Flash
adds Life to the Web
Sun Review March 25, 2000
"What is Flash?" is a question I am hearing a lot these days. My standard reply: "Flash is flash!"
Flash is the web standard for vector graphics and animation, and adds life to websites with movies (or animations). Flash movies can be very simple or extremely complex, from a simple spinning object to a full-blown interactive website. Pulsing musical soundtracks, great sound effects, smooth animation and innovative interfaces are all part of the package.
Flash's older brother Shockwave allows you to view new forms of entertainment on the Web, such as games, music, rich-media chat, interactive product demos, and e-merchandising applications. Companies like CNN, Capitol Records, Warner Brothers Records, Sony, Paramount, and Virgin all utilize Shockwave as an integral part of their Web sites.
Flash uses vector-based animation to produce movies that are smaller in size than traditional animation. Flash animations can play as they download, which makes it a great format for the Web, even over slow modem connections. You also get the benefit of a full-screen experience, on all monitor sizes and on almost every Internet-capable device (yes, even WebTV!).
In order to understand how Flash works, you have to know about raster and vector-based images. Raster-based images are made out of a grid of squares (pixels), and vector-based images are made of pre-defined shapes, lines, and curves. Raster is great for photos, but when you zoom in on a raster-based image, it will become very jagged and lose much of the detail. Vector-based images, on the other hand, are mathematical descriptions of how to draw the image. When you zoom in on a vector-based image, it looks just as smooth when zoomed in at 1600% as it does at 100% or smaller. Vector images typically have much smaller file sizes than raster images, so they are particularly well suited for the Web.
What
do you need to play Flash?
The Flash player can be a stand-alone player, or more commonly, a Web browser
plug-in (a program that provides additional functionality to your web browser).
Flash technology may already be built into your browser.
If you don't have the plug-in, you may want to download the latest version of your favourite browser (Netscape: www.netscape.com, Internet Explorer: www.microsoft.com/ie), or visit Macromedia (www.macromedia.com) to download the latest players.
Locally:
On the web:
© 1999 Ingenius Webdesign