Between the two creations, the Adobe’s Flash player and it’s Shockwave player take care of about all that needed to be taken care of in the virtual world of media. You maybe wondering if there are any differences? The answer would be a yes, not an emphatic yes but a yes nonetheless.
The few differences that they do have from one another stem from the early goings of the two platforms. The software application behind the creation of Shockwave is Director, and it’s existence has been around such a long time that it’s origins date back further than the internet itself. The sole purpose of Director was to create a standard in the development of premium content for the the use of CD-Roms and that purpose still stands today.
The High Quality of Shockwave
As high-quality content continues it’s push into the mainstream and our daily lives, the new and improved versions of Director have created a special set of features that apply strictly for the use of the Shockwave’s files that are then used over the web.
It’s sibling, Flash’s origins helms from more considerably organic roots as it’s sole purpose and it’s existence for that matter have been strictly assigned for the use of the internet. A vector animation program, Future splash Animator had been adapted by Flash, through the creation of Macromedia. The version that Macromedia had developed was for the function of connections between phone lines and the transmissions powering it.
Where the Strengths and Weaknesses Lie
So the fact remains like everything else in our world, they both possess strength and weaknesses which can vary from function to function. Lets take an indepth look at the differentials of what they have to offer:
Shockwave is the most versatile of the two, there is much higher interactivity and the detail is also increasingly more pronounced than the Flash Player.
Flash has the ability of a quicker loading time than Shockwave
The software creation of Flash is less expensive than Director, the cost of Director runs around under a $1,000 while the Flash cost a mere $400.
Flash’s popularity is on a much broader scale than Shockwave. Flash serves more than 90% of the users of the web who have the Flash plug-in installed. The plug-in of the Shockwave dips around 60%.
The usage of files is expanded under the direction of Shockwave. You can actually import a flash file into a movie of the Shockwave player, but to do that the other way around is an impossibility.
Director is considered a compiled file format, which essentially means that the difficulty to modify is elevated. The Flash Player on the other hand is considered an open file format, it is easy to use and it is also free and virtually anybody can figure out how to use it.
Eventually, an Equal
These two useful formats become more identical with each passing update. In each new version, Flash obtains more versatility and then the web capability of Shock Player become much more extensive. The judgement call is almost an impossibility. It is only a matter of time that the two parallel lines of these great platforms meet up with each other and finally becoming an equal. It’s only a matter of time.
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