4x4 Photoshop and Flash: Time/Stasis

The 4x4 Project invited four leading web artists and designers to work together on the theme of "Time and Stasis". Each artist was commissioned to create a new Flash movie, to explain the how and the why, and finally, to swap files and remix each other's works.

All four authors are expert in combining Flash and Photoshop to create stunning effects, but any similarities end there.

• Jeremy Tai Abbett– creator of Suture.com
• Arron Bleasdale– creator of Reforms.net
• Karen Ingram– creator of Krening.com
• Francine Spiegel– creator of Tenderoni.com

Between them, the four authors represent the vast diversity of styles and approaches possible when the time-based animation of Flash is combined with the static, layered images from Photoshop to create intricate, inventive, animated environments and reactive effects. Their detailed explanations of how each piece was created form an invaluable primer in a wide range of techniques and skills.

This book and the accompanying website immerse the reader in the four phases of the 4x4 process:

• Theory: personal accounts of the creative process, manifestos, diaries, mental sketchbooks, and associated ephemera
• "Time and Stasis": access to the finished original Flash movies online, and stunning artwork from the pieces presented in the book
• Process: detailed, first-hand technical descriptions of the creation of each piece, along with original source files on the web site
• Noise and interference: the four authors discuss, sample and remix each other's works