Integrated multimedia for the WWW

Flash basics

Macromedia Flash is used widely to provide interactive multimedia content for web sites.

Activity 4.1

Before working on developing some basic skills with Macromedia Flash it will be helpful to become familiar with some of the possibilities presented by the software.

Possibly the best recognized advantage of Flash is that its content is typically very compact. The small files permit rapid loading and thus help to make a site seem more responsive to the user. The files are small because Flash uses vector graphics wherever possible. That is, much of the content, including text and drawn images, is stored and transmitted as instructions for drawing the image rather than bitmap images.

As a consequence of its using vector graphics rather than bitmaps, Flash content is able to be zoomed using the appropriate contextual menu controls - right button click for MS Windows or control click for MacOS. Test the zoom feature on the following piece of Flash graphics. Note that even at high magnification the curves remain smooth.

Flash files may include non-vector content such as bitmaps and audio but the use of features such as MP3 compression helps to restrict the overall file size even when these are included.

Activity 4.2

Spend some time to learn the basics of working in Macromedia Flash.

If you are going to create your own projects in Flash, then you will probably have need for content such as music loops, sound effects and graphics. One useful and well organized source for such components is Flash Kit.