Well, Flash CS3 gets released today… at least it does for our siblings in code that reside in the USofA. Aussies will have to wait a little while before we get to taste the new candy.

I’ve been eagerly waiting for this new version of Flash since I first dipped my toe into AS3. My stuff generally has too much going on in the actual MovieClip timeline for me to be willing to migrate fully without the IDE - regardless of how much I loathe the current version. It looks like the aquisition by Adobe is paying off for us as the new interface and features are going to push Flash Development up a few notches.

The bundle I’ll be picking up (probably along with most of you) is the Web Premium…

Notably, ImageReady seems to have bitten the proverbial dust… so those of you (me included) who haven’t bothered with Fireworks, it’s time to get your hands dirty.

If I pick up print or production work, inDesign, Premiere Pro and After Effects may also be on the horizon… closely followed by a stint in therapy due to the sheer stress on my wallet.

According the Adobe site, the price for Flash CS3 alone is AU$1215 (or AU$345 for the upgrade). For the Web Premium bundle, we’re talking AU$2775 (or AU$589 for the upgrade).

It’s pretty clear that the upgrade is worth it - the most compelling of the new features include:

• Preserve Illustrator and Photoshop layers when importing files into Flash (this alone will save me hours on each project)
• ActionScript 3.0 integration
• Adobe themed enhanced interface
• Upgraded drawing tools - the Pen now works the same as it does in Illustrator and the primitive drawing shapes are enhanced to include things like rounded corners etc.
• Advanced support for exporting to interactive Quicktime

Also, just in case you missed it, they’ve also redesigned their suite of icons for the new release. The periodic table metaphor is fitting seeing that most visual projects these days are built with these tools.

Lee at theFlashBlog.com has put together a 3D carousel of the icons so you can see which one belongs to which product - always pretty to watch!

Love them or hate them you can’t deny that it signifies a mind-shift at the headquarters of the visual behemoth. I quite like the change… considering you’ll probably only ever have to look at a half-dozen of them at any one time, the initial confusion shouldn’t last long.

Check out a short video overview of the new Flash features and then watch this overview of the Web Premium bundle, and then work your little butt off to pay for the preorder!