Alternatives to Flash

[Andy]

I like the idea of making impressive ads to use on landing pages but the graphics and use of models is the problem.

So, are products like the $40 Flash Ad Creator the answer? http://www.flashadcreator.com/

I feel like buying this but just wonder what people familiar with flash development have to say.

[Menard]

I thought you meant, by alternatives to flash, methods that did not involve the use of flash.

I often surf the web with flash blocked in my browser.

Yes, I'm a hippocrate, as I'm working on a site which uses a flash intro.

I wonder how many do surf with flash blocked in their browsers?

[Andy]

Since I posted in the "Graphic and Design" area I am interested in tools that produce Flash animations without the expense of buying the Adobe tools.

[Queen Bee]

Sothink Glanda is one of the few flash alternatives that I would recommend. The Flash Ad Creator looks very similar, but it may be more up-to-date than Sothink Glanda. I have also tried Swish, but found it harder to use than I would have liked. I did not like Firestarter very much at all.

Many tools have been created since I last explored the use of flash. I have not had any need for it in awhile, nor have any of my clients. For me, it has lost some of its charm. I do, however, prefer flash banners to gif animated banners. They are much smoother and about the same size (dependent upon relative complexity).

Adobe's Flash software is too complex for my tastes. I am not interested in heavy duty programming. In my personal opinion, go for something like The Flash Ad Creator. I think it has most of what you need.

[SensoVision]

I thought you meant, by alternatives to flash, methods that did not involve the use of flash.

me too, and I was a bit shocked that there exist alternative to flash technology which come unmentioned to me

I often surf the web with flash blocked in my browser.
Yes, I'm a hippocrate, as I'm working on a site which uses a flash intro. Roll Eyes

I'm reluctant to using flash in sites since I believe that not everyone is using flash and that those who are using may have problems with downloading it...

I wonder how many do surf with flash blocked in their browsers?

I'm not blocking it but with current connection speed I usually skip sites which have big movies...

Regarding your question, before buying I definitely check programs advised by Rachel, especially Swish as I remember that liked it last time I saw.
I've checked examples on flashadcreator.com and they looks good to me, although I would not likely use any such tools for my needs since I hate things which use templates and prefer everything to be unique even if it's look not so good as it could be with template

[Menard]

I'm reluctant to using flash in sites since I believe that not everyone is using flash and that those who are using may have problems

This is the only site, at present, for which I am going to be using a flash intro, or any kind of flash.

I don't like using flash; it is heavy and resource unfriendly.

The only reason I used a flash intro for this particular site was because the intro appealed to me and I thought it might give the site a bit more of a professional look (maybe not ).

The intro is here: http://fue7.com/ (it is a 556kb file); there are no other pages uploaded yet.

I need to add a 'skip intro' option to the file (one which will stop the download if they opt and take them to the site). Anybody know how I can do this? (I am not familiar with flash, nor do I have any flash editing tools)

[SensoVision]

I didn't check your site as uploading of movies would vost me around dollar(I'm on mobile now) but I can suggest you using simple href link above or under movie which would direct to the HTML page. This way you don't have to make changes to movie itself...

Idea: if you use flash on the site I would strongly suggest to have an image which would be displayed to users which doesn't have flash installed in browsers, this way your site would look good for everyone.

[Andy]

I am against developing flash based web sites for reasons of SEO only.

My need was to develop a great looking landing page. This is the kind of page that people see on a traffic exchange or after clicking on an Adsense link. So SEO has zero importance in this case. The web page just needs to look good. In one case my landing page is just a big graphic image that if clicked takes you to my affiliate sales page. There is no attempt at anything other than getting people to be interested in my offer and click their left mouse button.

The people that block flash are the kind of people I don't want at my web site since they are maybe awkward, weirdos, time wasters or people with no money to spend so they can go and visit somebody else's site. I can live with it and even have an easier life without them.

[Menard]

The people that block flash are the kind of people I don't want at my web site since they are maybe awkward, weirdos, time wasters or people with no money to spend so they can go and visit somebody else's site. I can live with it and even have an easier life without them.

Hey...I resemble those remarks

[Andy]

Hey...I resemble those remarks

To a degree for sure  But you are hardly a time waster. You are a most valued contributor to discussions. Also, you are a spender of money and give away stuff you bought which means ... oops

[Andy]

Well, I purchased The Ad Creator software http://www.flashadcreator.com/ The Ads don't have to be Flash Animations. I made my first static Ad in no time and exported a jpeg image.

The Ad was to be a splash page but as one large jpeg image I decided to chop it up in Paint shop Pro to create a set of optimized images to use as part of a web page. This is so the download speed is as quick as possible. I retained jpeg for the image of the lady and used gif and png for the other elements according to which gave the smallest file size.

Note that in this case I am not concerned about search engines (I used images for the text) since traffic to this page will be generated by other means.

Here's the end result: http://uvme.urgentclick.com/ads/ad1.php I think it looks professional and allows me to use graphics and fonts that I would have to pay for otherwise.

I found the software very easy to use with no need to read any help files so far. So if you are a web master with poor graphic design skills and needing professional-looking graphic images, I think this is a nice piece of software to get your hands on.

[Menard]

I've been seeing a lot of the uvme on the traffic exchanges lately. Your's looks better than the splash pages I have been seeing; certainly gets someone's attention.

[Andy]

Thanks 

I can put together nice combinations of sales-oriented text phrases but needed graphics to produce click-magnet pages. I think, this product gives me that capability.

[Andy]

Your's looks better than the splash pages I have been seeing; certainly gets someone's attention. Grin

Thanks again, but How about the download speed? How many seconds does it take for you guys to see the page.

http://uvme.urgentclick.com/ads/ad1.php

p.s. I think it just fits into an 800x600 browser window which was one goal. Another goal is to get people's interest within 15 seconds.

[Menard]

I'm on a cable connection, so I can't fairly comment as it loads almost instantly for me.

[Andy]

I'm on a cable connection, so I can't fairly comment as it loads almost instantly for me.

Wow! That's great news. I am the other side of the world and it took around 5 seconds to load for me. I was a little concerned. If anyone is interested, my site is hosted in Texas, USA.

[Menard]

Wow! That's great news. I am the other side of the world and it took around 5 seconds to load for me. I was a little concerned. If anyone is interested, my site is hosted in Texas, USA.

HostGator hosted sites load pretty fast for me. I don't know exactly how long it took for the page to load. The link opens in a new window, but I have to click on the new tab to show the page; by the time the tab has opened, the page is already loaded.

[Andy]

How long does it take for you to sign up with the free millionaire program ?

[Menard]

How long does it take for you to sign up with the free millionaire program ?

I don't know

[eons]

I thought you meant, by alternatives to flash, methods that did not involve the use of flash.

I often surf the web with flash blocked in my browser.

Yes, I'm a hippocrate, as I'm working on a site which uses a flash intro.

I wonder how many do surf with flash blocked in their browsers?

Just wondering, why would anyone want to block flash???

[donecweb]

Just wondering, why would anyone want to block flash???

Sometimes flash takes too much time to load so people block flash to speed up their surfing and if they find something and need flash then they turn it on.

[Menard]

Just wondering, why would anyone want to block flash???

Why would anyone not want to block it?

It's largely used for advertising banners and other crap to throw things at surfers which are annoyances. If I go onto a site and somebody wants to show me an ad, show me a simple graphic and I'll accept that; have me wait longer between ads loading, and crap slowing my browser, and I'm blocking it, and need a real good reason to stay on a site that uses flash.

[Andy]

Why would anyone not want to block it?

 

[Queen Bee]

Why would anyone not want to block it?

It's largely used for advertising banners and other crap to throw things at surfers which are annoyances. If I go onto a site and somebody wants to show me an ad, show me a simple graphic and I'll accept that; have me wait longer between ads loading, and crap slowing my browser, and I'm blocking it, and need a real good reason to stay on a site that uses flash.

Yup, pretty much...

[Draught]

buying a script is google will mostly consider as spam. because so many will use same. try to develop yourself. hire developers for your work