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It's unlikely that you can make a great Flash site using only Flash. Here are a few links to some of the most popular and powerful software tools that can enhance Flash. I've tested all these, but there are many others I haven't listed here. ActionScript Viewerhttp://buraks.com/asv/ ActionScript viewer lets you view and recover elements contained in a .swf. It's a great product that includes some invaluable plugins such as the Shared Object Viewer. You'll also find a Flash video captioning tool, Captionate, at buraks.com. Swift 3Dwww.swift3d.com Swift 3D is a full-blown 3D modeling, animation, and rendering product. The primary focus is to let you create .swf stills and animations with 3D that you can import into Flash. This site also has supporting tools for some other popular 3D creation tools. Toon Boom Studiowww.toonboomstudio.com Toon Boom Studio has its roots in conventional cell animation. Unique features include color styles (where you can replace all uses of a particular color), rotating the Stage to help you draw (as in real life), and camera movements to simulate 3D. Plus, Flash can import source Toon Boom Studio work files. Wildformwww.wildform.com Wildform makes a really nice tool called Wild FX that helps you create sophisticated text animations automatically. It also has a Flash video encoder called Flix Pro that was sold to On2 (the makers of the new Flash video codec). See http://flix.on2.com/cart/store.php. SWF Studiowww.northcode.com This Windows-only product adds powerful functionality to standalone projectors created in Flash. For example, you can create files on the user's machine to save bookmarks. Flash Studio Prowww.multidmedia.com This is another product that adds features to projectors. The company also makes other Flash tools, such as FlashCast for desktop recording. Screenweaverwww.screenweaver.com Screenweaver is similar to the other projector-making products. Its community site is very active. Jugglorwww.flashjester.com Similar to SWF Studio, this product adds features to projectors. mProjectorwww.screentime.com/software/mprojector/ This project works on Macintosh as well as Windows. Be sure to check out the Red Rubber Ball sample. iceProjectorhttp://www.flashants.com Yet another projector maker! Zoomifyerwww.zoomify.com There are several versions of this product, but you should definitely check out the demo. It lets you display super-high-resolution photos in a Flash movie. Camtasia Studiowww.camtasia.com This screen recorder (from TechSmith) outputs small and super-clear .swf movies. |
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