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Filed under: Utilities, Video, Windows

SilverX converts Flash video to Silverlight

SilverX is a Windows app that converts Flash (.SWF) videos to Microsoft's Silverlight format. It recognizes all the vectors, images, text and animations from the original Flash file, so you can extract all of those elements and edit them in a Silverlight app later. If you want to manipulate the individual elements, you can edit them like any other Silverlight solution, and even apply XAML. If you just want to play the movie back in your browser using Silverlight, you can do that too.

There's not a lot of fiddling necessary to use SilverX. Just pick a SWF file and an output directory, and everything happens under the hood. You can either output the file as a standalone app or a Silverlight solution. To work with solutions, you'll need Microsoft's Expression Blend 3 or Visual Studio 2008 SP1.

[via AddictiveTips]

Filed under: Design, Macintosh, Linux, Open Source

Open source graphics app Xara Xtreme available

Xara Xtreme (LX) on LinuxBack in October we reported on graphics company Xara's plans to open the source code of their flagship product Xara Xtreme and bring it to Linux and Mac OS X. At the time no actual code had been released and only a "proof-of-concept" build was available. As of last week, however, the full source code is available under the GPL, paving the way for anyone to run the full-featured vector graphics suite for free, assuming they run Linux or OS X. Xara still plans to make money by selling the Windows version and a commercial version for Linux or Mac if the demand exists, but I wonder how long it'll be before someone backports this open source version to Windows. Head over to Xara's open source site for videos, screenshots, FAQS, and of course the download.

[Via Chris Dickman via Simon Willison]

Filed under: Linux, Open Source

Gnash: Open source Flash player

FlashAdobe makes a version of the Flash Player for Linux, but by most accounts it's nothing to write home about. Gnash might change the Linux Flash experience. It's an open source player for Flash files that, unlike most (unlicensed) third-party Flash tools, supports many features up to Flash 7. Gnash uses OpenGL to render Flash movies and comes in both stand-alone and Firefox plugin versions.

Filed under: Design, Developer, Internet, Windows, Macintosh

Toon Boom Studio version 3 released

toonboomstudioI have always hated the animation tools in Flash. Maybe it's because I cut my teeth doing animation the old-fashioned way. But ever since Adobe killed off LiveMotion my inner animator hasn't been happy.

Which is why I was delighted to hear Toon Boom Studio has recently risen to the big 3.0. It appears the Mac version is now on par with the PC version (lip sync didn't work before) and there are some new features too. It's not as easy to use as Swish, but for my money much more powerful as an animator's tool.

The big deal on Toon Boom Studio? It's clearly designed with traditional animators in mind. Using GUI metaphors like lightbox and cameras, it's more attuned to the old-school world of animation. As a bonus, you can do some things in there you can't easily setup in Flash. Like how about a camera to pan, zoom, and rotate? Give the demo a try, but unless you're familiar with the animation tools of yore, be prepared for a learning curve. 

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The World's Hardest Game 2.0 - Time Waster

So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do. Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game. The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...

View more Time Wasters

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