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Shockwave FLASH vs. GIF's?
Flash is an authoring tool for animated multimedia
both on and off the Web. Flash is today the most widely accepted technology
for creating fully interactive real-time design animation's on the Web.
The most amazing thing about Flash animation technology is its low bandwidth
requirements compared to animated GIFs, Quick Time movies, or even Shockwave
Director technology.
Flash file size requirements are extremely low
due to its use of vector art as compared to bit-mapped art used in animated
GIFs. Vector art uses geometry to define shapes and colors rather than
bitmaped art which is defined by coloring each individual pixel (represented
by a group of data bits) in a user-defined fixed sized matrix (often called
a "raster"). Programs such as Photoshop, Painter, XRES, and
your scanner software use bitmap graphics.
Flash can be used to make simple animated banners
and graphics or used to create an entire Web site. The developer of this
product, Macromedia, has designed Flash to work on all operating systems
and has designed it to play with the Shockwave plug-in or through JAVA-playback
and Active X if you don't have the plug-in. Viewers of Flash animations
who have the plug-in will notice the presentation start quicker than those
without the plug-in. Flash can also be used for CD-authoring, and is a
powerful program for illustration and presentations.
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Cobalt
Philosophy and Design Techniques:
