Not allowed to use Flash anymore?

[zoltáns77848546]

Ever since Flash became Animate a few years ago, I've been using Flash (v15.0) for drawing because I find the new (well, 3-year-old) brush algorythm in several ways inferior to the old one. I create my figures in Flash and copy-paste them into Animate where I make the animation. This setup is far from ideal but I've been able to make it work - while always hoping that one day Animate's brush will receive a (imo) much needed improvement. This hasn't happened so far but I never lost hope...

Yesterday I got an email from Adobe saying that they have discontinued the support for Flash v15.0: You can't download and install it anymore and - wait for it! - should you already have it installed (like I do), you're no longer licenced to use it. That's right, you are NOT ALLOWED to use it anymore. If you do "you may be at risk of potential claims of infringement by third parties."

Seriously? It's one thing that you don't offer old versions anymore but to PROHIBIT the use of existing copies just blows my mind.

Every part of my body is dreading the idea of looking for another animation software - I just don't have the time to test and learn their features plus I like my sub package with Premiere and After Affects and Photoshop and all but you are literally (or metaphorically) pushing me away with your move. You are taking away a software I use and are not providing a better alternative while expecting me to continue paying.

And yes, it's debatable whether or not the Animate brush is better or worse than the Flash version - it may just be up to personal preference (although, reading the forums, I'm far from alone with my opinion). But at least up till now there has been an option to choose. A rather uncomfortable option (working in 2 apps simultanously) but and option regardless. Which you are taking away now.

This is a serious downgrade for me. Possibly a dealbreaker if I manage to find an alternative.

[ClayUUID]

According to Adobe's blog on this change, the "two most recent major versions" are all we're being granted access to anymore. This is a really bad, and to be frank, stupidly arrogant move on Adobe's part, considering that large development teams tend to standardize on known stable versions of their software for years at a time.

[ClayUUID]

I really hope this isn't another patent troll situation, like the Eolas "click to activate" nonsense from almost a decade ago.

[zoltáns77848546]

So here's an article shedding some light on the issue.

It just makes the whole situation more infuriating - also, if it's true, the response I got back from Customer Care was half bullsh*t.

[rayek.elfin]

As far as I can tell, by releasing this statement, Adobe is indemnifying their users to prevent itself from being exposed to any further legal infringements caused by the use of older versions by their users.

So, in short, Adobe is protecting itself by exposing their users to potential legal action. It's rather naff and a bit of a slap in the face of their users.

In theory a user or company releasing an animation with an older version of Animate expose themselves to being sued, because some part of the software (probably the Dolby licensed parts) isn't covered by a proper license.

And if anyone thinks this wouldn't happen, think again: It is a similar situation as with SCO vs. Autozone.

I'd steer clear and well away from using ANY of the implicated older Adobe apps from now on for commercial work.

[ClayUUID]

Judging by Adobe's public response thus far, they seem to have absolutely no comprehension how badly their current course of action reflects on them. They're treating this like yanking some old games from Steam—oh well, big deal, buy the newest version—when in reality this is going to have a real disruptive economic impact on the companies who rely on them for their production process.

Well, to paraphrase Lily Tomlin, "We don't care. We don't have to. We're Adobe."

[julior32043645]

Hello, recently i have seen many pages with old swf's preserved with historic purpoises like archive.org use wasm to play online animation and videogames made with actionscript, i have left using animate and i am in html5-css-javascript escene,  some parts of my projects will benefict on a IDE like was adobe flash /adobe animate,    you will integrate an alternative platform to publish with wasm?  thanks in advance, i am already teaching and organizing projects around digital animation art, thanks.