Animation in PDF

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Michael_C
Jr. Propeller Head
Posts: 8
Joined: Thu Jan 29, 2009 12:21 pm
Location: Maryland, USA

Animation in PDF

Post by Michael_C »

First -time caller here. Thank you for taking my call :-)

I am a new user and I should have my Flare license (MadPak) shortly, but in the meantime I am wondering how to single-source animation files for use in HTML Help and PDF targets (for online viewers of the PDF).

The animation is used to display LED flash patterns in technical documentation. Currently the animation can be displayed in our online help. I understand that if the animation is embedded as an .swf, Acrobat will display the frames.

Can an .swf be used in a Flare project to display animation in both HTML Help and the PDF target (when the PDF is viewed online), or are there other ways to do this?

Thanks,
Michael
GregStenhouse
Sr. Propeller Head
Posts: 330
Joined: Tue May 13, 2008 3:27 pm
Location: Christchurch, New Zealand

Re: Animation in PDF

Post by GregStenhouse »

From my (limited) testing, movies (e.g. swf) don't work if going from Flare to PDF. If you go direct to PDF, you end up with a gray box. If you have a FrameMaker or Word target (with option to create PDF selected), the movie is dropped altogether. It may be worth directing your question to tech support
https://www.madcapsoftware.com/support/contact.aspx

The only other way to do this would be via FrameMaker. FM8 supports SWF files in anchored frames, and when you create the PDF you get the first slide showing as a graphic. The user (after accepting security warnings) can click on the movie to play it. You would need to either start with FrameMaker and import to Flare, or start with Flare, export to Frame, link in all your movies, and then generate a PDF (either way, probably not much fun depending on project size)

Cheers
Greg
KevinDAmery
Propellus Maximus
Posts: 1985
Joined: Tue Jan 23, 2007 8:18 am
Location: Darn, I knew I was around here somewhere...

Re: Animation in PDF

Post by KevinDAmery »

Currently, Flare treats PDFs purely as a Print output (i.e. as if the reason for making a PDF is to print it). This of course is a perfectly valid use of the PDF format, but is far from the only use. Hopefully, Madcap will increase the online functionality of their PDF generation as the develop new versions of Flare.

If you want them to add SWF functionality to PDF output, I'd send them a feature request. Feature requests and bug reports can be made here:
http://www.madcapsoftware.com/bugs/submit.aspx
Until next time....
Image
Kevin Amery
Certified MAD for Flare
Michael_C
Jr. Propeller Head
Posts: 8
Joined: Thu Jan 29, 2009 12:21 pm
Location: Maryland, USA

Re: Animation in PDF

Post by Michael_C »

Thanks Greg and Kevin. I'll put in the feature request.
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