Since the launch of Macromedia Flash in the
mid-90s, it has become an indispensable
tool for creating and deploying multimedia
content. The Smartsketch 95 from Future
Wave has come a long way from being a
quasi Windows Paintbrush tool producing
simple cartoon like images, to emerge
as Flash, the best possible software
to produce animation. The vector efficiency
has been a crucial element ensuring that
animations can be delivered even over
the slowest modem. It is the key to designing
and delivering eye-catching animation
effects even at low bandwidth speeds.
How does it operate to
create such delightful animation effects?
Flash enables its drawings
to be brought to life with a system of
layers, motion guides and tweens. This
is made possible because Flash works on
the flick-book principle. After drawing
the first image, a blank Keyframe (F7)
is inserted in the later timeline and the
next slightly differing image is drawn.
Now when the 'Play' button
is hit, an animation is produced by flicking
the frames. The complex and long drawn
process of manual editing can be simplified
by the 'Tweening' technology.
'Layering' gives
us the solution to produce a combination
of different 'tweens', frame-by-frame
animations and static elements. 'Movie
clip' is also of paramount importance
as it helps to direct the motion of a 3D
or 2D mobile figure in any possible direction.
A high-powered business website may require
animation through all pages to gain a cutting
edge appearance, providing the users with
a dynamic and interactive Flash experience.
Undoubtedly, Flash websites have an upper
hand over the static old pure text and
online brochure pages. The only problem
with a completely Flash designed main page
is that its content won’t be indexed
by search engines. Hence it is advisable
that the Flash elements should be contained
inside pages that use conventional website
architecture. Flash can also be used to
create interactive banner ads, which tend
to draw more traffic to respective sites
by increasing the Click Through Rate (CTR).
The latest technology has made it possible
to create animated vector-based graphics
for websites, which are cross-browser scalable,
load super fast and add an interactive
edge that simply brings a deluge of traffic
to the site. This helps to deliver a high-impact,
interactive, entertaining experience to
visitors. Nowadays, a quality web designer
has to incorporate Flash because, simply
put, nothing else matches up to its capabilities.
Media-rich internet is
the order of the day. With e-learning initiatives
gaining
momentum, online stores and other B2B online
offerings gaining in popularity, multimedia
applications today have reached a peak
and are experiencing world wide utilization.
Whether it's a high-powered business
website or an e-commerce venture, the presentation
is of utmost importance. Any interactive
medium makes websites user friendly. If
one can combine interactive tools with
attractive Flash animations then the attraction
quotient is doubled. Flash animation on
a website makes it aesthetic, sophisticated,
and professional, helps to provide the
site with its own unique identity, and
creates a spectacular first impression.
Want to know more about how Flash can
benefit your website by developing a 30
Second full page Flash Intro at an affordable
cost? Then click
here for the most comprehensive
range of Flash animation services provided
by the maverick designers at ACES.
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