Adobe Edge
The preview version of Adobe Edge is somewhat like a stripped-down version of Flash, though the interface also resembles AfterEffects.
Whereas Muse is for print designers who want to work on web projects, Adobe Edge is for the current crop of web designers who’d like to create vector or bit-mapped animations without resorting to Flash. It functions somewhat like a stripped-down version of Flash Professional, but instead of generating the animation as a Flash file, it produces HTML, CSS and JavaScript code needed to render the animation. The content will thus play back in any browser that supports HTML5 and CSS3 — including those that run on Apple’s iPad and iPhone.
Unlike Muse, this is not a beta, but a preview release from Adobe Labs, and the company is actively seeking feedback from users about what kinds of content they’re creating and what features they’d like to see added.
Using the timeline, you can change the size, position, opacity and other object attributes between keyframes.
In its current iteration, it’s a fairly bare-bones program, but still gives you sufficient tools for creating banner ads and other animated content. You can import graphics in a variety of web formats, place them on a stage and use a timeline to modify their position, size, skew, rotation and opacity between keyframes. You can also create text and rectangles and animate those as well. At any point in the project, you can preview an animation by hitting a “Play” control on the timeline or open it in a browser.
So what’s lacking? The toolbox is currently limited to a text tool and two kinds of rectangles (rounded or square corners) — no freehand drawing tool, or tools for creating lines or ellipses. You can’t import video clips, and it has no built-in features for adding interactivity, such as buttons that trigger animated actions. However, a developer can add these elements when incorporating the animation into larger projects.
Adobe plans to release the software sometime next year, with pricing and the final product name still to be determined. In the meantime, web developers can choose from two other programs that produce animations in HTML5 and CSS3: the Windows-only Sencha Animator and the Mac-only Tumult Hype.
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