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Explanation of rapid application development (RAD) for Adobe Flash. Also refer to animations, movies, effects, actions, Swish, SwishZone, CoffeeCup, Firestarter, Ron Kurtus, School for Champions. Copyright © Restrictions

Rapid Application Development for Flash

by Ron Kurtus (15 July 2001)

Rapid application development (RAD) of Adobe Flash animations or movies can be achieved with several 3rd-party software applications. Special effects can be quickly created with these applications. Swish and Firestarter are two such programs for RAD Flash development.

Questions you may have are:

• What is the need for RAD in Flash?
• How do these other programs compare?
• What are some benefits of RAD?

This lesson will answer those questions. There is a mini-quiz near the end of the lesson.

Need for Flash RAD

Although Flash is relatively easy to use, it is also a full-featured application that includes a drawing program and numerous variations on what you can do with images, text and sound. The latest version is starting to emphasize using their ActionScript programming language to create many Flash effects.

There are many applications where you don't need the full power of Flash. In these situations, you might prefer a simpler method and interface for creating animations rapidly. Also, there are many commonly used effects that can be time-consuming to develop. One example concerns text effects, where the letters in a word may spiral in one at a time.

Several companies have simplified the Flash concept and created rapid application development (RAD) tools to allow you to put together simple Flash movies in a short amount of time. The top programs for doing this are Swish and Firestarter.

Comparison

Swish and Firestarter are both available as shareware, although the shareware version has limited use. They are evaluated on TuCows. They can be downloaded from TuCows or from their individual sites.

Both programs create Flash SWF files and the HTML code to insert the animation in a Web page.

Swish

Swish is produced by DJJ Holdings Ltd. of Australia. Its interface is much easier to use than that of Flash. Swish includes the ability to create effects such as fade-in and simple image movement. It also allows for actions such as going to another program on a mouse click.

Not only does the program create a Flash SWF file that can be added to a Web page, but the SWF files can also be added to a more complex Flash project.

Swish has a wide following, including sites dedicated to its use. In my opinion, it is the better buy of the Flash RAD programs. The program sells for $30 US and can be downloaded from their Swishzone site.

Firestarter

Firestarter is produced by CoffeeCup Software in Texas. It has a very intuitive interface and is quite easy to use. But it does lack the ability to include mouse-over actions. A nice feature is the ability to add blank spaces in a layer, to help in controlling the movie's effects.

The program creates Flash SWF files for use in Web pages. They also claim that these files can be used in other Flash projects, but they didn't seem to work properly when I tried to use them that way.

Firestarter is good for very quick, simple Flash development. The program sells for $49 US and can be downloaded from their CoffeeCup site.

Benefits

Using one of these Flash RAD programs can cut the amount of time required to develop single or complex applications. Another great advantage of using these programs is that it helps a newcomer to Flash development get up to speed and make the transition over to the full-blown Flash application.

Summary

It many situations it is advisable to use a 3rd-party Flash development program to reduce the time and effort in creating a Flash movie. Swish and Firestarter are major Flash RAD programs.

Answers to Readers' Questions

Who did you help today?

Resources

The following are resources on this subject.

Websites

Adobe Flash

TuCows Shareware listings

SwishZone

CoffeeCup Firestarter

Flash Resources

Books

Top-rated books on Flash

Miscellaneous

Mini-quiz to check your understanding

1. What does "RAD" stand for?

2. Why would you use a 3rd-party application to develop Flash movies?

3. What is an added benefit of using Swish or Firestarter?

If you got all three correct, you are on your way to becoming a Champion in Flash development. If you had problems, you had better look over the material again.

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Rapid Application Development for Flash