Is Flash dead?
Out of context: Reply #83
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- monNom4
Twenty some years ago, when I was just first getting into web design I built a portfolio website in flash. Not a portfolio really because I didn't have any work to show, but more a website to show my capabilities. I didn't know javascript, I hardly knew html, heck, I hardly knew flash! But with some dedication and some were-here.com tutorials, I was able to learn enough to build out a concept website featuring animation, interactive movement, multi-channel audio, and an exploratory style of navigation.
That website got me my first real job, where I actually learned how to design and build websites. They told me later that they made their hiring decision on the spot when they saw it, because they hadn't seen anything like it before. That's a pretty powerful tool to have lost, especially for someone just starting out.
I learned actionscript because of flash. Because I knew actionscript, I was able to figure out javascript, and c++ and java, and python, and on and on. I don't know that I would have gotten over that initial hurdle in learning to code were it not for the direct feedback and powerful toolkit within flash. You got so much for such little effort that it made learning to code really approachable.
I recall a hire later in my career, who I was asking about his portfolio website (built in flash). It seemed so sophisticated to me and I imagined that he must have achieved the interactive animation with some very clever code. But it turned out that it was all just timeline animation and gotos. He had just figured out how to achieve his vision using the simple tools in flash, and not knowing how to code didn't stop him.
Flash wasn't all good of course. It sucked trying to integrate with a cms. It was completely opaque to search engines. There was a lack of standardization and accessibility. AS3 was a nightmare for many. And later it became a security liability to even have it installed, but in its prime, flash was a tool that allowed non technical designers the ability to create rich experiences beyond anything available today. And I'm sad for this new generation of designers that website design is now exclusively an act of stacking up blocks of responsive content on a very long page. I can only imagine how impenetrable it must all seem now, and for such little creative benefit.
So this is my love story and lament for flash. It was a great tool. And it's a tragedy we lost it as designers.
- great story. you touch on I think the key thing about flash. It allowed timeline based visual animators to create interactive experiencesdkoblesky
- as you said, you could do it from a timeline or a code perspective....eithe... waydkoblesky
- +1 you summed up my experiences/sentimen... about flash to a teehotroddy
- Direct feedback of AS, and the forgiving syntax of AS1 was perfect for a beginner to learn. I wouldn't know where a young designer could start these days.shapesalad
- My story was similar to you. I'd tried to make a little interactive animation loop, just happened to be in banner like dimensions, it got me my first jobshapesalad
- I then learnt AS1 fully by messing about trying things at work, due to producers giving generous deadlines.shapesalad
- When they hired a junior Dev guy, on his first microsite project he caved and I had to code the thing. Even though I was supposed to be a designer.shapesalad
- Thanks to AS1, after effect expressions, javascript, html, css, php etc.... all easy to learn and understand.shapesalad
- Loved the tool, and done lots of money thanks to it, Flash freelance gigs helped me a lot to raise my family, be sure. Rip!! :(OBBTKN