Macromedia Flash

Flash has a lot of advantages when it is used on Web Pages because you can add animation to objects to make them more interesting. Flash is also independent of your Web browser so it works the same no matter what browser or version you are using. The biggest advantage of flash is that it uses vector graphics which are actually equations so you can blow up the graphics without losing any of the quality.

I must say that for all of its good things Flash does have a few draw backs. The biggest one is the misuse of it. You are always getting all of these annoying advertisements that have no real use and actually detract from the information which you are looking at. The other draw back is that you can only view flash images if you have flash installed on your computer. It also has a compatibility issue like so many other pieces of software.

The Program itself was fun to use. I have not used many drawing programs but it seemed set up the same as most that I have used. The frustrating part is not the actual drawing but the animation because it is very time consuming.

To give you an idea about how flash is used I will put a couple of links below. The main place that you find flash is in cartoons so the first link that I have is a cartoon site.

http://joecartoon.atomfilms.com/pages/home/
This is a great cartoon site and Flash works great for cartoons. The one draw back is that when ever you go to a new page or back to the home page you have to refresh.

http://thevoid.co.uk/index2.html
The Void is a site that uses a lot of very simple animation. It opens with a very simply line drawing which changes shapes and then we get words that move. Very simply yet it gives the site a flair. I like the simplicity of the opening of this site but the rest of it is not to my taste

http://jenniferlopez.com/
This site is set up really nice. It is also simple and without much animation but as you change pages the way that they come up is clear crisp, and very clean. This site is a perfect illustration of how to use flash without detracting from the main theme.

As an overview, I think that Flash can be used in many ways to enhance a web site but you have to be careful because you can cause a lot of clutter and distractions with it. If the site is for entertainment I say use flash but if it is about something serious like a business or research be very careful that you do not detract from what you are trying to portray.