Hello, all:

I have a great need, and, this being the community I frequent most, I beg all answers you would proffer to the following questions:

Do any of you have experience with Macromedia/Adobe Flash?

If so, is the learning curve terrifically steep?

How is it sold? Is it going to be part of any Adobe bundles that you know of? What is the rock bottom price? (... and etc.)

Is it, as it appears to be, a very good way of presenting material that cannot just be swiped by right-click or by robbing it from code? This would include audio, video, images and even text that I seek to safeguard. I have an extremely gun-shy client, with music and text, primarily, but images, secondarily, that he wants to make it as difficult as possible for the normal computer user to steal. Does this make sense?

I'm a quasi-geek myself, and I have found Flash to be the most difficult nut to crack in terms of swiping things. Would you all agree?

Thanks to all of you for your time.

Attached Link: SlideShowPro for Flash

Problem with Adobe .. everything they sell is $$$$$

I like SlideShowPro (see attached link) for use in a site, but it's a component for Flash 8 and Flash MX. The plug-in is cheap, but how much is Flash?

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I'm a quasi-geek myself, and I have found Flash to be the most difficult nut to crack in terms of swiping things. Would you all agree?

yup it is difficult - but if someone wants to swipe stuff then flash is only going to make it difficult for them in terms of not being able to right click -> save. 

The other option i suppose is digital watermarks - the digimarc thing in photoshop comes as a demo on its use, but the real deal as far as i understand tracks the dissemination of your material on the web - so if anyone posts your picture on the web digimarc knows about it and informs you so you can take relevant action. That might be a good way of going for the picture files...

As for the learning curve of flash, i doubt it would be difficult - once you have a program that can create flash files.  I havent any experience with flash myself, but from what i know about creative programs (photoshop, dreamweaver, excel etc) is that once you know what you want to do with it (and you seem to know) it only takes a few hours of tutorial work to do it to a very good level - especially if you are the "quasi-geek" you claim to be .

Your client is not "extremely gun-shy"....he has every reason to be afraid of theft of his items.  Anything that gets put up on the net is up for grabs.  It's just a question of how difficult you want to make it.
Anything that is compiled can be de-compiled.....I'm sure a 16 year old kid would be able to crack your flash files.
If you do music and video, be sure to just include short clips so that the entire segment cannot be stolen.  If you do images, make them as small as possible and watermark them.  As for text.....don't think there is much you can do to safeguard......

if someone is determined to steal one of your images they will do everything possible (screen-capture, hijack the website, download the entire flash site, etc...). Your best bet is to use small professionally watermarked images.

Thanks, all for opinions thus far. Digital watermark is certainly excellent; on that we all agree.

Further, it seems generally agreed upon that nothing is completely safe. What I wish to do for this client is do the best that is available to make it as difficult as possible. As the saying goes, "Locks are just to keep honest people honest." There is always, as gradient said, someone who can work out a way to commit a theft, if only to prove it can be done.

Incidentally, gradient, my intent in mentioning my client is extremely gun-shy was not to justify myself; rather, it was intended to show the importance of this little excursion into learning a new software. He has been the victim of theft on a number of occasions, because his content -- musical in nature, both written and audio -- in his area of expertise is top-notch.

I'm talking about plunking down a lot of money here, because this guy is important to me. His project is not so I may come out enriched in the end monetarily, but so he may have the site he has always desired. If Flash is perhaps the safest way to go, I felt the need to seek confirmation from this and one other forum on this site.

So far, though far from infallible, perhaps Flash is, after all, the safest. I welcome any and all opinions on this matter, because I do not make this decision lightly.

I appreciate you, fotovizions, inshaala, gradient, and Radlafx, for the time you gave to me regarding this. You have been a great help.

@waldomac**....."What I wish to do for this client is do the best that is available to make it as difficult as possible."

**Well put...and that is about all you can do.  I think it would be best to enlighten your client to the fact that his works may be stolen if placed on the net...if someone is so determined.

Also, identify to him the things that you (and he) can do to make theft more difficult....at least that way you both have a common understanding at the outset.

Good luck with the project.

Attached Link: SWiSHzone

Flash is not tough to learn, but a bit time consuming until you figure out the interface.

If it were me, and a client wanted it, I would tell them up front that you have to purchase software to achieve what they are after and then add the cost of the software into your billing. Not as a line item, but maybe like adding a couple extra hours or something.

There are also a ton of sites out there that cater to flash, and have lots of free scripts to offer. using what is out there really cuts down on the learning curve as you can see how things are accomplished.

Good Luck!