The most basic type of web page is a static one – a page that rests
docilely within your browser window. It doesn’t do anything. You can
view it, then hit your browser back button and go away again. This is
not the sort of page one normally sets out to create (I hope), but
rather a minor but important lesson in what to avoid. Web pages exist so
that the visitor can interact with them. There is an exciting quid pro
quo between a site and its viewer that simply doesn’t exist in any other
medium. It’s important to take advantage of that. So, what do you do?
Well, the simplest form of interactivity on a page is links to other
pages, whether in the form of text or snazzy buttons of one sort or
another. Another way to interact with a page is to fill out a form,
which offers an exchange of information (again, unique to the web,
particularly in its sense of immediacy). Almost all web site hosts offer
scripting support of some sort, and there are also sites that exist to
do the fetch and carry work for you. Interactivity is what the web is
all about – a designer’s quest may be seen to be a Zen like goal to make
a site one with the person visiting it. Very cool. But the palette of
surfers out there has been increasingly jaded as one whiz bang notion
after another has hit the web and shaken and painted over its HTML
foundations. Never lose sight of the idea that what your site looks like
is perhaps the most important part of your web presence. What you say
and how you say it are what keeps people coming back, but how you
present it is what gets them interested in the first place. And since a
form is a form is a form (to paraphrase a writer a lot better known than
me) there comes a time when you must augment your toolbox in order to
create a souped up model. That’s where Flash comes in – it combines the
necessary strengths of interactivity with powerful animation techniques.
Very very cool.
In the not-too-distant past, web based animations were almost doomed
before they began due to their hefty file size trying to squeeze into
the bandwidth available to it on its way from server to browser window.
A scary but analogous idea might be to visualize a very large person
trying to fit into a very small swimsuit. A lot gets left out. Animated
GIF files, AVI and MOV files – all those are created with bitmap
graphics, which basically means that each and every pixel of each and
every frame must be downloaded & processed in order for it to display.
Flash files, otoh, are vector based, which means that they are scalable
(may be easily resized) and processed based upon the geometry within the
file – curves and lines, rather than dot1, dot2, dot3. It makes for a
far more compact means of displaying animated graphics. Also, Flash
files are open format – intrepid and fearless third party software
developers can make their mark by utilizing Flash file technology.
Macromedia, the company that markets Flash, has the file specifications
available for downloading at their web site
(http://www.macromedia.com/software/flash/open/spec/).
The program itself is an amalgamation of a vector drawing program with a
timeline-based animation creation utility. Scripts may be written to
provide content interactivity. It is an extremely valuable tool to help
move your site from okay to outstanding. Links to sites which
incorporate Flash may be found at the Macromedia web site or by using
your favorite search engines. http://www.visia.com is a good example of
what Flash can do, as is the excellent “cybermercial” available at
http://www.mmiusa.com/home.html.
And now the Shockwave Flash (swf) file format is obtaining a much wider
acceptance. Adobe, Ulead and Corel are some of the major players whose
products have (or will have) swf export or viewing capability.
http://openswf.org/ provides an information center for both the
programming arcana of swf and lists of third party developers –
companies like Blue Pacific (http://www.blue-pac.com/), creators of
software called Flash Turbine, which allows you to create dynamic Flash
content based upon changing data in (for example) text or databases.
Having always been a stubborn code by hand type, I was slow to pay
attention to Flash files. To flash or not to flash (paraphrasing again)
was not a question I ever thought I’d be asking myself. But the reality
of the situation is that in this day of 56k and cable modems and
competition from a gazillion other web sites, coupled with the explosive
and ever growing acceptance of Flash technology (no special plugin is
necessary in the latest versions of the most popular browsers) that in
order to compete in the market, you almost have to be a flasher too,
however perverse that may sound at first blush. I knew I needed to learn
about Flashing, and started at the Macromedia web site
(http://www.macromedia.com). They have a Flash site of the day and a lot
of helpful basic information about Flash4. The program is available for
downloading and a 30-day trial, but beware of its learning curve and
rather high intimidation factor. Flash is a powerful product indeed, and
to harness that power, you have to put time and effort into it. Assuming
you take the plunge and buy the product, you might be interested in the
many books written about Flash. To flesh out the flashing, so to speak.
Site design being what it is today, wouldn’t you like to be a flasher
too?
About the Author
Amanda
Osborne Design & Development: where every job is an ODD job
http://osbornedesign.com
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mailto:amand@osbornedesign.com