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Overview

Macromedia's Flash is a animation and development tool that allows you to incorporate video, text, audio, and graphics on the Web. With Flash, you can create interactive animations/movies/instructional learning modules with different types of multimedia accessed by 97% of the world's internet users [according to Adobe]. Flash animations are easy to make without programming skills.

Flash provides streaming capability through which some elements are displayed immediately upon download while more information continues to arrive over the Internet, making it efficient to view Flash movies even over lower connection speeds. Flash movies may be viewed through your Web browser once the appropriate plug-in is installed; most browsers come with the Flash plug-in pre-installed.

Uses as an Instructional Technology

• Create online demos for distance learning activities
  
• Develop tutorials for students on how to use key course resources, like applications or databases
  
• Make interactive simulations or learning exercises
• Create presentations that compliment your classroom activities, like you might use Powerpoint, but with more sophisticated options for navigation and animation.

See our description of  Captivate which can produce Flash movies more easily and for similar kinds of needs. Using Flash instead of Captivate might be more appropriate for more sophisticated productions when special logic or scripting is required.

Things to consider

Flash is not a full-blown application development tool. It provides no 3D animation support.

How does it work?

Most of your graphics can be created directly in Flash. You can also import images from other image editors, like Photoshop. A simple scripting language called Actionscript, similar to Javascript, aids this process. After licensing the Flash Player, you can also use Flash to build stand-alone .exe program, projectors, slide presentation and distribute them via e-mail or CD-ROM. Flash can also be exported to other formats such as QuickTime or Windows AVI.

Flash Tips:

• webmonkey's Multimedia: Shockwave/Flash
• Flash Kit

Flash Books:

• Flash MX Upgrade Essentials by Sham Bhangal
• Macromedia Flash MX – A Beginner’s Guide by Brian Underdahl
• Visual Quickstart Guide – Flash MX by Katherine Ulrich
• Visual Quickstart Guide – Macromedia Flash MX Advanced by Russell Chun

What do I need in order to use it?

• Windows or Macintosh

You can download a free 30-day trial of Flash.