Internet Graphics Technologies
This is a comparison of the strengths of FutureSplash Player and FutureSplash
Animator relative to other currently available graphics technologies that
can be used with an Internet browser.
FUTURESPLASH
FutureSplash Player uses a very compact vector based format to deliver
interactive graphics and animations on the Internet. The key benefits of
FutureSplash Player are:
- Small Files - The vector based format provides the ability to
create sophisticated graphics and animations with very small files that
can be downloaded quickly.
- Streaming - Graphics can be displayed as they are downloaded.
This allows long animation sequences to begin playing immediately.
- Animation - FutureSplash Player animations are very compact.
- Antialiasing - No jagged edges on vector graphics and outline
fonts.
- Outline Fonts - Outline fonts can be embedded into graphic images.
Individual characters are reused in the document. This enables the creation
of large headlines with very small files.
- Interactive buttons - Graphics can have interactive buttons
embedded in them to perform various functions such as get URL, and play
animation. Each button has an up, mouse over and pressed image to provide
the user feedback on the button's action.
- Scaleable Images - FutureSplash Player graphics can be resized
with no loss of quality because of the vector based format.
- Multi-Platform - Currently FutureSplash Player is available
as a Netscape Navigator 2.0 Plug-in for Macintosh (68K and PowerMac) and
Windows (3.1, 95 and NT). FutureSplash Player is also available as an ActiveX
control for Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0. Unix and a Java versions of
the player are forthcoming.
- Small Player Size - FutureSplash Player ranges between 80-150K
(uncompressed) depending on the platform. This means that users can download
the plug-in very quickly and it will not use a lot of space on their hard
disk.
- Zooming - Users can zoom in on FutureSplash Player graphics
with no loss of quality. This is ideal for maps and images that have fine
detail.
GIF AND JPEG
BITMAPS AND IMAGE
MAPS
Currently, most graphics on the Internet are stored as bitmaps in the
JPEG or GIF format. GIF files are normally best for line art while JPEG
files are best for photographic images. The FutureSplash Player vector
format is superior to GIF files for line art because files are typically
smaller and the images can be scaled and zoomed in on. Also, FutureSplash
Player supports high quality gradients. For photographic images, a JPEG
bitmap can be embedded into a FutureSplash Player file so you can take
advantage of the benefits of both the JPEG and FutureSplash Player formats.
Image maps are used in conjunction with GIF or JPEG files to provide
clickable buttons on a Web page. FutureSplash Player provides buttons that
highlight when the mouse is over them or the user clicks on them. Also,
FutureSplash Player buttons are handled entirely in the client browser
which makes them faster than image maps which are processed on the server.
QUICKTIME, WINDOWS
AVI AND MPEG
MOVIES
There are various movie formats designed for playing video. These can
be used for animations but these files are much larger than the vector
based FutureSplash Player animations. They also do not provide interactive
buttons. Also since FutureSplash Player animations can be scaled to any
size without loss of quality it is possible to make FutureSplash Player
movies with much larger dimensions than typical video streams.
MACROMEDIA SHOCKWAVE
FOR DIRECTOR
FutureSplash Player is similar to Macromedia Shockwave for Director
in that both products provide a way to embed interactive graphics in Web
pages. There are several key differences
- Streaming - FutureSplash Player supports playing while it is downloading,
while Shockwave users must wait for an entire file to download before viewing.
- File Size - Since FutureSplash Player is based on a vector file format
instead of bitmaps, FutureSplash Player files tend to be smaller than Shockwave
files.
- Integrated Editing - FutureSplash Animator provides drawing tools integrated
with the animation tools. Director users typically bring content from other
programs such as Photoshop or Freehand when creating animations.
- Scaleable - FutureSplash Player vector files do not need to be designed
for specific dimensions or bit depth. This means that the designer does
not need to optimize for particular color tables or bit depths. FutureSplash
Player will always display at the best quality possible on a given display.
- Cost - FutureSplash Animator costs $250 while Director costs $850.
If you add the cost of Adobe Illustrator or Macromedia Freehand, Director
costs over $1000.
- Sound - FutureSplash Player does not support sound. Since sound tends
to make files larger than can efficiently be downloaded with a modem, we
did not feel that large files sizes make sound practical for web animations
at this time. The next version of FutureSplash will support sound.
- Scripting - FutureSplash Player animations and interactive buttons
do not require any scripting so it is easier to learn to use FutureSplash
Animator than Director.
VECTOR FILE
VIEWERS
There are several Navigator plug-ins that support vector file formats.
These include the Corel CMX viewer, ShockWave for Freehand, and Micrografx
QuickSilver. Unlike FutureSplash Player, none of the currently available
plug-ins support interactive buttons, antialiasing, and animation.
JAVA
Java can be used to display animation and support interactive buttons
on a Web page. Java is a programming language just like C++ and requires
a programming background. FutureSplash Animator is an interactive drawing
and animation program. Java is a complementary technology to FutureSplash
Player. When faster Java interpreters are available, we will provide a
version of FutureSplash Player that can run as a Java applet so FutureSplash
Animator animations can be integrated with Java. Currently FutureSplash
Player is implemented as a Navigator plug-in and ActiveX control because
they provide the best performance.
VRML
VRML is a 3D graphics format.. FutureSplash Animator is optimized for
2D graphics and provides much smaller file sizes than VRML files.
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FutureWave Software, Inc.
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