LOS ANGELES — For Flash-based content developers seeking to make the move to the latest standard, Google’s new Swiffy allows for Export to HTML5 with a single click.
According to Google, with the Swiffy Extension, users can publish their Flash files to HTML5 right from within the popular Adobe Flash Professional authoring software.
“This makes using Flash to develop HTML5 animations much easier,” states the Swiffy home page. “The extension accesses Google Swiffy as a web service, so you always use the most recent version of Swiffy.”
Google says activating the tool is easy: download the Swiffy Extension (.mxp file) and open it — the Adobe Extension Manager will then install the Swiffy Extension, making it available from within Flash Professional.
“The new ‘Export to HTML5 (Swiffy)’ item in the ‘Commands’ menu exports your file to HTML5 and opens the result in your default web browser,” adds the Swiffy site, noting that assigning a keyboard shortcut makes the process even easier, while data about the conversion process, including features that are not supported by Swiffy, is detailed in Swiffy’s “Output” panel.
Techgage’s Rob Williams sees the new tool and its descendents as breathing new life into Flash-based content, allowing Flash-dedicated designers to breathe a sigh of relief.
“This in essence will allow them to continue using Flash for whatever purpose, and not have a fear that their creation will become obsolete in the near-future,” Williams wrote. “The tech behind this isn’t perfect, in that there are limitations, but for much Flash content out there, converting to straight HTML5 should be possible.”
“If it isn’t,” Williams added, “future versions of the extension might remedy that.”
The Swiffy Extension for Flash Professional is available as a free download and is compatible with Adobe Flash Professional CS4 or newer, running on the Windows XP/Vista/7 or Mac OS X 10.4+ platforms.