Flash in the Pan?
by Heather Champ
When I recently upgraded to the latest version of Macromedia's Shockwave plug-in for my Netscape browser. I took the opportunity to download the Shockwave Essentials package, which also installed the plug-in for Future Splash or Flash as Macromedia has renamed the product. A surprisingly easy install and voila, on the road to viewing the latest chapter in interactive multimedia on the Web.
The FutureSplash Animator creates small, fast, vector-based drawings and animations that then can be viewed by users who have installed the free plug-in. Unlike gif 89a or Shockwave, animations stream onto a document and will play as they download. Because the animations are vector based it's possible to enlarge or "zoom," because the images are scalable, while maintaining the integrity of the image. Text is incorporated into the animation in such a way that a designer doesn't have to rely on what fonts a user has within his or her system, let alone deal with cross-platform issues.
On viewing the various animations created to date, I was reminded of the first time I experienced Java. A group of us huddled around one of the office PCs to view the winners of the Java contest: Our poor Philosophers starved but we developed a greater appreciation of what Pythagoras was up to, and admittedly we were left wondering, is that all there is?
While tinkering with the Java search function on Alta Vista one gets a clearer picture. But never fear, we still have lava lamp applets to light the way.
Four sites are highlighted in the Vector Graphics & Animation Gallery: MSN, World Port Internet, Digital Color, and Silicon Slip. MSN presents by far the slickest use of Flash without resorting to the Correll Draw coloring book-look that other sites have created. Logo and branding, rollover navigation, and animation have all been included in what appears to be less than a 40k download.
FutureWave, creators of FutureSplash, also have a more extensive gallery of examples. The Hawaiian Holiday best displays the promise of Flash. If only Map Quest were so easy. Imagine zooming in and panning through vector maps instead of muddling through the various stages of CGI call and response. It is also possible to script a tour that a user can choose to follow.
Flash holds a great deal of promise for Web design and development. Positioned somewhere between director and GIF 89a animation, it's possible to add all the features and interactiviy that is now demanded of next-generation sites without creating overly large, tedious-to-download sites. There is a 30-day free trial of the FutureSplash Animator available for download from Macromedia, which includes an extensive library of tutorials. At a street price of approximately $249 dollars, it is a very reasonably priced tool available for both Mac and PC platforms.
