multimedia animation

Animation

Animation Options

Adding animation to your website can add interest but too much animation can be distracting and annoying. There are several different types of animations you can add to your website and the feature you want will most likely determine the way the page is programmed. Flash animation is a popular method used for creating animation on web pages but requires for some mobile devices (i-phones and i-pads) to have a plug-in to view. If you feel that a large majority of your website visitors are viewing from these type of devices you will want to use another programming method like jQuery. jQuery is now becoming a more popular way to add animation to your website but requires the need to know how to write client-side scripts.

Animated GIFS

animation of cards flying out of a magic hat You can obtain tons of FREE animated GIFS from many different websites. Simply right/click and select "save as" and then place the graphic in a folder on your desktop. Then upload that image to your web server under your images folder and then write the code to add the image to your html file. Be careful adding too many animated graphics to your website if you are building a website for your business. Most business websites use professional images rather than the cartoon looking graphics as shown here.

Banners, Menus, Buttons, Text & More

FLASH is a software application developed by Macromedia and later bought by Adobe that enables web designers to create small programs (called "movies") that contain moving objects, interactive shows or on-line tutorials and presentations. The completed published .swf file can then be embedded into a web page by editing the HTML code. Non-programmers can create animations using FLASH VORTEX.

In order for the visitors of your web site to view a Flash animation they must have the lastest "player" installed in their browser. Fortunately most visitors already do and new computers come with the Flash Player already installed. But because there is a slight chance they may not have it, it would be smart to provide a link for your visitors to download the player if necessary. (FREE Flash Player)

Here is an example of an application written purely in Flash. Architect Design Manual.

Flash Animation

Flash is fun! Just know when to use it. You can make small animated ads for your website like the one you see below without even owning Flash or knowing anyone who does.

Want to make an animated ad for your website? Just sign up at activeden. Select from tons of flash templates. You do not need to know Flash. All you do is edit a text file with your own content and add your URL for the link. You do not need to know any programming!

If you want to become a Flash Developer you may want to visit these websites:

Mobile Device Note: Currently Apple's iOS doesn't support Flash so i-phone or i-pad users cannot view Flash unless they download an app thru i-tunes. You can get "Photon Flash Video Player" from i-tunes for only $4.99. Android cell phones can view flash files with no problems.

jQuery & CSS

You can also animate text and graphics on your web page by combining jQuery and CSS. CSS stands for Cascading Styles Sheets and these are the pages that define the styles of the elements on your page. You can customize size, color, etc. Cascading Style Sheets also define the placement of the elements on the web page using attributes like position, margin, padding, etc. jQuery is a library of javaScript functions that you use to dynamically change the elements on the page. You select which item you want to animate by calling the elements id or class name. javaScript is client-side scripting so all of the processes are handled on the end user's computer.

If are a Web Designer and you would like to learn how to create these type of animations for your website, check out the tutorials on this website under jQuery.

 

 

 

 

Stock Flash Files