There are three simple rules to follow when using Opus Flex to create a publication.
Test the published publication often
Use vector graphics as much as possible
Select the correct text type
These are explained below.
A publication that is published with Opus Flex may not perform the same as in the preview or when published to other formats, such as a standalone program or screensaver. For this reason you should publish and test your published publication at regular intervals during the development.
There are features of Opus that cannot be exported to the SWF format. If you select the option to show details during publish you will see a warning message for any feature that cannot be published to the Adobe Flash Player.
In addition, there may be small differences in the appearance or behaviour of the publication. By testing you can discover any problems before you spend a lot of time developing a publication that doesn’t work as expected when published.
There are usually many ways to achieve the same outcome in Opus and trying a different approach will often produce the desired effect.
As with any multimedia content, if you intend to place your publication on the web, you should also upload and test it occasionally. This will highlight any problems due to limited bandwidth.
Adobe Flash is primarily a vector format. This is the key to achieving its relatively small file size and hence fast download times. You should use vector graphics in your publication as much as possible to take advantage of this.
Only some of the graduated fill backgrounds in Opus can be re-produced directly in Adobe Flash, the rest are rendered as bitmap images, which can increase the size of the publication significantly. When using a background fill, you should try to use the fills that Adobe Flash implements directly – the rest are rendered as bitmaps.
Text in a Adobe Flash (swf) file can be displayed in three ways: Statictext, DynamicText, Dynamic Text using device fonts. Each has advantages and disadvantages that depend on the purpose of the text. Opus will decide which method it will employ for your text. However you can also choose to set a text object to be a certain type of text by selecting it from the drop down list provided on the Text tab of the Properties dialog.
Note:
These options will only be available if the Publication Type is Opus Flex. They appear where the aliasing options appear in other publication types.
When displaying variables in Flex publications you must use dynamic or device text types and you may need to switch off the Flash type and kerning options. If you have problems getting text containing variables to display then use a separate text object for the variable.
In Static text, the shape of each letter and their positions are stored in the Adobe Flash SWF file.
Advantages:
It is not necessary for the font used by the text to be installed on the end user’s machine.
All the text formatting is preserved, just as it appears in Opus.
Disadvantages:
At small font sizes the text can appear fuzzy and difficult to read.
The text cannot be changed as the publication runs. In other words, you can’t use static text for dynamic text, such as, input text boxes or variables.
In dynamic text, the shape of each of the letters in the text are stored in the Adobe Flash (swf) file but their positions are determined by the Adobe Flash Player.
Advantages:
It is not necessary for the fonts used by the text to be installed on the end user’s machine.
The text can be altered as the publication runs, so hypertext, inserted variables and input text boxes can be used.
Disadvantages:
At small font sizes the text can appear fuzzy and difficult to read.
The following text formats are not supported: justified paragraph alignment, tabs, bullets, superscript, subscript and vertical alignment.
In dynamic text with device fonts, the text is rendered using the built-in font capabilities of the machine it is running on.
Advantages:
Small text appears as normal for the machine, usually much crisper than Adobe Flash renders it.
The publication file size may be reduced.
Disadvantages:
Text cannot be animated, rotated, skewed or transparent.
The device font must be installed on the end user’s computer.
Note:
There are also options on the Settings dialog on the Publish wizard to control the use of device fonts for text below a certain point size but this is now less important with the support for Flash Type.
This option allows you to select support for Flash Type which greatly improves the quality of displayed text. Most users will not need to change this setting.
You need to test particularly carefully when using OpusScript in Flex publications. Flash deals with scripts very differently and will run the entire script and then allow your publication to continue. For example, loops will complete fully before letting Opus update. This means scripts such as the Colour Cycling QuickScript will not work in Flex.
If you want to run a Flash Script in a loop, don’t build the loop into the function, create a function which can be called from an Opus loop.
the General tab - Opus Flex Settings
the Options tab - Opus Flex Settings
the Compression tab - Opus Flex Settings