By: David Doggett

May 1st, 2001

Reader Rating: 6

Macromedia Flash is taking over the web. It seems everywhere you look there is a flash animation playing. The thing that separates a poor flash site from a great flash site is creativity. It is pretty obvious that many people lack creativity by looking at some of the web sites out there today, however some still manage to amaze us.

So it all comes down to creativity….

Well, what if you just aren't a creative person? Or even worse, what if you are creative but just don't have the time to learn Macromedia Flash but would still like to have some flash of your own on the web?

"You can now say goodbye to $50 - $100 per hour designer fees!"

What if you could make some flash animations of your own? Avoiding high hourly design rates. We'll there are several options that allow you to be your own flash developer without any experience at all. The first thing you need to do is figure out if you want a little bit of flash on your site or a full blown flash web site experience for your viewers. If you only require a small amount of flash you should check out Swish, a small flash tool that allows you to create simple text effect animation that can really spice up your site. Check out this tool at SwishZone.com [1] and for a small $30 investment you can add some flash to your web site.

Now, if you are looking for something a bit more "flashy" than what Swish has to offer, check out Flash Blaster. This flash tool let's you create a fully animated splash screen (short animation at the start of your web site) for your web site and they offer a selection of packages to suit your needs. For more information check out FlashBlaster.com [2]

Finally, for the user who wants a fully animated flash web site presence on the web but you are "creatively challenged" or don't have the time to learn how to use Macromedia Flash, there are solutions out there for you. To mention a few, eFlash Technologies [3], Balthaser [4], and Tough Media [5], all offer utilities that create fully animated flash web sites.

I have decided to focus on what eFlash Technologies has to offer due to the fact that the Balthaser system is too complex for the average "Joe" and Tough Media doesn't have as many templates to offer as eFlash Technologies. eFlash Technologies also has an interesting business opportunity.

eFlash Technologies Inc. has developed a powerful, build-it-yourself multimedia flash web site tool that lets anyone create a flash presence in a matter of minutes. If you were able to use your computer to read this article, you could use the eFlash system. Using the web site building tool, you select from a series of template designs (your sites graphical layout), then enter the site content, select some background music, the site background color and voila!, your site is created on the fly! You can also log into the eFlash system 24/7 to edit your content and design style.

Don't just take my word for it, check out the companies I have mentioned in this article and start making some flash of your own.

[1] http://www.swishzone.com/
[2] http://www.flashblaster.com
[3] http://www.eflashgroup.com
[4] http://www.balthaser.com
[5] http://www.toughmedia.com