Until a few days ago Flash was the only program I knew of to author flash animations. A few days ago a friend of mine introduced me to Swish, the easy to use flash authoring program. Swish could be compared to the Paint shop in the Photoshop world. This is a Swish tutorial (or a Flash Tutorial depending on your point of view) to determine which on is the best authoring program for creating killer web animation.

Benefits of Swish
Though this Swish tutorial doesn't play favorites, Swish is much easier to use. The Swish interface is much more intuitive to the novice user than Flash is. New animators can pick it up really fast. This is especially useful to people who use a variety of technologies to make website because they will not have to climb the steep learning curve of flash. Swish is also useful to designers who have to put out lots of animations quickly. Price is another advantage of Swish at around a $100 USD it is much easier on the wallet than the $700 USD it would cost to purchase Flash, makes it difficult for new users to choose flash.

Benefits of Flash
Flash is the industry standard. If you would like to make your self an employable flash designer you will want to know Flash. Flash also gives you more control over your animations the rule of thumb with Flash is; if the Flash Player can play it, Flash can create it. Flash also gives the author the ability to use action script for maximum creativity and functionality.

What do they have in Common?
I'll try not to go to in depth, as this is primarily a Swish tutorial. First of all they both end in 'sh' and have five letters. More importantly they both produce animations that can be view on the Flash Player. That's about it.

Which do I choose?
Choosing which one is right for you is tough. Hopefully this Swish tutorial will help you decide. Like any tool the use is the most important factor in deciding which one to choose. To choose between Flash and Swish, first think of what you want to create and then ? choose Swish. For most of what you want to do Swish is perfectly capable and efficient. If you would like to become a self proclaimed Flash guru then you should probably use flash but otherwise Swish is the way to go. When asked whether there were any disadvantages to using Swish over Flash Stewart Goodwin, a Flash designer said "Besides the fact that it is a million times easier to use, and learn, and is cheaper, No!"

This Swish tutorial was intended to help introduce you to the other options for authoring flash animations. So before you get locked into a solution shop around and see what other options are available.

Justin Grover- 10xMarketing ? More Visitors ?More Buyers ?More Revenue, if you would like to find a quality Swish Tutorial or Flash Training please visit Cartoon Solutions.

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