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Nocturn
DeleD PRO user
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
Posts: 635
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 Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2007 8:06 am Post subject: Microsoft Blend |
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As a Microsoft Gold Certificate i'm getting always Newsletter about new Microsoft Products. Today i had this eMail in my Inbox:
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Microsoft Blend - Unleash Your Creativity
Expression Blend Trial Software Available
Developers: A free, trial version of Microsoft Expression Blend Beta helps you get acquainted with our latest professional design tool. Explore innovative features--including 2-D and 3-D graphics, animation, dynamic layout, and data binding. Then provide feedback to help us further refine the platform to meet your development needs. In the meantime, use your early knowledge of the technology to gain a competitive edge and prepare to develop sophisticated, next-gen apps and deliver rich user experiences.
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To Download the 60-Day (free) Trial klick Here.
Maybe someones likes it ; ) |
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Paul-Jan
Site Admin
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
Posts: 3066
Location: Lage Zwaluwe
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| Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2007 4:29 pm Post subject: |
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Cool, thanks for sharing!
From the download pages, looks like I need .Net 3.0 and Visual Studio Express.. that's pretty steep! I am pretty sure it will work without Visual Studio, but that does suggest the "data binding" part is pretty important.
Can someone please tell me what this tool actually is all about? Is this Microsoft's attempt to revive the GMax concept? Is it an awesome modeler geared towards the XNA community? Is this Microsoft's "Google Sketchup"? Some inside information and feedback from people who actually try this stuff out would be great... !  |
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Nocturn
DeleD PRO user
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
Posts: 635
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| Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2007 5:13 pm Post subject: |
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| Paul-Jan wrote: |
| Can someone please tell me what this tool actually is all about? |
Will test it this week when i've got some time. |
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jwatte
DeleD PRO user
Joined: 26 Apr 2006
Posts: 513
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| Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2007 11:43 pm Post subject: |
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| It's somewhat like Macromedia Flash, or possibly Shockwave. You produce interactive content that can be delivered on the web. If you're to use 3D, models need to be imported from elsewhere. |
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RichElswick
Member
Joined: 17 Oct 2007
Posts: 5
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| Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2007 4:32 am Post subject: |
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yup, a lot like Flash. Targetted directly at Flash you might even call it Microsoft's Flash killer.
Of course penetration matters. There is a lot more to it than that of course.
You need VS as an editor for the back end, if you decide to do some custom coding and things not done in the Blend design IDE. So, C# is to Blend as Actionscript is to Flash. Of course, the advantage there is that with C# you get the full gamut of .NET objects and such. Blend can create stand alone apps or Silverlight apps. Data connections with it is supposed to be one of the strong points, but I have yet to start working with that aspect.
One possible advantage is that you can take an existing .NET app, which is using WPF and 'skin' the app to look better, but I am not sure about that yet.
Lots of movement out there on this and one area it is looking to be an excellent match is for streaming video.
Also take a search on www.codeproject.com as there was a recent Flash / Silverlight comparison done there by someone. |
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Paul-Jan
Site Admin
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
Posts: 3066
Location: Lage Zwaluwe
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| Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2007 12:57 pm Post subject: |
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Ahhh, it's related to Silverlight! I was so put on the wrong foot by that marking speak in the initial post...
Thanks a lot for the information, guys. I personally kinda prefer C# to actionscript, so I might actually give it a shot at some point.
JWatte: Any idea what 3DS file formats are supported? Is there any need/room for specific support from DeleD? |
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