outline of the work
that’s been done. This process seems to work the best. It also gives the client an opportunity to test the
software and see progress. Every project is different though. Projects that are being built from the
ground up are generally best to fit into this process. Projects that only require debugging and refactoring
can also fit into this process with some modification.

FS: You also have created a great deal of reference material, articles, presentations and technical reviews.
What helps you stay creative and be in touch with the situation in the world of web development?

Sean: I have a real passion for Flash Platform development. I think the creativity and community is really what
drew me into it. There aren’t a lot of other development communities that are so open to share ideas
and code. In addition a lot of the old school Flash guys are skaters, punk rockers, etc. People I can
associate with. This sharing and creative nature has really pushed me to contribute back to the
community who is always willing to share and help. I have always been a really creative person. I’m also
a musician, cook and artist. Sometimes inspiration is difficult to find but I’ve found that looking at other
places besides the tech world is often the best place to start. Constant training is another thing that I
always make sure to do. I took an Advanced Java class at UCSD in the beginning of 2009 and it was a
great experience. I try to attend Flash/Flex based training and/or conferences whenever possible as
well.

FS: What is the best framework for web application on AS3, to your opinion?

Sean: I don’t know if there is one “best” framework. It usually depends on the project/application. I personally
have used Cairngorm a lot. Mostly because it’s been around for a while, it’s pretty proven and any Flex
developer that’s worth their salt knows it. There are issues with Cairngorm but it’s still a good
framework. I’ve done a lot of Flash development in the past and have seen some Flash (and Flex)
projects and codebases that would make your grandma cry. Frameworks provide a structured place to
put things. This leads to good organization and help avoid the “code all over the F’n place syndrome”.
That helps in always knowing where to look to find things. It’s like putting your dishes away; if you
always put them in the same place you don’t have to search to find your tablespoon or potato masher.
Everything has a home! Recently I’ve been getting into Parsley a lot more and it’s really awesome. I think
the trend toward IoC will continue into 2010 for sure. There are some issues with Parsley as well, but no
framework is going to be perfect. Cairngorm 3 is also something I’ve been getting into more. It’s not so
much of a framework as it is a collection of libraries and best practices. One framework I’d like to work
with more is RobotLegs.

FS: Speaking about Flash development, what main directions can you point out? What can you tell about
Flash and 3D?

Sean: The iPhone support coming in Flash CS5 is definitely worth looking into. I’d say Flex 4 is going to be
pretty major. The Slider framework looks pretty interesting. AIR 2.0 is going to provide a bunch of cool
new functionality. FlexPMD is really cool. The new version of Flex Unit looks killer too. Regarding 3D I’d
say keep an eye on Papervision. It’s the one 3D library I’ve worked with extensively. It’s pretty solid and
has been used widely. Another thing I want to do is spend some time with the native 3D support in AS3.

FS: What do you think about Flash integration with the other products?

Sean: There is of course the iPhone and Android. I’d like to target both using the Flex SDK. We’ll see if that
happens. Other than that AIR is being used more and more in non-traditional environments. I’m highly
interested in applications that target devices other than a desktop/laptop computer. I’ve worked on
some AIR apps that did not target traditional computers and they were pretty cool. The work being done
with Arduino is awesome!

FS: What blogs or magazine articles would you suggest reading for information?

Sean: The Adobe aggregator is always something to keep an eye on. Other than that I check DZone and
Rededit quite a bit. Stumbleupon is pretty cool. The Adobe Developer Connection is great. Twitter is
really awesome for keeping up to date with what’s going on in the community. Adobe Edge is usually
pretty good. Flash and Flex Developers Magazine is pretty good. I always go to the book store and
search Amazon for new Flash, Flex, ActionScript, Java and General programming/software engineering
books. I’m currently reading Clean Code, Code Complete, The Pragmatic Programmer and 97 Thing Every
Software Architect Should Know. I also usually keep an eye on the blogs: Ted Patrick, Ryan Stewart,
James Ward, Peter Martin, Deepa Subramaniam, Alex Uhlmann, Tom Sugden, Eric Feminella, Paul
Williams, Ely Greenfield, Jesse Warden, Matt Chotin, Doug Mccune, Ben Stucki and a whole bunch of
others I’m forgetting. I also listen to The Flex Show poscast.

Flash Scope: New Flash Components Marketplace

Now beta, but will be betta!

We are glad to welcome you on FlashScope – a brand new marketplace, which was created to help designers, developers and people who seek to buy some flash components have an easy way to reach their goal. With FlashScope flash developers can promote and sell their products, without having any expenses connected with this. The only thing that needs to be done to start earning money is upload a product to our site, and we take care of the rest. We promote, advertise, attract customers to help you increase your sales. There is no registration or upload fee, and you can earn up to 70% from each sale.
You are also free to choose whether you want to sell only on our website, or not: and our non-unique products are not tied up to a low percent, like on other resources. If you decide to sell a non-unique product, you can earn 25%-70% depending on the number of your sales. But if you choose to sell your product only from our website, you start getting as much as 40% right from the first sale, and this percent GROWS all the time. As a member you can upload both unique and non-unique products, without any limits or restrictions.

FlashScope also aims to become a homepage for those who are looking for flash components: this is an all-in-one resource where people can easily find and buy flash files, receive help and leave their feedback on them. Our customers can always know how unique is the product they are buying and how good it is.

What you see now is only a beta version of the website, but the final one is coming soon. We welcome you to register, upload, buy, comment, and of course, let us know about the bugs you’ve found on the website, so that we can fix them. We appreciate your trust and help!

Flash components Marketplace Analytics

Flashscope has prepared a little tidbit for you today! We’ve been evolving from a tiny blog and now we have a huge community of prominent flash developers from all over the world here at FlashScope! We’ve been pondering this a lot and finally decided to launch our very own marketplace of flash components! Since the decision we were doing lots of analytic work exploring existing marketplaces and weighing the pros and cons. Some of the information that we’ve came up with can be of a tangible value to our future customers.

We have explored top 5 sellers of the most popular marketplaces to determine which components are of a great demand at the moment.

The metrics that were used:

• Product type – we did not pay attention to differences in functionality of the products, or their capabilities so we have grouped similar products under one category;
• Sales – the time period for collecting sales data was different from site to site, but globally we were using monthly data in our analysis;
• % Sales – this metric reflects the sales volume of each product in comparison with the total sales of all 5 top produts: %Sales = Product#1 Sales / (Pr#1 + Pr#2 + Pr#3 + Pr#4 + Pr#5);
• Price – we have included the price for it is one of the decisive factors when purchasing a product.

Activeden.net

We have taken the data from “Top Sellers – 3 months” section under Popular Files. As far as we need only monthly sales volume all the data was divided by 3.

It’s not that hard to notice that the most popular product type at activeden is banner rotator, which has more than half of top 5 files sales volume.

Flashcomponents.net

Flashcomponents store has a handy Order by: Last Month Sales option, so the data for the second table is accurate.

As you can see – 3d Carousel is the most popular product at flashcomponents.net, while it’s not even listed in top 5 at activeden.

Flashjuggler.com

Flashjuggler sorting options do not specify whether it shows you overall sales volume, or monthly one. So we just took the numbers provided and compared them.

Appears that Flashjuggler visitors like 3d Carousel as well. But this time this is one specific product, which seems to be very attractive. Probably it’s the low price.

Mmfiles.com

Mmfiles does not specify the time range for it’s best sellers too, so we just took the info and processed it along with the rest.

Mmfiles has 2 image gallery components out of 5 top files, however even summing them there’s no leader product according to statistics.

Flashmint.com

We have managed to contact the major flash templates online store Flashmint.com and asked them for some statistics regarding their flash components for the past month. And here is the data:

As you can probably see their most successful product is 3d carousel, it’s image gallery at the same time, but we’ve decided to assign it to 3d carousel category. But nevertheless 2 banner rotators have made almost the half of top 5 sales.

RECAP

Now it’s time for a little re-cap and rethinking of the data that we have collected:

Total Sales Volume = 100%
Banner Rotator = (51% + 33% + 32% + 47%) / 5 = 33%
3d Carousel = (40% + 47% + 33%) / 5 = 24%
Image Gallery/Scroller = (15% + 11% + 13% + 32% + 10%) = 16%
Other Flash Components = 100% – (33% – 24% – 16%) = 27%

At the end you will get the following result:

1. Create a new Flash file AS3 with the size 400 X 400 px.

2. Then draw a square 100 X 100 px with thick outline and filling of low opacity.

3. Highlight the square and convert it to symbol by pressing F8. ‘Covert to symbol’ window will open. Write a name, set type to Movie Clip and make sure you selected Registration “Center”.

4. After that we should center the movie clip on the scene. Click [Ctrl + K] -> the ‘Align’ window will appear. Highlight the movie clicp and copy it [Ctrl+c].

5. While the movie clip is still selected, go to its Properties [Ctrl+F3] -> 3D Position and View, where we set ‘Z’ value (depth) to be equal to our square size. In our case Z equals 100 px.
The Prespective angle is 80.

6. Then click on any empty place of the scene to get highlight off. By mouse right clicking, choose Paste in Place.

7. Now we have two moview clips. Highlight them [Ctrl+A] and copy [Ctrl+C]. Right mouse clicking -> Pate in Place.

8. While the movie clips are still selected, open the Transfrom window [Ctrl+T] and enter the following values:

3D Center point:
X: half scene width
Y: half scene height
Z: half square side

3D Rotation:
X: 90; Y: 0: Z:0.

9. Right mouse clicking -> Paste in Place. While the movie clips are still selected, open the Transfrom window [Ctrl+T] and enther the follwoing values:

3D Center point:
X: half scene width
Y: half scene height
Z: half square side

3D Rotation:
X: 0; Y: 90; Z: 0.

10. Highlight everything [Ctrl+A] and convert to Movie Clip [F8]. Make sure you set Registration to ‘Center‘. Then go to the movie clip Properties [Crtl+F3] and enter Instance name “cube”.

11. To view the cube from different sides, we should make the cube revolving. For this open ActionScript [F9] and paste in the first frame the following code:

function rotate(e:Event){// function to rotate the cube
cube.rotationX+=1// where cube is the Instance name of our cube
cube.rotationY-=1
}
stage.addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME,rotate)

Press [Ctrl + Enter] and view the result.

To make cube revolving on its axis, double click on it (on the scene or in the Library [F11]). Highlight it and open the Pro[erties window. Set “Z” value (depth) = 0.

Download source files.

* * *

Thanks to DooD for this great lesson.

Derek Entringer is a talented Interactive Media/Web Application Developer who really loves what he does. His talents include a mixture of multimedia and application development that allows him to create dynamic and engaging projects ranging from full Flash or Director games and websites to web based CRM Applications and Flex projects. The quality of Derek’s work is determined by his vast experience. The projects created by him embody creative and modern ideas and incorporate top-notch functionality into a simple, uncluttered form.

But we got interested first of all in Derek’s activity as an interactive media specialist, as his talents are also specialized in the technologies that allow us to control the dynamic content and give us the ability to collaborate with others online. As it is known, he is a creator of FLV Player – free video player Flash component that have already came into notice of many users and Flash developers due to its significant features. But Derek is famous not only with this project. He has many achievements to his credit.

Well, enough introductions, as Derek willingly agreed to give us several priceless pieces of advice concerning interactive web application development, web design and how to make it a powerful interactive tool between you and your customers.

* * *

Can you share with us a little bit of your history, and also what is the main attraction point that got you into the Flash Platform?

Back in 1999 I was working for a company creating a Microsoft C++ application which allowed users to interactively place office furniture, kitchen fixtures, and cabinetry within a specified floor plan. We were using AutoCad and 3D Studio Max along with our custom application to create these interactive environments. It was very similiar to todays Ikea Office Planner, but it was tied to installing on a users computer. My manager at that time asked me if I wanted to look into something called Macromedia Director to see how we might be able to port over the functionality that we currently had, to something web based. You’ll have to remember that back then, Macromedia was really just starting up to become what it is today. I gladly took on the challenge, and it was my first step into the online interactive media world.

At that time, Flash had just become accepted as a default plugin for MS IE5. It was quite a young development tool, but there was a lot of buzz surrounding it and it was a new and interesting platform. Right about then, I decided that I wanted to further my education, and learn more about interactive media. I knew that things were going to really pick up, and I wanted to be right on the forefront of how the internet was going to change. This was really the starting point for everything that I have accomplished over the last 10 years in regards to Interactive Media, and developing on the Flash Platform.

Now, I’m working as a Independent Contractor under my DerekEntringer.com brand, and am also running FLVPlayer.com.

As everyone knows, you have excellent experience in multimedia and application development. How long have you been engaged in it?

I’ve been developing creative interactive media for about 10 years. How long you have been in the business of Online Interactive Media really can make a difference, but I believe that how well you keep up to date with current online media trends is what can really make you stand out from the crowd.

You were involved into numerous projects ranging from full Flash or Director games and websites to web based CRM Applications and Flex projects. What of these professional experiences did you enjoy the most? And what is the one you are proud of most?

A couple of projects that come to mind would be a few games that I created for Rozerem. While I was working with a Chicago based interactive agency, we created the Rozerem Dreamcatcher Game. The Rozerem Dream Catcher game was created in order to entertain, as well as inform users of the benefits of Rozerem and a goodnight sleep. You may remember the commercials where a man wakes up to find his dreams in his kitchen, instead of him getting a good nights rest.

Rozerem Dream Catcher Game

Two other memorable projects were with a company called ActiveCampaign. We were a two person startup, and we created web based applications. I was involved in the development of SupportTrio, a web based support center app, as well as iSalient, a web based survey app.

SupportTrio	iSalient

The best project thus far though as been my involvement in developing FLV Player, a fully customizable Flash Video Player Component. This is the main focus of my work over the last nine months. It’s been great talking with clients, building up our feature set, and we’re looking forward to where we will be in another six months or so.

What is the main thing (or crucial moment) when you start a new project? What’s more important to you – your personal vision or a customer’s opinion?

If I can be involved in bringing new ideas to the table for a project, that’s really where I have the most fun. Helping my clients fully realize their ideas and how they can improve their web presence is something that I really enjoy. The crucial moment in any project is really knowing what you want to accomplish for an end result, and creating the tools that will get you there.

Over the years and after creating several products that have been sold to thousands of people, I’ve found that customers opinions are really what matters. If you are creating something for a specific audience, you always want to know what else that audience might need or want in relation to what you have created. A personal or company vision always has to be kept in consideration of course, but interacting with your clients or customers is really what it’s all about.

While creating websites, do you usually use any Flash components to speed up the development process? If yes, what ones more frequently?

Video has been huge online lately, and there really seems to be no end to it’s growth. While working with my latest product, FLV Player, I have been also using the component in many of my projects. It’s a great way to get streaming video up and running on a website quick and easy.

I’ve also used a few Papervision 3D Wall components [flashloaded.com], which are great for setting up interactive photo galleries. Another one of my favorite components is Slide Show Pro [slideshowpro.net]. It’s a very polished Flash Component and also works great for photo galleries.

What helps you stay creative and be in touch with the situation in the world of web development? What do you usually do to improve your skills as an Interactive Media/Web Application Developer?

Keeping up to date with how media is being used online is really part of my career. It’s constantly changing, upgrading, and improving on itself on a daily basis. The most important thing you can do is keep in touch with the heart of the interative media world. Attend conferences, talk with other developers in area, follow others in your industry on Twitter, and collaborate with anyone you can.

I believe that improving skills is just as important as keeping up with current interactive media trends. They basically go hand-in-hand. I’ll challenge myself to create new projects outside of what I am already comfortable with. A good example of this would be when AS3 was first released. It was perhaps a little frustrating that everything that I had learned about AS2 was becoming more obsolete, but it was also an opportunity for a new challenge. I made it a point to get going with the new code base as soon as possible, and I did it on my own time instead of waiting for a project that required it. Push yourself, be hungry for change, and the interactive media environment is somewhere you’ll find rewarding.

Do you have people who inspire you? Maybe some Platform Evangelists?

Many people have inspired me throught my career, and in many ways. Co-workers, managers, business owners, friends and family. I really can’t say that any particular Platform Evangelists fit into that list exactly though.

Any advice for people who want to learn Flash?

If you’re looking to get into a career that is always changing, and never really becomes dull in any way, interactive media is really a great industry to be a part of. Flash is really only one piece of that industry, but it’s an important piece. If you’re just starting out, take a few classes at a local college, or go through as many tutorials as you can on GoToAndLearn.com. The web itself is filled with resources to help anyone who is interested in Flash to get started.

Interactive media is a constantly evolving industry, and the most important thing is to always want to learn more.

* * *

Thank you, Derek, for this amazing interview. It was a real pleasure to cooperate with you. Hoping, our readers found this interview interesting and helpful as well.