There are literally dozens of
Web-enabled graphics programs out there. Here are a few of the best ones for
creating Web animation.
The Big Guns
Macromedia Flash rules the
world of Web animation. For professionals, and some amateurs, it's the only way
to go. Flash packs enough power for the high-end user, while remaining
accessible to the Web authoring tyro. It boasts a powerful set of drawing
tools, it also has a great selection of filters for importing common graphics
formats.
On top of that, Flash has a
built-in scripting language named ActionScript. With ActionScript, you can
build complex animations quickly and easily. If you're new to Flash and
ActionScript, you can use menu options to create scripts. Hard core programmers
can do it the old-fashioned way in a text editor. All in all, Flash is a
powerful tool for Web authors of all levels of expertise.
Xara X is an overlooked gem for
building Web graphics. Xara X is a full image editing and creation tool, with a
number of Web features for creating like buttons and image maps. Xara X's
animation functions are really impressive, though. You can import just about
any kind of graphic, turn it into a frame-based animation, then export it as an
animated GIF. Or, you can export it as a Flash animation. This gives Xara X a
flexibility lacking in most of its rivals.
Small But Strong
If you want to build
frame-based animation, then check out these three powerful yet easy-to-use
tools.
The first two are GIF
Construction Set and PNG/MNG Construction Set. As you probably guessed from
their names, the tools are build animated graphics in the GIF, PNG, and MNG
formats. Each application lets you build your animations in two ways. There's
the techie way, which represents each graphic in the animation as a separate
block. Then, you add blocks for graphics, comments, and transition effects.
There's also an Animation Wizard, which takes you through a set of steps to
automatically build the graphic. You don't get as much control with the Wizard.
However, both the GIF
Construction Set and PNG/MNG Construction Set lack image editing functions and
their interfaces take some getting used to.
The other tool is Animation
Shop. It's easily one of the most powerful frame-based animation tools around.
Animation Shop has a powerful wizard, a nice set of image and text editing
tools, and a range of transitions and effects. It can also automatically
generate the HTML code for your animation. This feature is very handy if you're
in a hurry!