Integration and interface are key for this all-star web suite.

The tutorials for Flash MX are designed amazingly well. They’ll get you up to speed quickly within the Flash MX interface with a combination of interactive panels and project files.

Macromedia says its programs create Rich Internet Applications — web interfaces that create rich experiences for users. This label is an attempt to separate Studio MX from other software suites for web creation. As video producers, we're all about creating rich experiences, so let's see if MX packs the power that Macromedia claims.

The Studio MX package I tested contains Dreamweaver MX (HTML creation), Flash MX (vector animation), Fireworks MX (bitmap manipulation), ColdFusion MX (server scripting), and Freehand 10 (vector manipulation). (The recently updated Freehand MX now ships with Studio MX.) Designed for creating HTML, bitmap graphics and animation, and vector graphics and animation — and scripting it all into a frenzy — the suite covers just about every avenue for Internet deployment out there.

Integration among programs is the real reason to use a suite of one company's products to develop various types of Internet media. When working with Flash and Dreamweaver, you can preview animated files within Dreamweaver. And Dreamweaver's property inspector features a play button that previews a Flash object. The play button toggles between the actual animation and the standard Dreamweaver placeholder graphic.

If you want to edit the Flash object for any reason, just right-click and choose Edit with Flash — and you're brought straight over to Flash MX for tweaking. Keep in mind this works with SWF files but does not seem to function with FLA files (the native Flash project file), which would have been a nice little bonus.

The property inspector also offers multiple options for working with the Flash file in Dreamweaver, such as playing options, size, looping, quality, alignment, and much more. It's very handy to access all these controls from within the HTML-coding program. Dreamweaver MX even lets you create Flash buttons and rollovers inside the program, bypassing Flash MX entirely.

Likewise, Dreamweaver MX weaves into Fireworks MX by allowing background graphics for tracing, for sketching out comps, or developing templates from artistic visions. Choose any graphic in Dreamweaver to launch Fireworks, make your changes, and Dreamweaver updates it. Dreamweaver also allows libraries in the form of a site folder. When you update Fireworks graphics into this folder, they show up in Dreamweaver as library items, ready to use.

Probably the best option for creative types is the ability to export absolute positioned pages from Fireworks and import them into Dreamweaver. This method uses CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) Layers and can be used with Fireworks layers, slices, or frames. Just imagine creating your site graphically and loading it into Dreamweaver exactly as you created it. You can then keep it as a CSS page or convert it to tables for compatibility with older browsers. Also, by simply drawing a box you can create a placeholder in Dreamweaver that will later be filled by Fireworks graphics. When you are ready to fill it, click it and Fireworks launches. Do your graphic wizardry, save it, and it's updated and ready to rock in Dreamweaver.

Flash uses the native PNG file format of Fireworks, making vector shapes, layers, and guides all editable at any time in either program. In addition, Fireworks exports in Flash's SWF format. So create an animated banner or a graphic rollover button, and it takes just one quick click to create a Flash version — without even venturing into Flash MX.

Aside from integration, what's shiny and new in these MX-branded programs? Lots. Flash MX now supports importing and deploying streaming video formats. The inclusion of whole video clips weighs down a spry vector animation, thus defeating the purpose of working in Flash, but streaming video opens up some real possibilities. I was pretty amazed at the video import options. I slipped in DV, Windows Media, QuickTime, MPEG, and AVI — all without a hitch.

On the timeline is a new feature called Layer Folders, which makes it much easier to organize and keep track of multiple elements of layered content. New Flash quick-start templates facilitate easy creation of items such as presentations and photo albums. The Free Transform tool combines scale, rotation, skew, and distortion. Much-needed Pixel-level snapping is here now, for absolutely exact placement of images and objects.

Also new for Flash is an improved color mixer, a command to distribute multiple objects to multiple layers, missing font substitution, expanded international language support, and lots more.

The new MX versions, including Fireworks MX shown here, all have new collapsible palettes that can be rearranged and locked together. Palettes can be expanded and contracted, which makes it easy to fit a lot of tools onscreen at once.

Dreamweaver MX, meanwhile, adds new professional layouts for different businesses, cascading JavaScript rollover menus, a Snippets panel for stashing code for reuse, an integrated file explorer, a new document toolbar, a quick insert panel, a new site setup wizard. These and many other technical advances will have coders doing back flips between energy drinks.

It's also worth mentioning that Macromedia has introduced extensive new accessibility features in both Dreamweaver and Flash for people with disabilities. In fact, the new version of the Flash player (version 6.0) was designed with accessibility in mind. Macromedia supplies extensive documentation in this area, and it's worth a look to keep your creations open to everyone.

I only half-followed the law-suits between Macromedia and Adobe over interface rights, but I do know that the new approach of collapsible palettes and tools is very sweet. In one swoop it manages to be intuitive and out-Adobe the other guys.

Studio MX training is bulletproof, especially for Flash. Its built-in tutorials — created with Flash — are a testament to sensible interactive content. Price works as well, as it's cheaper to buy the box set than buy two of any of the programs individually.

The Studio MX package is so exciting that once it all installs and unfurls, you can't help but think about all the creative possibilities. Drawbacks are few, especially now that Macromedia has updated the Freehand interface for its MX version. The only problem you may have with Macromedia Studio MX is the overwhelming scope of it all. It's a lot to digest and carries a bit of a learning curve, so it'll take some time for your skills to get really polished. The step-by-step wizards and expertly designed tutorials help nicely.

As I mentioned, the programs within Studio MX are now designed more for the masses than for hackers. The continual interface improvements, new features, and incorporation of streaming audio and video make it a natural choice for video producers looking to take their stories online.