Jon,

You wrote:

>I've been brainstorming different ideas for making our documentation
>more interactive. For example, instead of adding callouts to a
>screenshot, I'm looking at ways to enable users to click different parts
>of the screenshot to see what they are. I'd also like to consider adding
>*subtle* animation to make the our documentation more interesting. My
>initial thought is to create all the interactivity in Flash and import
>the SWF files into FrameMaker.
>
>Our current workflow is to author all our content in FrameMaker 7.2.
>Afterward, we import the FM files into MadCap Flare for online Help and
>Acrobat 8.0 for PDF. Does anyone have any experience using Flash with
>FrameMaker? What are the pitfalls to look out for? Is this even a good
>idea to consider?
>
>This project is still in the concept stage, so I'm looking for any
>suggestions or opinions you can provide.


FrameMaker supports SWF import only in versions 8 and 9, and export to PDF 
(only via "Save as PDF") produces a movie that has an "in document" placement.
If your SWF has screen captures, I recommend setting the movie in a 
"floating window" to avoid display distortion.
(see http://www.microtype.com/showcase/MultimediaAsst/PlaybackModes.pdf for 
a comparison of the different placement options).

If you have just a few SWF and don't anticipating recreating the PDF too 
often: you can produce the PDF (authored with any version of FrameMaker) 
and then add the movie using Acrobat Professional (or Pro Extended), 
controlling all of its aspects.
Alternatively, support for an automated FM->PDF workflow with control over 
all media formats/aspects is possible with FrameMaker-to-Acrobat TimeSavers 
+ Multimedia Assistant (see 
http://www.microtype.com/timesavers_Assistants.html#MultimediaAsst for 
additional information + sample PDFs).


Shlomo Perets

MicroType, http://www.microtype.com
FrameMaker/Acrobat training & consulting * FM-to-Acrobat TimeSavers/Assistants
Template Design, Single Sourcing, FM-to-PDF & Acrobat courses



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