A Flash® animator uses the computer program Flash® to create interactive multimedia and animated works. Flash® is a software program that allows animators to create self-contained animated pieces that can either be viewed or interact with the viewer. These types of animations are frequently seen on websites, and the majority of work produced by a Flash® animator can be found there, though a few television and feature-length programs have been produced using Flash®.
The program was originally known as Future Splash and was created to compete with Shockwave® for use in web-based animations and Internet advertising in the mid-1990s. Macromedia®, the company behind Shockwave®, bought the program and renamed it Flash®. Flash® has received numerous upgrades and advancements in programming and capability over the years. Flash® is still primarily used by graphic designers and webpage designers for web-based animations and advertisements, despite changing names and owners.
Adobe® Flash®, which was released more recently, allows a Flash® animator to create content for websites and other uses with relative ease and a fairly impressive array of tools. Many websites use Flash® animations to display advertisements or host videos and games. For large corporations looking to create a signature look for their commercials, Flash® animation has even been used in some television commercials. These images and videos are created by a Flash® animator using the Adobe® Flash® program’s various tools.
Traditional frame-by-frame animation, which aims to replicate the look and feel of classic hand-drawn animated features and shorts, as well as animation created with three-dimensional (3-D) animation programs, are examples of this. An animator can use these tools to place a character in specific key frames, and the program will fill in the motion between those frames. While fine tuning and the addition of more key frames are frequently required to complete the sequence and make motion appear more fluid or lifelike, this process is usually more streamlined than hand-drawing hundreds or thousands of frames.
The video or animation will then be rendered as a Shockwave Flash® (.swf) file for use on websites and Flash® players, or as a Flash® Video (.flv) file for use with other players by the Flash® animator. A Flash® video in one of these file types can be viewed or interacted with using a variety of video players or by embedding it into a website. A Flash® animator’s work can even produce interactive animated features that are as immersive as any video game.