Please pay attention to the fact that when a potential customer comes to your website, he/she has passed the primary awareness phase of what’s known as ‘buying cycle’. He/she is probably now in any of the other phases of the cycle like research or evaluation. Websites with a prominent presence of Flash actually hinders the delivery of message to the visitor. And thus, your visitor, who could have advanced to the next phase, becomes unsure of what you are trying to say and leaves your website.

Of course, Flash is very helpful in attracting the attention of visitors and it even helps you create awareness about your products/services, but these are not always the principal reasons for you to opt for Flash design. As a matter of fact, the awareness that you want to create, can be created through internet marketing, advertisement in print and/or electronic media and also through summits, seminars and trade fairs. When your customers arrive at your website, they expect something that would enlighten them further about your products/service. So, your website should be geared up to enlighten your customers.

What are the positive things about Flash? Let’s find out.

• Some aspects of a website’s design can only be effective with Flash. These aspects often play a major role in getting new business and achieving popularity.
• Flash gives you the freedom to use animation and entice your visitors. You can enrich visitor experience with the help of interactive Flash animation, through which, your visitors will easily understand the message you are trying to convey. You can even create a video with Flash and use it as a promotional tool on different social networks.

But as you may have heard, Flash web design has some negative points. Let’s see what those are:

• First of all, Flash cannot easily be SEO friendly. Search engine bots see Flash websites as a single page and they don’t even recognize the coding of the images in the Flash dynamic photo gallery. That’s because the coding of Flash galleries is not usually done in HTML. It becomes difficult for search engines to index all the pages of a Flash site, neither can they index the information on a Flash website’s home page.
• Flash applications are large and thus take a long time to download.

After pondering over all this, the final decision as to whether or not you should use Flash, depends on you. Here are some points you can clarify with yourself.

• The message you are trying to convey
• If Flash is really required.
• Why Flash is required.
• The section of your website that requires Flash.

Best of Luck for your Flash web design!

Joining an Flash animation school can be a good way to gain an edge over others in the job market. Furthermore, opting for an animation course increases you knowledge and allows you to acquire information about this industry.

Picking out the right school

• Choosing a school that offers animation as a major course can be a good idea. Elective courses may offer you some information about animation. However, it will not allow you to gain a deeper understanding of animation, which is necessary for becoming a reputed artist.

• If you opt for animation as your main course, on the other hand, you can learn about a wide range of topics. These can include basic, as well as advanced concepts of animation. Additionally, you will receive training in storyboarding, graphic design, and character design.

• Checking reputation of the animation school is critical. Ensure that it is an accredited institution. Additionally, consider the fact that reputation varies from one area to the other. A school may enjoy great reputation in one area. However, people living in another area may not recognize it. For best results, choose a school that is located near the area where you want to work.

Your school can help you to find the right job

Joining a good school can simplify the process of job-hunting. However, you need to consider the right strategies. Here are few suggestions.

• Once the course starts, ask classmates and teachers about internships and part-time job opportunities. Attending seminars and events regularly can enhance your knowledge. Since eminent personalities attend these events, you can use this opportunity to meet them. This in turn, will simplify the process of job search.

• Reputed schools ask students to create a demo reel. This demo reel contains brief animation videos that you have created. While attending interviews, this demo reel will act as your visual resume, highlighting your creative skills.

• Established schools encourage students to create interesting animations. You can request professors to view your work and offer feedback. This feedback will allow you to work on your weak areas and improve your skills.

The best thing about joining an animation school is that you will come across talented and passionate individuals. This means that even if you fail to get a good job after completing the course, you can collaborate with your classmates, open a studio, and thus fulfill your dreams.

Passion

It is impossible to excel in any job, if you are not passionate about it. The same goes for video game designing. To become a good game designer, you need to possess a natural interest in games and Flash animated presentations. If you are talented, and passionate about games, you will automatically feel the desire to excel in this field.

Creativity

This is another important requirement. A creative person can come up with intriguing ideas that can woo the target audience. He/she can automatically create games that have a fascinating effect on video game lovers. Therefore, if you are a creative person, you can think about a career in this field.

Relevant degree

Talent is a critical requirement in the video gaming industry. However, along with talent, you also need to possess a relevant degree. A course in Flash animation or 3D animation, video games, or graphic design will polish your skills and provide you with necessary guidance.

Skills to solve problems

The process of designing a game involves various problems and bugs. These can include creating convincing animations and collision detection. In many situations, a designer needs to solve these problems within a short time. For this reason, people who possess problem-solving skills usually excel in this industry.

Patience

A good designer should be patient. As mentioned earlier, video games creation is a challenging process. If you become impatient, you will not be able to meet these challenges successfully. In fact, many professionals state that problems can be so complex occasionally that they could drive anyone mad! Therefore, in the field of video game designing, patience is a virtue.

Perfectionist

Divided opinion about this skill exists. While some believe that a good designer should be perfectionist, others think that it is not necessary. Still, as compared to a messy person, a perfectionist has greater chances of acquiring reputation in this industry. We will explain this in details.

Most of us are aware of the fact that video games follow a sequential structure and involve convincing characters. A perfectionist person is more likely to pay attention to these meticulous details and ensure that the characters act convincingly.

On the other hand, a messy person may forget to make sure that the game flows in a logical way or characters need to maintain consistency. This in turn, can have a drastic impact on quality of the game. For this reason, most animation studios and firms usually prefer to hire designers who are perfectionist.

In recent times, famous studios have started offering good packages to video game designers. For this reason, many people now consider it as a lucrative job opportunity. The best part about this job is that it allows creative satisfaction. If you want to be part of this exciting industry, start opting for the necessary steps.

The trick to become a good animation artist lies in choosing the right school. Students should understand the fact that life is not exclusively about grabbing a dream job. Rather, it is also about understanding your craft and sharpening your skills constantly.

An animation course in a good college or university will provide you with these opportunities. Furthermore, it will allow you to get in touch with experienced and talented artists. This in turn, will help you to acquire a job more easily. Overall, a good Flash animation course offers students both practical and theoretical knowledge.

Today, we will highlight few strategies that will help you to opt for the perfect animation institute.

Check content of your chosen course

Many people believe that with the rise of advanced technologies, animators no longer need to possess drawing skills. However, this is a misconception. Animation is based on drawing and unless you know it well, it will be difficult for you to become a good animator. This is the why we suggest students to choose a course that teaches the basics of art, along with other lessons.

Opt for a course that includes basic lessons in drawing. More specifically, an ideal course should teach its first year students figure and perspective drawing, color theory, sketching, story boarding, still life drawing, and other basic aspects of art. Of course, it should also include Flash design, graphic design lessons, and other necessary software packages.

Find out relevant experience of the faculty members

Various institutions hire fresh graduates as instructors. While they possess theoretical knowledge, they lack real world experience. Thus, they are unable to offer students practical techniques that only experienced persons are aware of. For this reason, always enquire about experience of faculty members of your chosen institution.

Choose a course where faculty members consist of experienced animators. The reason is that experienced people are aware of the latest animation trends and can impart this knowledge to the students.

Is the location of the animation institution convenient?

By convenient location, we do not always mean that the institution should be located near your home. Rather, we mean that it should be located near the industry where you want to join.

The reason is that many animation studios recruit students of local institutions. Additionally, if your instructor works at any of these studios, he/she may help you to acquire an internship in it. For these reasons, try to join an institution that is located close to the animation industry.

Consider these criteria before joining an animation college or university. Choosing a good institution will help you to acquire both theoretical and practical knowledge. Furthermore, it will polish your raw talent and enhance your confidence. Good luck!

1. General Optimization

Opt for symbols for each element that appears twice or more.

While developing Flash animation sequences, choose tweened animations. The reason is that as compared to a keyframe series, tweened animations take up less file space. For creating animation sequences, avoid using graphic symbols. Rather, opt for movie clips.

Reduce the area of change in every keyframe. Try to make the action occur in a smaller area. Do not use animated bitmap elements. Rather, opting for bitmap pictures as static or background elements can be a great idea.

If you are planning to use sound, choose MP3. It is the smallest sound format and can contribute in the goal of increasing speed of Flash files.

2. Elements and Lines

Use group elements, whenever possible. Opt for layers to distinguish elements that shift from those that they do not change. If you want to reduce the number of distinct lines that are used to explain shapes, utilize Modify > Curves > Optimize.

Avoid or limit usage of special line types. These types can include ragged, dotted, and dashed. The reason is that special lines need more memory. Additionally, consider the fact that lines developed with Pencil tool need less memory, as compared to brush strokes.

3. Texts and Fonts

Avoid excessive usage of font styles and fonts in Flash design. Opt for embedded fonts occasionally because they will enhance file size. Even if you use embedded fonts, avoid including the whole font. Rather, pick out only the required characters.

4. Colors

Select the color option in the Symbol Property inspector. This will help you to develop various instances of a symbol in many colors. Use gradients sparingly. Remember that as compared to solid color, gradient color needs approximately 50 more bytes.

Do not use alpha transparency regularly. The reason is that it can slow down plackback.

5. Optimizing the Code

Whenever possible, opt for native function. As compared to user-defined functions, native functions have greater speed.

Avoid over-usage of the Object type. Remember that data-type annotations must be brief, because it will enhance performance. Only when no other alternative exists, opt for the Object type.

Do not forget to optimize loops. While announcing a variable, use the ‘var’ keyword. If local variables are sufficient, do not go for global or class variables.

Despite the fact that Flash offers you wider and greater choices, it is not suitable for every site. To decide whether to use Flash or not, you need to evaluate the purposes of your website and preferences of your visitors.

Here are few suggestions that you can consider:

Sites that should USE Flash

• If you possess an interactive website, such as an e shopping or a games site, opting for a Flash website design would be a great idea. Flash designs will provide your visitors with a memorable and rich experience.
• If you are trying to highlight your passion and aptitude for Flash, you can develop a Flash site. You could be successful in earning appreciation of the visitors and enjoy a higher traffic.
• If your target audience does not use mobile phones for exploring Internet, you can create a Flash-based website. The reason is that in some cases, web browsers of mobile devices do not support Flash sites. The Apple i-Phone, for instance, does not support Flash. Creating a Flash site for people who access Internet via mobile phones is risky.

Sites that should NOT USE Flash

• If you know that a certain section of your target visitors do not have Flash installed in their PCs, do not develop Flash-based websites. Do not expect that every visitor would like the idea of downloading Flash player plug-ins; they would rather, move on to other sites.
• Avoid using Flash because it is the most popular trend currently. Use it, only when it adds some value to your website.

The best thing about Flash is that you can utilize it in various ways. Apart from using it for website designing, you can utilize it for creating Flash slide shows, Flash animation, Flash banner ads, and multimedia elements.

However, remember that you should use Flash designs, only when they add value to your creations.

Here, I will discuss 14 tips that will help a newbie Flash designer to create beautiful and usable Flash designs:

1. When you design a Flash object, try to avoid graphics and use movie clip symbols instead. The movie clip symbol offers better animation effects.

2. Different operating systems show a Flash file in different frame rates. To make it cross-platform compatible, keep your Flash movie frame rate 31fps.

3. Designers generally use high configuration computers, so, heavy .swf files run smoothly on their computers. However, some of your target audience may not have a high-end computer. You should test your design in a low-end computer and make the necessary changes to offer them a flawless experience.

4. To be a successful Flash designer, you must have in-depth knowledge in Actionscripting. Some of the most difficult animation effects can be done with the help of Actionscript. To keep the Actionscript coding process simple, add “_mc” suffix to your movie clips and “_txt” to the dynamic text fields.

5. Life-like animation is most difficult to create. Unless you have a long experience in Flash animation, don’t try to replicate real life motions like water splash in Flash. You should also adjust the acceleration and deceleration of all the “tweens” to give your animations an elegant look.

6. When you design a Flash intro, or Flash banner, don’t make it too long. Web users have less attention span and if your Flash banner ad takes 2 minutes to say the main message, they won’t watch it till the end.

7. For better rendering and less pressure on the computer CPU, you should use GIF and JPEG images in your Flash design. You must optimize the GIF and JPEG images to load the Flash files faster in the browsers.

8. If your Flash website is heavy, you should use a pre-loader. It will hold the viewers’ attention till the main site finishes loading.

9. No matter how beautiful your website design looks, if it’s not user-friendly, it will soon be oblivious to users. Making Flash website design user-friendly is essential for attracting online traffic. Keep the navigation process simple and ask your friends to test the site for usability factor before launching the site.

10. Flash is going through an evolution and new things like Flash unity 3D applications and rich internet applications are offering new possibilities to designers. You should keep learning the new design and development techniques in Flash to beat other designers in your profession.

There is no doubt that Flash websites are eye catching, but that doesn’t mean you can use Flash in every website. Depending upon your business and your target audience, you may or may not design a Flash website. For instance, if you run a gaming company, a Flash website is the best choice for you. On the contrary, if you provide medical facilities, Flash website will not satisfy your target audience.

So, choose Flash wisely.

You can integrate Flash design in your website to get better results for your business. You can easily win over your customers if you use Flash presentations to demonstrate your products or services.

Here’s why you should use Flash presentations in your site:

1. Flash Explains Ideas Better

Using Flash presentations can help you boost your web page conversion rate by 15% or more! Do away with Powerpoint presentations; people are tired of looking at bland and boring slides. Instead, make presentations in Flash to explain your ideas in a better, faster and smoother way.

For example, you can make your presentation more attractive with animated text, additional animation effects or graphics to sell your ideas faster and better. Use of Flash animation technology can do wonders to attract visitors, as well as hold back their attention for longer. Remember, people are no longer interested in reading boring and lengthy product descriptions. So, thrill your customers by adding Flash animation effects in your online presentations.

2. Flash Adds Credibility to Your Sales Message

Using Flash presentations make your sales messages more credible. You can use client testimonials or voice-overs to highlight the benefits of using your products and services. You can also use a Flash video and get your products marketed by a celebrity. This will not only make your presentation attractive, but also credible.

Spice up your presentation even more by adding enthralling background music. Combining visuals with sound effects will make your message memorable to the online audience. Such presentations will also add more clarity to your message and it will be easily understood and remembered.

3. Flash Makes Ideas More Forceful

Using Flash in your presentations makes your ideas more forceful. Flash helps in telling a compelling story to your audience. Use quality visuals to make your unique selling points stand out. You can do this by using Flash visuals bearing evidence of your product or service benefits. This way, you will be able to make your ideas or arguments more powerful.

4. Flash Makes Texts and Images Lively

Presentations in Flash are far more appealing than Powerpoint slides. Use of Flash technology makes your text and images more decorative. It portrays your products to customers in the best light. Flash presentations display features and benefits of your products and services better than static images.

5. Flash is an Affordable Online Medium for Advertising

Flash presentations make promotional processes livelier, easy to understand, as well as engaging. You can attract potential customers cost-effectively without investing in print media or advertising. Besides, the online reach is wider than traditional print or television.

What companies fail to realize is that Flash should be used only if the business one does or website one has, needs Flash to promote work. For example, animation companies like Pixar or movie websites like IMDB can use Flash design; however, a steel plant website cannot. It just doesn’t go with its image!

Flash has its drawbacks, although problems can be sorted by some clever actionscripting, but most Flash designers just don’t make that extra effort. Here are seven reasons why Flash websites are painful for web users:

Problem with navigation- In some Flash websites, everything follows the direction of your mouse pointer. This is extremely irritating when you are searching for a particular item and the whole page goes bonkers! There may be a static menu somewhere, but still would you care to find it just to read a site properly, especially since options are many on the web?

Unnecessary complexity- The golden rule of user interface is to keep it simple. By making your website’s design complex, you won’t be impressing your visitors, but confuse them. Some Flash websites have such complicated navigation that it’s like solving a mystery.

Scrolling issue- This is a minor issue with Flash websites as they generally do not feature any scrollbar. But the sites that have a scrollbar can be very difficult to scroll. You cannot scroll a Flash website as smoothly as you can normal websites. If you try two finger scrolls on a laptop’s trackpad, you will find that you have to drag the scrollbar manually.

You can’t link- Flash sites create the complete website as a large Flash file, which means you cannot link a particular page or work. This is a real drawback for these sites because if you want to link anything inside the website, you can’t do it.

Animation can spoil the experience too- Animation looks cute in some places and sometimes it can completely mar usability of a website. Unless you are an animator, don’t use Flash animation in your portfolio website extensively. Of course, nominal Flash for banners and advertisements can be used.

Browser compatibility problem- Is probably the worst problem of a Flash website. Most times, Flash websites need to resize the browser, or pop up in a new window. Fact is, pop-ups are generally blocked in most browsers and if the site does not support different size screens, then it’s a complete failure for the site designer.

Can’t select text- I know that copying content is a crime and Flash designed websites actually prevent it. But think of it this way, if your site contains valuable information a user wants to share or print and store, he can’t do it, because he can’t copy! For example, your past client may want to refer you to someone he knows, but when he tries to copy/paste your contact information, he won’t be able to share it.

Haven’t we often heard – “anything in excess is not good”? Point of this article: use Flash where required, not desired. Use Flash wisely and within acceptable limits – in a banner, advertisement, small animation that does not hinder navigation or content readability, icons for pages, video files, etc.

Flash must perk your website’s appearance, not perk your user’s temper.

If you want to have your website designed with help of flash animated files, there are various flash designing companies who have professional and trained designers who can provide you with uniquely created animation files. To make a mark in today’s fast competitive market and catch the attention of customers, it is important that your website is capable of boosting the online presence of the company with eye catchy visual impact, creative solution and designing that can not be replicated by others. Promoting your product or service to the maximum is the most important thing to do in order to more traffic.

Using flash animation files in a website has its own share of several advantages. Below we will be discussing about the advantages of using flash design in websites:

• With help of an animated file, it is easy to attract visitors to a website. A beautifully created innovative designing that delights user, holds the power to catch the fancy of customers for long.
• Earlier search engine browsers had problem crawling flash files. But now a day, various search engine browsers such as Google, Bing etc have started giving importance to flash files, thus improving the online presence of animated sites more in internet.
• Animation or a flash design in banner or introduction sets the website aside from other common websites. It helps to differentiate the website from others easily and also help make a lasting impression.
• Anything if presented in a story telling style or arrangement adds more zing and authenticity of a product or service. Animation has the power to influence and convince buyers into a positive purchasing decision.
• Flash website with 3D animation should be able to add wonder and awe to the website so that visitors are thrilled and pleased to be in the site.

When you plan to have a website created for your company which will help to improve the brand image of the organization, it is always recommended that you avail the help of professional flash designers.