Adobe LiveMotion 2.0

Rating:
Summary: Discontinued by Adobe
Review: Effective November 15, 2003, Adobe will no longer distribute LiveMotion 2.0. Though Adobe has decided to concentrate its efforts in other areas, we want to thank our loyal LiveMotion customers for their support. Adobe will maintain person-to-person technical support for LiveMotion until March 31, 2004. In addition, complimentary technical support will be available until further notice via the Adobe Support Knowledgebase and User to User Forums on the Adobe Web site.

http://www.adobe.com/products/livemotion/main.html

Rating:
Summary: Problems with Livemotion 2
Review: First let's agree that Livemotion will always be playing catch up with Flash, as Macromedia controls the SWF specification. However, I believe when SVG becomes a more important Web standard, Livemotion will transition to support that SVG as its primary format.

Primary Pro:
Superior animation timeline (compared to Flash) and ability to import motion and elements from After Effects. "Integration" with other Adobe applications.

Primary Cons:
Converts TOO MANY objects and effects into bitmaps. No line styles! Animation import from After Effects is limited, with MOST work being converted to fat bitmaps.

The limited After Effects import capability and lack of line styles can be frustrating at times (ok, most of the time). Yet even with these restrictions, I find Livemotion a more comfortable environment to work in (I am bred on Illustrator and PhotoShop) than Flash. If you use PhotoShop, Illustrator, and/or After Effects, you should really download the demo and visit the Adobe Website to utilize the freely available Livemotion streaming video tutorials.

Rating:
Summary: Second to None.
Review: I almost couldn't believe how easy it is to learn Flash animation until I tried Adobe LiveMotion 2! You've got to be a Flash MX student first to really appreciate how Adobe made a powerful, easier alternative to authoring Flash movies. This is not to put down Flash MX which has superb qualities of its own. But as far as ease of Flash animation is concerned, LiveMotion 2 is second to none!

It's more intuitive. There are no esoteric routines to memorize, like long-winded rule on symbols convertion. In LiveMotion 2, you draw, drag, scale, or change the color of your objects to your heart's content directly in the composition window without worrying about symbolism or motion guides. LiveMotion takes care of the behind-the-scenes routines so you can concentrate on your composition.

There are no Lilliputian timeline and frames to hurt your eyes. You would rejoice at LiveMotion's cool, more visible object-timeline. You'll find it laid out like a control center, so using it would feel like second nature to you. You just toggle the properties you want to appear. Dazzling effects (if that's what you want) are just a breeze in LiveMotion 2.

Ah, but I can't say all of it's benefits! It's like Adobe really listened to the pained voices of many learners who had to struggle the steep learning curve of Flash. This software spared users from having to deal with convoluted rules in Flash authoring. The result is a simple, powerful Flash composition program that is as easy to learn as it is natural! You've got to try LiveMotion 2 for yourself to see what I mean!