1.      Open Flash and go to the “Flash document” option under “create new” tab. A blank stage and an animation timeframe will appear on screen.

2.      Look at the “tools” panel and select “brush tool” to draw an object. You can select the paint color from the “color” box. Select any suitable paintbrush style from the brush head menu.

3.      Using the paintbrush you can draw a line or a smiley or any other graphics on the stage area. The key frame on the timeline remains a blank circle till the stage is empty. As soon as you draw an image, the first key frame’s circle changes into black, denoting something is drawn on the stage.

4.      If you want to add a new layer, click on the “new layer” icon. Now go the “file” menu and click on “import”. This option allows you to bring any image on the stage from hard disc. Click on “import to stage” and find an image that you want to import for Flash  design. When the image appears on stage, you can drag it to any place for customized design.

5.      The text adding process is pretty simple. Click on the “new layer” icon and then select “A” tool (text tool) from the tools palette. It will open a text property pane at the bottom of your screen. Select the font style, size and text orientation from the text property pane. Click on the stage and type the text content.

6.      To change the background color of stage area, click on the black arrow at the top of the tools column. After that, you should click on the “background” box and change the background color.

7.      Once the design is complete, go to the “file” menu, click on “save as”, give a name for the file and hit the “save” button. Your job is done.

These are only the basic Flash designing guidelines. If you want to explore the possibilities of Flash, then join a designing college and start learning Flash.

This news however, comes as a surprise to Flash design industry insiders, because, for the past one year, Google has been actively supporting HTML5 and has on offer, a HTML5 player for the YouTube site, encoding videos with open source WebM codec. It’s a royalty free codec and helps browsers play HTML5 videos seamlessly.

So how come Flash is still in use?

The problem is, browser developers are divided into two camps and they don’t have any universal codec to support HTML5 videos. Google, Mozilla and Opera support WebM technology, while Apple and Microsoft are backing H.264 codec.

Apple and Microsoft or rather, Safari and IE, will not accept WebM based on VP8 codec  because it’s owned by their rival, Google, and also because they are the members of H.264 patent team. MPEG LA is the license owner of H.264 and they are planning to create a new patent pool that will try to buy the license of WebM.

H.264 codec powers Flash video content. YouTube is using H.264 video codec since 2007 and until all the browsers start supporting a universal codec, they will use H.264. However, YouTube is world’s largest video library. Google can easily compel other browser developers to accept WebM by changing the Flash videos into HTML5 video.

So, why they are not doing so?

HTML5 is still going through a development phase and HTML5 video has some limitations. HTML5 does not offer high quality streaming of large video files like Flash Player, and it also can’t display a video full screen. You can copy a Flash video from YouTube and embed it in your site effortlessly with the help of a professional Flash design company, but HTML5 video content embedding process is not supported by every web development platform.

Google is backing Flash for now, because HTML5 is still not mature enough to replace it. They even started embedding Flash Player in Chrome browser and Android OS. Flash website design may have some SEO issues, but Flash video format and Player is still the ruler of online video entertainment.

According to YouTube software engineer John Harding, “While HTML5’s video support enables us to bring most of the content and features of YouTube to computers and other devices that don’t support Flash Player; it does not yet meet all of our needs. Today, Adobe provides the best platform for YouTube’s video distribution requirements, which is why our primary video player is built with it.”

Though there are various media servers in the market, none is as resourceful as Flash media server. With the help of this server and a custom Flash media server application, developers can stream both audio and video content online.

Flash Media Server, popularly known as FMS is developed by Adobe Systems. It can be used for live streaming and real time communication. Real time communication means, with the help of FMS, Flash design experts can provide live multi player online gaming facilities and develop chat rooms.

FMS is developed using ActionScript 1. It supports FLV and H.264 format for live streaming and AAC, LC-AAC, FLV, MP3, HE-AAC and Speex for on-demand streaming. Besides video/audio streaming, it can also record H.264/AAC in MPEG 4 format.

This powerful media server supports RTMP, RTMPT, RTMPTE RTMFP, RTMPS and RTMPE protocols. Using a FMS application, you can deliver flawless audio and video experience to the end users. The enhanced bit rate manipulation features of FMS ensure seamless audio/video transmission without any buffer time.  As soon as someone hits on the “play” button, video streaming starts immediately. Users can also skip some parts of a video without waiting for it to download.

FMS is the ideal platform for broadcasting entertainment, education and interactive advertising content. It supports on demand HTTP streaming and offers Multicast feature. Multicast is used by large IT firms to stream live videos without giving any pressure on the internal server.

Using a FMS application, you can offer live chat and live video conferencing services. However, some IT enterprises may say that we already have free apps like Skype for video chatting and text chatting, then why should we use a FMS app? It offers unmatchable data security. When someone sees a video or talk via a chat application, the data stays in the server, hence, there is no possibility of unsolicited video/audio download.

Flash Media Server also helps you keep a track of content consumption. You can easily calculate how many viewers saw your live broadcast, how many times they forwarded and paused a video etc.

The best thing about Flash Media Server applications is that they can be installed in any website. If you run a Flash design company, then start developing FMS apps and stay ahead of competitors.

Survey is generally a time consuming process as you have to contact every customer and take their individual opinion. However, when you use a survey tool, your task becomes easier. Using survey software, you can design a survey page for your site and request the customers to share their opinion. Unlike a manual survey, you don’t have to go after the customers, they will come to you.

Web users don’t like to take part in surveys, because it’s basically a time wasting activity for them. Therefore, you should design an exciting Flash survey to capture viewers’ attention and encourage them to answer your queries. In the survey page of your site, you can add animated presentations, interactive quizzes, and audio files to give it a dynamic look and feel.

A good Flash tool comes with free templates and sample questionnaires, and helps you design the survey page within a few minutes. There are several paid and free applications available online and you can select any one of them. If you are not an expert, hire a Flash design company to design your custom survey page.

Flash survey tools help you understand how your products/services and performing in the market. You may say that the sales report is a proof of your business performance, but in reality, sales report cant give you a clear understanding of customer psyche.

When you launch a new product in the market, marketing hype helps you sell products immediately, but if your product is really not that good, then you won’t get repeat customers. Survey tools helps you understand what your current customers are thinking about your product after using it.

Customer satisfaction matters the most in every business. If the customers are happy with your products/services, then there is no problem, but if they are not happy, then you have to know the reason. With the help of an organized questionnaire, you can collect their feedback easily and find out the negative aspects of your products/services. Once you know the negative aspects, you can improve your product/service quality to keep the customers happy.

Using the Flash survey tool, you can ask as many questions as you wish to. You can also design the feedback form intelligently to get the correct answer from customers. Instead of designing a dull Q&A page, you can provide multiple answers of each question. For instance, do you like our new perfume? A) yes, B)no C) Its good, but I want different fragrances.

You can also ask questions about your competitor company and learn what makes them better than you. For instance, which perfume company you like the most and why? Let the customers write what makes your competitor better than you.

A user friendly Flash survey tool helps you gain all these valuable information. Give your suggestions to the Flash design expert and let his do the magic using this software.

Consider the fact that we will be mainly targeting companies that mostly interact with customers face-to-face.

Gather Information About Location of Your Loyal Customers

The main advantage of Flash based map is that it helps you to identify location of your repeat customers. Thus, with the help of this information, you can set up a branch of your company in this particular locale. This in turn, will bring the customers closer to you, thus enhancing your overall sales rate. In case, you do not have the money for launching a new office, you can collaborate with another company.

Understand Your Productivity Rate

You can use the Flash web animation based map to figure out the areas where your company has penetrated recently. You can also identify the areas where your sales rate has decreased. In general, developing a detailed Flash based map will simplify the process of calculating your return on investment and understanding your productivity over the last few years.

Let us assume that by using the Flash based map, you found that your profit rate has reduced in a particular area. Thereafter, you can modify your marketing strategies accordingly for improving the profit rate in this particular location.

Figure Out Location of Your Potential Customers

You can also use Flash based maps for identifying areas where you can establish a strong presence of your company. This in turn, will allow you to enjoy a high profit rate in future.

Apart from allowing you to create marketing strategies, Flash based map can help you to present company information in an interesting manner. Let us discuss this point in details.

Offer Information in a Simplified Manner

Occasionally, you may need to present information about your company at a meeting. Rather than writing boring chunks of information, you can opt for Flash based maps for offering information in a simplified manner. You can use different colors for highlighting your main areas of operation in the last few years. You can also even opt for bar and pie charts to make the map even more interesting.

Implementing such strategies will help the participants to acquire an idea about your operational areas and popularity easily.

Use Flash based maps intelligently and you would be able to fulfill your business goals easily.

Most people think that they must hire a Flash designer to design a Flash site. However, you will be surprised to know that of late, some Flash content management systems have made Flash design a lot easier. You can easily develop a Flash website using a reliable Flash CMS, without any professional help. Editing and updating a Flash website with the help of a Flash CMS is easy for even a non designer.

If you start searching for “Flash CMS” in Google, you will get hundreds of results, but selecting the best CMS from that crowd is really a tough task. Here are some of the things you should consider to buy a useful Flash CMS for your project.

1. Choose a CMS that fulfills all your project requirements. For instance, if you want to develop a blog, make sure that the CMS offers flexible content creation options and allows you to update your site regularly.
2. As the website’s admin, you will spend most of your time in the control panel. Hence, check the features of the control panel and read the tutorials to understand its capabilities. Besides basic features, you should experiment with the advanced customization features as well.
3. Database management is a daunting task and you should buy a CMS that comes with WYSIWYG editor. This resourceful editor allows you to manipulate the database without any web programming knowledge. However, basic knowledge in HTML will always help you work faster.
4. Besides WYSIWYG editor, you should also look for other useful editing tools. A good CMS gives you the freedom to add text, shapes, widgets and plug-ins in your site. You can also edit or delete any item from the website easily. For instance, you can add a custom Flash logo design in your site and establish your brand identity.The control panel should have an organized structure. For instance, the editing tools should have the same menu type.
5. Consider application development facilities. Generally, a standard CMS offers several free widgets for better functionality, but what if you want to develop a customized application for your website? Make sure that your chosen CMS provides custom application development and installation options.
6. Using a Flash CMS, anyone can design a beautiful site. However, the CMS must be SEO friendly. A SEO friendly site gets good ranks in SERPs and attracts target audience. Before you buy the CMS, check its search engine optimization features.
7. Multiple language support is a must. Famous Flash CMSes allow you to create content in any popular language.
8. Last, but the most important factor is pricing. Compare the features and select a CMS that fits in your budget.

Flash CMS is the ideal solution for those who can’t afford a Flash design company for custom web design. A good Flash CMS simplifies your work and helps you develop sites faster.

Let me clarify one thing at the beginning – this post is not about Flash vs. HTML5. I want to discuss about the common misconceptions regarding the capabilities of HTML5 because HTML5 has weaknesses as well.

However, before I start talking about the shortcomings of HTML5, here is a technical overview of this promising web programming language.

• HTML5 is an updated version of our very old friend “HTML”. It’s not a new language.
• HTML5 follows XML standards.
• It is developed to ensure consistent web application output in all the major operating systems including, iOS, Android and Windows.
• HTML5 has in-built audio and video support and allows web developers to embed multimedia elements directly in the HTML document.
• It supports Canvas and SVG elements for animation.
• Offers a canvas element that helps you render 2D graphics directly to the users computer display.
• Gives you freedom to develop content heavy, user friendly and SEO friendly applications.

Why Do You Think HTML5 Is A Flash Substitute?

Flash works on almost all operating systems, except iOS. That means, even if a HTML site contains Flash web animation in some parts, you can’t view that site properly in iPad or iPhone. How then can you use animation and yet make it iOS friendly? The answer is HTML5.

However, note, supporting a particular operating system does not make HTML5 superior.

Clients often ask developers to replicate their existing Flash application and site in HTML5 without changing anything. The problem is nobody can do it. It’s true that HTML5 based applications work on all operating systems and you don’t need to code differently for each operating system like Flash, but if Flash has one nemesis called “iOS5”, HTML5 has several shortcomings.

Here are some of the common demands of clients related to HTML5.

1.      Convert My Flash Based Design Application Into HTML5

The problem- The image masking features of Flash is much better than HTML5. Flash can also calculate areas and diameters faster. Image editing features like drag and zoom works smoothly in Flash, but not in HTML5.

2.      Convert My Flash Based Audio Library Into A HTML5 Based Library

The problem- HTML5 offers audio and video support, but it has certain limitations as well. Google Chrome and Safari supports .mp3 format, while Mozilla supports .ogg format. That means, if a user opens the Flash audio library from IE, he must use Flash Player.

If you have to develop the audio library in HTML5, then you must convert all the existing audio files in both .mp3 and .ogg format. It’s not only a time consuming process, but the songs will also eat lots of space in your web server.

3.      Switch My Flash Website Into HTML5 Website

The problem- When it comes to web animation, Flash reigns supreme. HTML5 requires a lot of improvements to come close to Flash. HTML5 can’t process 3D animations properly and more importantly, the performance of animation effects depends on the user’s system configuration. That means, if your computer doesn’t have a graphics card, forget about seeing HTML5 3D animation. Converting a Flash website into HTML5 will make the site slower and it may crash very often.

After reading the drawbacks of HTML5, you must have realized that the future of Flash design is secure. HTML5 needs lots of improvements to offer user friendly features like Flash.

Several companies offer the same items and hence, you must find a way to present your products/services interestingly. Using Flash web animation, you can give your site a unique look and attract target consumers.

If you don’t want to design your site entirely in Flash, use animation in some parts of your HTML website to lure customers. Animation not only gives your site a dynamic look, but also helps retain consumer attention for a long time.

Here’s how Flash web animation can improve your business.

Relay the Message Effectively- Using animation in different parts of your website, you can relay your brand message effectively to your target audience. For instance, you can design an animated header for your website and highlight the USP of your business. Using a Flash animated intro, you can introduce your business stylishly and make your site popular.

Less Boredom- Web users don’t like reading long and boring text paragraphs. So, you should use Flash animation to make your site interactive and dynamic. For instance, if you offer web design services, you can use an animated presentation to explain your services to your potential clients. Add voice-over in animated presentation to spice up your custom Flash design.

Helps You Interact Faster- Compared to traditional HTML websites, you can communicate faster with audiences using animation effects. For instance, you can show the benefits of your products and services using Flash animation to increase conversion rate.

Showcase Your Products- Do you sell dozens of different products from your website? If you do, using an animated photo gallery, you can showcase your products efficiently. Web users will never devote enough time to check your entire “products” page. Hence, you can embed a photo gallery in your homepage and showcase your products for faster access.

Designing a customized animation effect is not an easy task. Therefore, you should hire a Flash design company to add Flash animated elements in your HTML website.

With the help of a Flash website design, you can attract your target consumers and influence their buying decision. Think from a customer’s perspective. If you visit a site that greets you with audio and animation and another site that only shows you a static page, where will you stay longer? Obviously, you will pay more attention to interactive content.

However, designing a Flash website from scratch is a costly affair. Flash designers charge hundreds of dollars for customized Flash design and small businesses can’t spend that much money on their web development project.

If you have budget restrictions, using Flash templates to design your website is a better option.

Benefits of Using Flash Templates

Flash templates are quite affordable. Search Google, and you will find hundreds of free and paid templates for custom website design. Depending on your business, you can choose a premium template and use it for your website. For instance, if you are designing an e-commerce website, you can select a template that comes with an image gallery.

Templates save you money. In case you hire a designer to design your website and he fails to understand your design concept, you may waste a considerable additional amount on redesigning. Of course, a designer can always redesign your site, but even if he does so, your project will get delayed.

Flash templates reduce website development time and help you launch your site faster. High quality templates come with inbuilt features like slide-show, shopping cart and photo gallery. All you need to do is insert the text content, video and images to start your online business.

When you use a template, you can visualize the final output at the initial stage. Every businessman has a concept about his site. So, when you think that a template is not matching the concept you have in mind, you can look for another template.

The customization process of a Flash template is quite simple. You can use an editing software to customize a template and upload it to the web server. Using the editing software, you can avoid Actionscript coding completely.

Several companies offer free and paid Flash templates online, but don’t trust them blindly. Do some research before buying. Downloading their free templates can give you some idea about template flexibility.

Flash design is a relatively new web design technique, but even Flash designers will accept that it’s tough to think of a new layout design concept for every project. Which is why, Flash designers are following few Flash website design trends these days to design interesting layouts without spending much time.

When you follow a design trend, you know how the main framework will look, but depending upon your needs, you can customize the layout and give the site a unique look.

Take a look at some of the popular Flash web design trends and utilize them according to your project requirements. Remember, not every trend is suitable for every type of website. Hence, you should select the trend sensibly.

Centered Content- Millions of people never maximize their browser window while surfing a website. That means, if you place important content at the right or left sidebar of a web layout, they may never read it.

Place the content at the center of your website for better readability and compelling viewers to stay on longer. This design trend is good for blogs and news websites.

Looks Like HTML- You can also add  Flash elements to an already existing HTML website and spice things up. Depending upon your needs, you can add Flash web animation, Flash map, header or logo and give the site a dynamic look.

Full Video background- This design trend is perfect for e-commerce websites. Full video backgrounds instantly capture viewers’ attention and encourage them to watch your promotional video till the end. If you want to showcase your products in the homepage, this is the ideal design concept for you.

Large Background, Text and Illustration- Web users these days use large LED monitors to surf the internet. Flash designers must therefore design large backgrounds with high resolution images, text etc., to fill the layout. Following this trend, you can design a company’s website and show your designs in a unique manner.

Hand-made Touch- This is good if you want to give your site a personalized artistic touch. You can use  hand-made paintings, collages and sketches in Flash animation to showcase your creativity. If you are a graphic designer, this can be the ideal Flash design trend for your online portfolio.

Pictured Navigation- A normal menu bar looks boring. Using a pictured navigation, you can excite your customers. If you sell different types of products online, then use an image for every product category to communicate with the audience, efficiently.

For instance, by using the image of a computer and a smartphone in your website’s navigation area, you can help buyers understand what you are selling. Customers can either click on the smartphone or computer to check the entire product gallery.

Multi-column/Multi-tabbed Layout- Web users tend to scan a page within 5-10 seconds. Using the multi-column layout in your Flash website, you can pack more information in one page.

Every year, new Flash designing trends are gaining popularity. Employing the latest trends can help impress the online traffic.