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Andy Stark wrote:
Lua list <lua@bazar2.conectiva.com.br> writes:Lua is the fastest dynamically typed language implementation. Why not use it? Why fool around with slower?Unfortunately, what we are calling "slower" is called "fast enough" by the Flash community. And bear in mind that Tamarin is still in the early stages of development - it will improve and we can't rule out the possibility that it might eventually match even LuaJIT for speed. And remember that Flash is not just a plug-in but also a very well developed set of tools for creating the content. I'm afraid you hit the nail on the head in the first paragraph: Tamarin is probably the next ten years whether we like it or not.
Oh yes, the toolset, another extremely critical area. I don't envy the project team having to nurse the browser player along, plus write some powerful GUI tools for non-programmers in double-quick time. And in all this time, Flash will be working very hard to keep SVG off its heels. Flash intends to survive the onslaught, and it has taken steps to do so. In fact, Flash has been doing remarkably well in keeping the use of SVG almost non-existent in browsers. I don't envy what challenges a Lua implementation will have to climb or surmount in order to compete -- that is, to beat SVG, and Flash.
However, I think there is an opportunity for a similar type of product that doesn't compete head-on with Flash. How about an animation player that is based around bitmap images and effects instead of vector graphics and 3D? I know Flash can import bitmaps and scale, rotate, fade, etc, but I am thinking about something more like Apple's Motion tool that can do realtime blurring, distortion and colour effects too. It would lend itself well to scripting and interactivity, wouldn't depend as heavily on a good editor (because people would rather use Photoshop, Gimp, etc, to create the original images anyway) and there isn't a dominant browser plug-in for this type of content.
I see this as less about a browser player than a GUI application that *artists* can use. By the time you want to build that, you can target the output to practically any suitable player -- Flash, SVG, etc. Most of us are used to coding stuff in a text editor. But coding in Lua would mean very little to the average artist -- who, most of the time, simply doesn't need the extra bit of performance, and wants a productive GUI interface. Also, the features mentioned can be done with any scripting language -- any scripting language would be adequate. It follows that the proposal of the Lua player has been dealt a serious blow.
Sorry, maybe I am just a dunce, but I don't see any meaningful opening... of course I would love to be proven wrong. Some niche areas, like casual game platforms, have been well covered already, as discussed in the IGDA Casual Games white paper.
Also, think about a tool to turn the animation into a movie - very useful for YouTube users to create motion graphics for their videos.
-- Cheers, Kein-Hong Man (esq.) Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia