Silverlight is the ugly stepchild of WPF (Windows Presentation Format). Nearly all of the things that are not yet implemented and/or I need/would like as tools for building Silverlight projects work in WPF in some way. WPF appears to have been designed to create the ultimate interactive kiosk. It allows developers to make visually pleasing interfaces for their applications easily. It appears to me that WPF is where Microsoft's focus lies, and Silverlight is them taking WPF technology and trying to force the square peg into the round hole of the web. Not that the hole will be round forever, but that's a different story. However, I think Microsoft has failed to provide some major features that are expected in well designed web experiences and RIAs these days.

• More than Media - Rich Media Applications are not just media players. Silverlight, does a great job of being a cross-platform media player, but web developers have come to expect MUCH MORE, including Alpha Channel support and pre-compiled content. Silverlight isn't delivering these core elements, at least not in a useful way. And some of these still won't be included in the 2.0 release.


• File size - Doing some tests, I took some XAML and created a basic, no interaction layout and the XAML file was Ten Times (10x) as large as the same layout in a SWF. 224k (Silverlight, xaml) vs 22k (flash, swf). Quick downloads and instantaneous user gratification is expected these days. If you're site is slow, or takes forever to download users just go elsewhere. You can't afford to have bloated files, especially if they have less functionality.


• Slick Design at run-time - vector art is nice, but that's so 2004. The new design pallet is bitmap graphics and filters. You need to have gradient overlays with drop shadows, filter effects and pixel effects (especially blending modes) that can be manipluated at run-time. This falls back to the file size issue. Sure I can create all of these elements in another program, but then the user has to download them. If I can create them on the fly, then I don't need to pre-render them. Now I know you could do this in realtime using javascript and vector data, but the code to do that is big, and as a designer/developer, I'd rather just be able to call a filter function and be done.

Perhaps it's just a work-flow issue for me at this point. I can see how Silverlight has the potential to do many of the things I mention above. All of those things can be done easily in Flash. Right now, it takes me 3 times as long to do things using the Microsoft tools vs the Adobe tools. Granted I'm familiar with the Adobe tools, and I've put the time into learning them, but when Microsoft's marketing speech is, "we've integrated the work flow between designers and developers," I can't help thinking, "I'm a designer/developer and my work flow is more convoluted than ever using your tools."

I'm looking forward to Silverlight growing up and moving out of it's parents house. I don't want it to be the ugly stepchild anymore. Competition is good for the marketplace. If Silverlight can get some market share, it will push both Adobe and Microsoft to create better products, which is better for me.

Silverlight 2.0 should provide a lot of useful features, but until the ones I mentioned above are on par or better than Flash, Silverlight will remain inadequate and noncompetitive in the real world. The buzz will die down, just like it did with the Zune, and Vista...and what's left could be ugly. Integrated software and tools will only get Silverlight so far if the final delivery is inferior to it's competition. Adobe is working its butt off to integrate the crap out of Creative Suite. It's not there yet, but it's close. What's Microsoft doing to create a better overall experience for the user as compared to Flash?

Time will tell. Now I have to go and slap the ugly stepchild around a bit until it does what I want.

Labels: Flash, Silverlight, Silverlight 1.0, WPF

So cute. :)

After three days of installing, uninstalling and fighting with my OS I was finally able to build a silverlight app today. We'll it's not actually an app because it doesn't do anything yet. I found myself cheering when I refreshed my browser and the rounded rectangle showed up.

It's a little daunting to think that i'll be building an fully interactive experience in less than two months. So far, beyond my problems with installing the microsoft trial applications, putting all the pieces together seem pretty straightforward. Just using dreamweaver to write everything out by hand. Slow going, but everything works. Next I'm going to dig into blend and encoder, since i'll likely need them to complete my project. At least using dreamweaver lets me develope on a my mac laptop while I'm sitting here on the bus.

Labels: Silverlight

Make My Logo Bigger Cream has changed the lives of so many clients. Will you be next?

Agency Fusion did this clever little self-marketing campaign. Very well done, and it really does showcase how easily a design can go wrong. Trust your designer, they're not just delivering you those 3 comps, they're also NOT delivering you the other 3000 they ruled out because they don't work for you and your project.

Labels: design, graphic design, logo

I've recently been thrust into the dangerous world of online ad creation, including rich media/interactive ads. The reason I call this a dangerous world is that most of the bad press that has come out about Flash has been in relation to online advertising. Many people find poorly done Flash ads to be annoying and intrusive. People have even built browser plug-ins to disable flash completely just to stop these ads. It has become the job of many a creative agency to take advantage of all the eyes on the web by providing engaging and entertaining online advertising that isn't annoying or intrusive.

Today I officially become part of that quest. My journey begins at Interactive Advertising Bureau where I'm learning about Rich Media and ad unit guidelines.

Check out the Rich Media Guidelines PDF. Looks like they've set up some good controls to limit how intrusive ads can be. Good thing to, because as I understand it a TON of flash work out there these days is related to Rich Media advertising.

My mantra: I will carry the torch and push great creative forward regardless of the tedious nature of banner ad creation. I will push the envelope of Rich Media Advertising to engage my audience not interrupt them. I will not leave a sour taste in a users mouth because my ad sucks.

Onward!

Labels: ad units, Flash, online advertising, rich media

This is how I feel today. Just not myself. It's unfortunate that the world gets so dark so early in winter. It's dark when I wall into the office, and it's dark when I walk out. Hard to really wake up, and especially hard to keep your energy level up.

Take this mobile Blog world!

---

Everything above the line was sent to my blog from my cell phone. I took the picture, typed in some text and then sent the MMS to blogger and it did the rest for me. That's pretty cool service in my opinion.

I've really been into the mobile technologies lately. I think it has a lot to do with my hour long commute each way every day. I often find myself wanting to be productive but just can't seem to find things to do on the bus that I can truly consider productive. Lately I've been using my cell phone to check email, read my RSS feeds and Twitter (not that twittering is productive).

There are so many ways to connect with people now, it's almost to the point where I have to pick my favorites and just use them. The good thing about all these mobile services is that they can put all the content I want to consume and the content I want to produce in one fancy little convenient package, like my blog. I like that. I know that's the reason a lot of these services were developed. So thanks for that.

My next step will be to get a better mobile device. I'm still drooling over the iPhone. My co-worker Mike has one, and he likes it. I just don't have the $$$ to shell out for it. That means, for now, I'll keep using my Samsung SYNC for all my mobile communication needs.

Labels: blog tools, cell phones, MMS, mobile, SYNC

Testing out mobile Blogging. :)

Labels: blog tools, mobile

My computer exploded this weekend. Literally, it's in pieces all over the family room floor. Now, it's true that I pulled these pieces out but it's only because my computer kept freezing. ARG!!!

I've been troubleshooting my PC for a while now. I typically get it stable for about 3-4 months at a time and then something goes wrong. This last time it was, I believe, a result of multiple power surges that corrupted my boot drive. I thought I might be able to solve this by installing a new OS. I put Vista on there (which was actually pretty easy). Unfortunately that didn't fix my problem. After about 10-15 minutes of use it would freeze up.

So I swapped out the hard drive. I had a spare 500GB lying around so I put that sucka in there and went to install Vista again...about 10 minutes into the install I got an error message and now I can't even boot off of the DVD-ROM.

LRDTM not found...uhh oh :(

More troubleshooting this week.

Today I did most of my Holiday Shopping. Not particularly exciting, except that I wanted to write about the experience. Macy's was having a One Day sale, which is usually good for low prices, long lines, and poor customer service because the store is just swamped. Today, however, was exactly the opposite. I was in the foyer 15 minutes before they opened with a bunch of other eager holiday shoppers. As we funneled into the door at 8am sharp, I headed straight for the items I was going to by. (I had done some window shopping earlier). I was having some trouble finding some items but not only was the sales person helpful, she guided me to other things that might interest me. They were friendly, courteous and responded in kind to my playful holiday attitude. I got everything gift wrapped and found some great gifts I wasn't planning on purchasing for 50% off. Hard to pass that up. What a pleasantly surprising shopping experience.

So my advice would be, get in right away for those One Day sales. The people are still in a good mood and you can really have a joyful holiday shopping experience that way. Of course, it doesn't hurt the experience any when you're really excited about the gifts you're giving.



OH, I also saw Meegan Black (a local news personality) while shopping. She's a lot shorter in person than she appears on TV. :)

Labels: attitude, shopping

With the recent announcement that Adobe has released the update 3 for Flash Player 9 which now has support for High-Definition (HD) using the H.264 codec, I wanted to do some research on what exactly the difference is between regular and HD video. One of my jobs at PBJS is to prepare videos we produce for delivery on the web. I often use Flash for this task and now being able to offer video at standard and High-def presents me with options and more decisions. It's my job to inform my bosses what the possibilities and limitations are with these video technologies. Time to study up I guess.



As you can see from the example above, there is quite a bit more video information when you look at 1080p vs Standard Def. No wonder things look so much better and no wonder the files are HUGE! While I was doing more research on Flash HD I found an article from David Hassoun called Exploring Flash Player support for high-definition H.264 video and AAC audio about high-def video and audio for Flash.

When watching HD video on the web these differences can be harder to realize. I know my computer screen resolution is 1650 x 1050, which is larger than an HD television. Because of that, when I go full-screen with a web video, even an HD video gets a little pixelated.

There is still a lot left to learn, but I'm diving in head first and will share more soon. For now Just have to share the excitement about HD Video in flash.

Download the Flash player update.

Labels: Flash, H.264, HD, High-Definition, Web Video