Is ActionScript still needed in Adobe Animate?

[Noreen_Mulliken]

Is it necessary to know ActionScript when converting older Flash files to Adobe Animate?

If the old FLA files contained ActionScripting what will happen to them in Adobe Animate?

[kglad · Accepted solution]

if they have actionscript 3, and you're creating a swf or air application, you need not know any actionscript.

if they have actionscript 3, and you're creating an html5/canvas project, the code won't be converted to createjs/javscription automatically.

if you have actionscript 2, the code won't be converted to anything.

[Noreen_Mulliken]

Thanks for this helpful response. 

I am sure it is all ActionScript 2, so if we need to keep that code as part of the new file, will all the AS-2 need to be converted first to AS-3 or is there a direct (or easy way) to take the old code and transition it to the new Adobe Animate files?

[kglad]

no, your as2 will not need to be converted to as3 unless you want to add something that's not supported by as2 and is supported by as3.

[ClayUUID]

You seem to be saying that Animate supports publishing AS2 code. Since Animate does not support publishing AS2 code, what are you actually saying?

[Noreen_Mulliken]

Thanks again for your response.  We really appreciate it.  

I am confused but that is why I am searching the forum. 

Our problem is that all the 8+ years of work on website with terrific Flash animators is not viewable on mobile devices, but from what I have read, it appears that the Animate files can be viewed on mobile devices   Although not has fluid, etc.    Am I misunderstanding what Animate can do to allow all our work to be seen on mobile devices and preserve the unsupported older Flash files?

Your advice is helpful since there does not seem to be a lot of info out yet on Animate.

[kglad]

animate cc can publish html5/canvas files that are viewable on ios but, your as2 will not be converted to createjs/javscript automatically.

there is currently no automated way to convert your as2 to createjs/javascript.  ie, there is work required to recode your as2 file(s).

[Noreen_Mulliken]

I was afraid that was the case.  At least we know what we need to do.

Do you feel Animate cc is being embraced by the creative community so that Adobe will continue to support it for a few years?   They really let a lot of us down by dumping Flash which did not inspire a lot of confidence from its fans!

Certainly do appreciate your input.    

Thanks again!

[just.emma]

They didn't dump Flash; they renamed it.  Animate is the same program.

AS2 hasn't been supported since Flash CS6.

[александрб62780587]

I had a problem with convert a lot of AS2 movies to html 5.

So I've found that CreateJS Canvas is more similar to AS2 that AS3.

Unfortunately API funcs CreateJS Canvas aren't enough for the easiest way to convert AS2. 

As a solution adobe can write a full converter from AS2 to Canvas like it did google with swiffy. And I don't know the reason why they delete AS2 from support IDE Adobe Animate, when it'd be a second life for AS2. 

So I've tried to convert AS2 to CreateJS and write extended API for it with my library GitHub - askeet/CreateJSToAS2: It's library for simple convert code from Action Script 2 to CreateJS   

Now that project is enough for my work and I've liked AS2. 

I hope this one will help other developers who want to convert their older flash files.

[kglad]

adobe's been improving flash (renamed to animate) regularly, Animate CC new features | New enhanced brushes and layers so i don't think they're about to drop it.

also, i don't have any inside info about their long term plans, but this is a public document, Adobe roadmap for the Flash runtimes | Adobe Developer Connection and indicates plans to continue support:

Strategic focus of the Flash runtimes

With the growth of competition in the browser market, browser vendors are increasingly innovating and providing functionality that makes it possible to deploy rich motion graphics directly via browser technologies, a role once served primarily by Flash Player. Increasingly, rich motion graphics are being deployed directly via the browser using HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript and other modern web technologies. Adobe expects that this trend will continue and accelerate, and Adobe will continue to play an active role in this space.

Adobe believes that the Flash runtimes are particularly and uniquely suited for two primary use cases: creating and deploying rich, expressive games with console-quality graphics and deploying premium video.

This focus does not mean that existing content will no longer run, or that Flash cannot be used for content other than gaming and premium video. However, it does mean that when prioritizing work, gaming and premium video use cases will take priority.

[ClayUUID]

Animate IS Flash, just with a new confusing name. So there's no such thing as converting Flash files to Animate.

That being said, Animate has dropped support for AS2. Animate will load AS2 FLAs, but it won't run any code in them. If you want to work with any old AS2 projects, they'll have to be recoded in AS3.

However, the Flash Player plugin still supports AS2 just fine, so there's no reason you can't continue maintaining your AS2 projects in Flash CS6 or earlier.