Adobe
has come up with a new Flash-to-HTML5 tool, known as “Wallaby,” that can enable
Flash developers to build apps with even greater reach.
As
the emerging clash between technologies such as Adobe’s Flash and Microsoft’s
Silverlight versus HTML5 continues to gain steam, tools such as Wallaby are likely to
become more important to developers looking to create applications for a wider
variety of devices. Yet both Adobe and Microsoft have ongoing efforts to
continue to support both their proprietary technology in Flash and Silverlight
as well as to strongly support HTML5.
Adobe
introduced the technology codenamed Wallaby in a demo at the Adobe MAX 2010
conference last October and released it on the Adobe
Labs site on March 8 as an experimental technology for developers to try
out. Adobe customers called for a closer look at the technology following that
MAX demo.
In
a March
8 blog post, Adobe’s Vanessa Rios said Wallaby is an Adobe AIR application
that allows designers and developers to convert Adobe Flash Professional files
into HTML5 with a simple drag and drop of the mouse, quickly and easily
expanding the distribution of creative content across platforms.
Wallaby
converts the artwork and animation contained in Adobe Flash
Professional (FLA) files into HTML. This allows developers and designers to
reuse and extend the reach of their content to devices that do not support the
Flash runtimes. Once these files are converted to HTML, developers can edit
them with an HTML editing tool, such as Adobe
Dreamweaver, or by hand if desired.
“Wallaby
has a very simple UI and provides a path for users to input existing .FLA files
and export HTML5 code,” Rios said. “Users can then leverage their programming
skills to further edit or optimize the code generated. Wallaby’s conversion to
HTML5 allows content created in Flash Professional to be viewed within browsers
running the WebKit rendering engine, including Google Chrome and Safari on iOS
devices iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.”
Adobe’s
release of Wallaby to Adobe Labs is a way for the company to garner user input
on the technology.
“We
invite customers to download Wallaby, try out the code it generates and provide
feedback on how they are using it to create simple animations like banner ads
and translating graphical content,” Rios said. “User response to the Wallaby
technology preview will enable us to better understand how we can continue to
support customers who want to reduce their learning curve for HTML5 development
while leveraging the tools and skills they have today and reach users across
more devices than ever.”
Meanwhile,
Adobe notes that not all Flash Professional features are supported in the HTML5
format. The Wallaby Release Notes describe what features are supported, what
differences Adobe has discovered between the various browsers, what device
variations have been found, and any currently known issues.
“Wallaby
is a glimpse at the type of innovations we are making in Flash and HTML5, both
imperative technologies that we will continue investing in for the long-term,”
Rios said.
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