Create Flash 8 FLV or SWF video using the On2 TrueMotion VP6 video codec with On2's line of software (Flix Pro, Flix Standard, Flix Exporter, Flix Pro Power Players). The VP6 codec from On2 provides superior video quality at a much smaller file size and is what makes video in Flash 8 so powerful.

With Flix Exporter 8.0, you'll have access to 2-pass On2 TrueMotion VP6 Flash 8 video encoding. You can also export your video to FLVs for Flash player 6 and up, and to SWFs for Flash 3 and up! (Flash 4 required to play MP3 audio track).

Flix Pro 8.0 for Windows and Mac offer the same features as Flix Exporter 8.0 and much more, including Flash 8 Alpha Channel SWF video output, video editing capabilities, and projector exports for Windows and Mac. The Windows version also allows you to export Linux projectors and Windows screensavers.

Flix encodes the following formats:

• Video: .avi, .dv, .mov/.qt, .mpeg, .mp4, .3gp, (Windows only: .asf/.wmv)
• Audio: .mp3, .wav, and for PC only: wma., (Mac only: .aiff)
• Still Image: .jpg, .gif, .png, .bmp, .psd, .tif, .pic, .tga

For more information on the products, including tutorials, check out On2's website.

If you're 18 or older and a US resident, be sure to check out the Scion Flash 8 design contest. Scion is looking for original interactive computer compositions featuring Scion "assets" using Flash 8. The "assets" will be provided to you after registering for the contest. Entries must not exceed 2 minutes in length or 10MB in size. Other than those requirements, you have free range in what you can create.

Grand prize is a brand-new 2006 Scion (winner picks the model, transmission, and color). First place is a copy of Studio 8, and the other 8 runners up receive a Scion gift pack.

Also included at the contest website are Flash 8 demos from Guy Watson, Andy Hall, DNA Studio, and Grant Skinner (Guy, Andy, and Grant are part of the judging panel as well).

You can download a free 30-day trial of Flash 8 from Macromedia, which should give you enough time to learn the new features and create your entry.

Contest ends 11/07/2005 11:59 PM, Eastern Daylight Time, so get designing!

FYI, if you've never heard of Scion, think Toyota but geared towards a younger demographic.

OSFlash.org announced today the organization of the first Open Source Flash Conference (short-named OFLA). It is currently planned for Friday October 21st at 18:00 GMT and will be held online using Macromedia Breeze.

All informations regarding OFLA will be sent on the OSFlash Mailing List. You can also watch the conference page to be informed of details.

With Macromedia Studio 8 shipping and the Flash Professional 8 demo available for download, the first official public release of Flash Player 8 is also now available. You can upgrade your player to version 8.0.22 either via the installer at Macromedia's website, or for an even faster solution, just visit a Flash site that offers the Express Install option (such as Geoff's).

The latest Beta release of Firefox, v1.5 Beta 1 (Deer Park), is now available to download. Updates since the last Beta release (Deer Park Alpha 2) include:

• - Automated update
• - Faster browser navigation
• - Drag and drop reordering for browser tabs
• - Improvements to popup blocking
• - New Clear Private Data feature
• - Answers.com added to the search engine list
• - Improvements to product usability including descriptive error pages, redesigned options menu, RSS discovery, and "Safe Mode" experience.
• - Better accessibility support
• - Report a broken Web site wizard
• - Better support for Mac OS X (10.2 and greater) including profile migration from Safari and Mac Internet Explorer
• - New support for Web Standards including SVG, CSS 2 and CSS 3, and JavaScript 1.6
• - Security enhancements & bug fixes, most notably you can now run Flash Player 8 Public Beta on Deer Park (it crashed in previous versions)

Remember this is a Beta release, so be sure to back up your old Firefox profile. If you have problems with your extensions after installing, check out this thread for help.

Be sure to visit the Firefox 1.5 Beta for Developers page for more information on the release and developing for Firefox.

Displaced Designer serves as "a resource for those in the creative industry recently displaced by the on-going situation in New Orleans and the surrounding region."

If you are a designer/artist/illustrator (of any type) who has been displaced by Hurricane Katrina and are in need of a desk, computer, phone and internet connection to help you get back on your feet, Displaced Designer can help.

If you are a creative professional with a job, office and internet connection, you have more to offer than you realize. Offer a desk to those in need.

You are invited to submit digital interactive projects to Communication Arts magazine's 12th Interactive Competition. Any interactive project created for digital distribution on the World Wide Web, CD-ROM, interactive kiosk or handheld device is eligible.

Categories are Advertising, Business, Entertainment, Information Design, and Self-Promotion.

Entry fees are $100 per Web site entry and $125 per disk-based entry. It's one of the more expensive competitions, but one of the most respected as well.

Download the entry form PDF at http://www.commarts.com/CA/download/entryForm_interactive.pdf

Deadline is January 20, 2006.

Sorenson Media announced today the Public Beta of Sorenson Squeeze 4.2 for Windows. Both the Compression Suite and Squeeze for Flash feature expanded abilities to generate Flash 8 files including support for the On2 VP6 professional codec with two-pass VBR as well as a new FLV player and expanded Flash Video Player templates.

Beta versions of Sorenson Squeeze 4.2 Compression Suite and Sorenson Squeeze 4.2 for Macromedia Flash are available now for free and can be downloaded at http://www.sorensonmedia.com/misc/beta.php.

The professional version of the On2 VP6 plug-in for Sorenson Squeeze 4.2 Compression Suite and Sorenson Squeeze 4.2 for Flash will be available for US $199.00. Sorenson Squeeze 4.2 is a free upgrade to owners of Squeeze 4.0 or later. Sorenson Squeeze 4.2 for Windows will be available in Q3 2005; a Mac version will release in Q4 2005.

Full press release at http://www.sorensonmedia.com/press/press_release_full.php?pr_id=86.