IMPACT OF ADOBE EDGETOOLS AND SERVICES

IN HIGHER EDUCATIONJoseph Labrecque

2013 Adobe Education Leader Summer Institute

JOSEPH LABRECQUE

Senior Interactive Software Engineer | Adjunct FacultyUniversity of Denver

Proprietor | OwnerFractured Vision Media, LLC

Adobe Community ProfessionalAdobe Education LeaderAdobe Certified ExpertAdobe Certified EducatorAdobe Influencer

Author Lynda.com | Peachpit Press | Adobe Press | Packt Publishing | O’Reilly Media | video2brain

ArtistAn Early Morning Letter, Displaced | Shivervein

ADOBE EDGE TOOLS AND SERVICESWhat is this all about?

CREATE THE WEB

• Late September 2012

• San Francisco

• WebKit

• W3C

• jQuery Mobile

• Adobe Edge Tools & Services

CREATE THE WEB: TAKEAWAYS

• Create the Web was not a Flash event. (yes, I got a ton of questions around this)

• Adobe has been investing in HTML for years before this. (over a decade)

• Adobe has been involved in many open source and open spec projects in the past. (Flex SDK, OSMF, PDF, SWF, RTMP, et cetera)

• Stop assuming anyone involved in web standards is “moving on” from Flash or anything else. (this attitude is dismissive and diminishes the great work that many have done and continue to do with the platform)

• A better enabled, more expressive web is good for everyone. (duh)

ADOBE EDGE TOOLS AND SERVICESWhat are they?

EDGE ANIMATE

Animate gives web designers the tools they need to add motion to web graphics and create interactive content on their sites, while assuring that their designs display consistently across mobile devices, tablets, and modern browsers.

EDGE CODE

Edge Code is a lightweight code editor for web developers and designers working with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Edge is built to work with browsers, speeding up development time by displaying changes to the code directly on the screen.

EDGE REFLOW

Edge Reflow enables designers to build beautiful responsive web designs. Create on a native web surface with CSS design and layout features in a familiar and intuitive way.

EDGE INSPECT

Inspect is an essential application for web developers and designers who need to preview their content across multiple mobile devices. Wirelessly pair multiple iOS and Android devices to your computer, grab screenshots from any connected device, and see real-time results from changes.

EDGE WEB FONTS

With contributions from Adobe, Google, and designers around the world, Edge Web Fonts provides a vast library of free web fonts for use on your websites.

Integrated with other products.

PHONEGAP BUILD

PhoneGap Build allows you to create mobile apps using the web tools you love - HTML, CSS, and JavaScript - and then easily compile them for multiple platforms in the cloud.

Huge time-saver!

WHAT DO I THINK ABOUT ALL THIS?Joseph’s Perspective :)

I THINK THIS IS ALL WONDERFUL

• Technology which drives the Web has been stagnant for years.

• The amount of stuff we can do with native web technologies is really great.

• If you know when to use this stuff- and know when to fall back (or forward) to something like Flash Player – you are in an ideal position.

BUT… SOME PEOPLE STILL DON’T GET IT

• I try to take a balanced perspective.

• Keep my hands in many technologies.

• Keeps me informed, balanced, and honest.

• Some people would rather cling to their own narrow perspective. It’s easier.

• These are the people you want to stay away from. They will suffocate you.

IMPACT ON COURSE CURRICULUMWeb stack scramble…

WHITHER FLASH?

Courses taught:

• Animation/Interactive [Flash Professional]

• Programming [Flash Builder]

• Mobile [AIR for Android]

ANIMATION WITH ANIMATE

Animation/Interactive course to use Edge Animate:

• Easier to pick up

• Made for the native web

• Directed workflow

MOBILE AIR TO PHONEGAP

Mobile course to use PhoneGap and PhoneGap Build:

• Mobile AIR covered in another course

• Focus on web technologies

• Part of new mobile track

FLASH CONDENSATION

Two Flash courses merged into one Flash Platform overview course:

• Basics of motion

• Interactivity

• Gaming

• Programming

• Mobile

SECOND THOUGHTS… MAYBE.

• Flash Professional CC turns out to be really awesome – increased focus in web targets.

• The Flash Platform is expanding into all sorts of areas – mostly thanks to Stage3D and 3rd party frameworks and tools.

• PhoneGap is much more difficult to learn and use than mobile AIR.

• Animate is dependent upon knowing other tools to do anything advanced.

TRAINING STAFF AND TECHNICAL FACULTY

Spreading awareness.

PERSONNEL

• Personnel are always a bit of an issue :)

• 3rd party systems often prevent any innovative customization.

• The need for cutting edge tooling oftentimes is simply not there.

• One step at a time…

UNIVERSITY DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS

• Using web tools as much as possible

• Responsive frameworks are helpful

• Some things can only be done with Flash

• Nothing much has really changed!

DU PORTFOLIO

• Total rewrite from a decade-old codebase.

• Wanted to make it responsive across all targets.

• Used Edge Reflow in the design of many responsive elements.

• Uses Flash Player for video and audio playback when needed.

VIDEOMANAGER

• Allows video upload, transcode, and management within a controlled environment.

• Dealing with video – retains the need for Flash Player in video editing and playback.

• Using RTMP and HLS for streaming to both Desktop and Mobile targets.

CRUNCHBUDDY

• Transcode “brain” which monitors servers, gathers data, transcodes and manages video files across servers.

• Built with Adobe AIR as a headless app.

• HandBrake and MediaInfo via NativeProcess API.

• Installed as a Windows service.

LEGACY SYSTEMSCan we convert?

COURSEMEDIA

• Heavy Flash Player dependencies

• Creating content such as text slides

• Editing video online – clipping

• Full media gallery playback

• COPYRIGHT streaming audio and video

COURSEMEDIA MOBILE? SYSTEM REWRITE?

• Attempt to bring viewing to mobile via AIR for Android and eventually iOS

• Hasn’t seen so many downloads

• Faculty surveyed do not see it as a priority

• If playback fails – they move to desktop

WHAT OF THE FUTURE?The only sure thing is change.

THANK YOU

Twitter: @JosephLabrecque

Email: Joseph.Labrecque@du.edu

Web: http://JosephLabrecque.com/