[thelist] the cost of Flash - alternatives?

[Christian Heilmann]

On 12/29/05, Canfield, Joel <JCanfield at pacadvantage.org> wrote:
> I used Flash briefly many moons ago, and for some of my sites it'd be
> the right tool. Unfortunately, I don't have $350 to spend on it. It hurt
> enough spending $300 for PhotoShop a few years ago, and I use that every
> single day.
>
> Is there an alternative? I'd love to offer my clients a bit o' Flash for
> their sites, but doing web work as a sideline, it's just such a big
> expense I'm not sure I can justify it for the small amount I'd use it.
> On the other hand, for that small amount of use, it would be the perfect
> tool.
>
> Ideas?

Collaborate with a Flash Designer/Developer and share the profits?
Students get the whole Adomedia Suite dirt cheap.

There are some tools that do create Flash animations and smaller
movies like Swish, or some 3D tools that export Flash movies (like
Swift3D by electric rain) - heck, you can even generate Flash via PHP
and Ming, but the real power of modern flash - using XML for data
storage and proper Rich Interfaces are just possible with the real
thing. We moved HTML and CSS further up the development ladder - we're
working on JavaScript, it is also time to kiss Flash as the tunnel and
bells and whistles generator goodbye.

--
Chris Heilmann
Blog: http://www.wait-till-i.com
Writing: http://icant.co.uk/
Binaries: http://www.onlinetools.org/