Adobe LiveMotion is the new kid on the block and was introduced to the public during the summer of 2000. The program is the natural outgrowth of Adobe ImageStyler. Developed in the same "vein" as CorelDRAW, Adobe Illustrator, and Macromedia Freehand, but with a greater "kick." As with the Macromedia Director information on the previous page, the intent of this "review" is to illustrate some of the techniques and results one can accomplish using this program in an instructional environment. Although the program can help one develop some very interactive web-designs through the use of its object oriented approach, I will concentrate more on its Flash like programing tools to develop a web-based presentation.

I do this for three reasons, 1) everyone has gone gaga over PowerPoint. PowerPoint this and PowerPoint that--Bah-Humbug 2) there are other equally viable, just as good, and many times better, programs which make PowerPoint look like an adolescent out on a first date, and 3) computer users need to be aware that just because Microsoft wants to keep the PC users in the "family fold" by providing their version of a program with every PC computer sold, doesn't always make that program the best choice.

With that said, PowerPoint can be a very powerful program and most people probably use it only to present information. Whereas I've used it as a command and control interface to not only present information but to launch, and interact with other software programs, browsers, graphics, and animations. However I digress, so on to Adobe LiveMotion.

So what does one need to do when HTML and JavaScript, just cannot provide the required interactivity for your lessons-well Flash/Shockwave is providing the next step in the evolution of the Web as it becomes a more engaging learning environment. I did mention, somewhere on this site, that I focus upon using the web to enhance learning, didn't I? Macromedia has made claims that the Flash Player plug-in for browsers has been downloaded by millions of users, therefore LiveMotion has the ability to export its animations in a Flash 4 format. As an example I have provided a short (264K, about 40 seconds) presentation of photos from NASA. This presentation was originally developed as a Director 8 Multimedia tour for Hellen Caro Elementary School in Pensacola to highlight their school involvement (Caro in Space) with NASA.

To experience the Director 8 multimedia tour, requires the Flash Plug-in from Macromedia- see link below. Unfortunately the program does not run properly from their site so I've provided a link here (Caro in Space). This is a long download (a game is provided while the program downloads), and, usually requires playing the program twice to sequence the music and images correctly.

Over the next few weeks/months, as time permits, I will continue to convert this animated presentation into an instructional object. The process will be iterative with the first installment available by clicking on the Activity link. If for some reason you are not one of the "200 million" users (Macromedia's claim) who does not have the Flash player browser plug-in, you will need to download Macromedia's Shockwave Player and install the program. As this file is now presented, it will show only one time. If you want to see it more than once, you will need to reload the file.