On a few occasions, I’ve had to open Flash CS5.5 files on a machine with CS5. Since the FLA format is now XML- and ZIP-based, it’s relatively easy to unzip the package, open a file, and set the version back so that the file can be opened in Flash CS5. It does, however, take time. So I decided to make this process into an easy-to-use desktop application.

Usage

Just drag and drop a Flash CS5.5 FLA file onto Flannel and it will make a copy and append _CS5 to the file name. That file can be opened in Flash CS5. Conversion for CS4 is a little trickier, since several new elements were added for CS5, but I’m working on it.

Installation

You can install Flannel using the badge below.

Or you can download the file directly Flannel.air (Adobe AIR is required).

Flannel is available at no cost, but donations are welcome.

We’ve just released version 1.1 of the SmartMouth Flash extension with a couple of added features to help with the lip syncing process. This update is FREE to anyone who has already purchased licenses of SmartMouth.

Once you’ve downloaded and installed the new version, you should see a button at the bottom of the SmartMouth panel that says Advanced…

New Advanced Features

The Advanced button will bring up a window with 2 new options.

Looping

Loop settings allow you to control the loop setting applied to the outputted symbol instance(s). This can be applied if you want to animate each mouth shape, rather than use static images.

Keyframe Frequency

Keyframe Frequency allows you to control the frequency of keyframes that are automatically generated (1s – every frame, 2s – every other frame, or 3s – every third frame). You can use this setting to animate your mouth at a frame rate lower than that of the rest of your animation. For example, your animation might be set to 30 fps, but you want your mouth to animate at 15 fps, so that the mouth doesn’t look frantic. In this case, you could select 2s.

The image below demonstrates the different outputs generated by altering the Keyframe Frequency.

These new features are based on user requests. Please let us know what you think!

SmartMouth is now available for download and purchase. Check out this super quick demo:

Duplix is a batch duplication utility for Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux. The Duplix utility quickly duplicates files and folders using numeric or custom naming. The numeric naming option allows the user to set a range of values and includes a “minimum digits” setting which can automatically add zeroes to the file names to maintain alphabetical sorting for the duplicated files. The custom naming option allows the user to type or paste in a series of names for the duplicated files. The custom names can be separated by commas, spaces, or line breaks. Both numeric and custom naming options allow for a prefix and suffix for the duplicated file names, and even allow the user to alter the file extension if needed. Existing files can be preserved or overwritten by duplicates depending on the option selected. The user can also choose to delete the original file or folder after duplication if desired.

Installation

You can install Duplix directly from this webpage (if you don’t have the AIR runtime yet, this will install that for you as well):

How to Use Duplix

Check out these video demos:

• Duplix video demo 1 – Basics, using prefixes, numeric naming, saving output
• Duplix video demo 2 – Custom naming, using suffixes, duplicating folders, updating the application

Screenshots below the fold… (more…)

I originally posted this application with the name DuplicatAIR. Then as I was reading through the submission agreement on the Adobe AIR Marketplace, I noticed that they didn’t take too kindly to having “AIR” within the name of the application. Then I ran across this post and I decided to pull DuplicatAIR offline and rename it.

The application is now called Duplix.

I’m leaving this page available since it already went live. If you happen upon this page, please redirect your browser to the new post.