Pixel icons in VectorLand. Why?
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Published
Saturday, January 10, 2004
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10:25 AM
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Why would you render pixels in a vector based format? Crisp pixel perfect icons and cursors!\0
I got this question allot yesterday and it makes sense. Who, of sound mind, would make a pixel format for a vector based medium. It seems weird at first but the benefits are manyfold.
1. Crisp pixel perfect icons!
2. Making pixel icons within the Flash IDE is tedious work. The drawing tools are vector oriented not raster oriented and thus are not designed for the task.
3. Using attachMovie with Library assets is limiting. You cannot use attachmovie across loaded swf files without duplicate library assets. A string format can easily be written cross swf at runtime regardless of movieClip location or url. One set of Icons, many uses in all parts of the Flash Player.
4. Simple to render and re-render. Icons clear the drawing API of the target before writing, thus icons can be overwritten to provide state. Overwriting Icons is easy and avoids dealing with factors like MovieClip depth and attachMovie.
5. Compatible with Flash Player 6 or higher. Icons in this format are deployable today.
6. They make your projects look 100% more professional and much more application like.
7. You can load icons at runtime allowing visual elements to be globally changed on demand.
8. Pixel art provides an aesthetic feel that is tough to achieve with vector based tools.
9. Fun!
I am putting together a white paper on the file format. I will post this on Monday along with Free Icon Editor. ;)
http://www.powersdk.com/icon/
Cheers,
Ted ;)
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