Subject: Re: [linux-audio-user] Flash audio
From: Rob (lau_AT_kudla.org)
Date: Sun Aug 31 2003 - 07:47:48 EEST
On Saturday 30 August 2003 22:01, RTaylor wrote:
> Flash runs in Wine but... why not go with something a little
> more standardized? SVG.
Because file format standards are no good to an artist unless
your audience can handle the format and the format can handle
your art?
I know what I'd be using today if I were a cartoonist or animator
and it ain't SVG... not even sure it can handle some of the
stuff I've seen people do with SWF. (Kind of like how the GIF
patent expired in the US before PNG ever got support for
animation....) How much of the stuff at, say,
homestarrunner.com is SVG ready to handle right now without
making the end user jump through hoops? And are the creation
tools anywhere near as useful or would they be writing XML in
emacs when they should be drawing funny, TV-quality cartoons?
Ultimately, when you're confronted with a choice between a
well-supported and complete proprietary "standard" and a
nascent, not entirely ready for end users open "standard", you
end up having to decide which is more important to you: your own
artistic (or commercial) statement or the free vs. proprietary
debate. Most artists have enough invested in their work for it
to take precedence over software philosophy. Even Stallman's
hilarious "gather round and share the software" song ended up in
mp3 format at some point before Ogg was ready... and I can't see
myself putting music out there in anything but mp3, even now. I
gotta think it'll be an even longer wait before you can have the
expectation that the mainstream user will be able to see your
visual work if it's in SVG format.
Rob
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