Adobe has unveiled yet another online tool, currently titled Project ROME. The new application, built using Flash lets one create rich media documents, which themselves can be exported in Flash’s native swf format. ROME can run straight from the browser, or can be downloaded as an AIR application to save on load times.
ROME is an immensely powerful content creation application that allows one to create rich documents enhanced with vector arc, images and even videos. The interface is quite powerful yet intuitive as each action exposed menus, sub-menu’s and sub-sub-menus such that you can drill down to reach the exact setting you want. The interface is very rich yet responsive.
Besides editing vectors and transforming image objects, ROME also supports animation using a timeline. Each object, can be animated separately, and many of an object’s properties can be controlled using the timeline allowing for some powerful animations to be created using this tool. Not only this, interactive elements such as buttons and hot-spots can be added to your content that can assigned interaction from ROME’s interface. They can, for example, be used to control playback your content. This makes ROME perfect for creating interactive presentations in the cloud.
These documents can be used online by exporting them to web formats such as JPEG / PNG or to SWF for ensuring that your animations and interactions work. One can also export documents created with ROME to PDF straight from the webapp. ROME also has its own native file format if you wish to retain the ability to edit projects.
The ROME application was previewed as far back as 2009’s Adobe MAX, however now it is in the hand of end-user to play with. For a limited amount of time it is even free to use at Adobe Labs.