Graphics Zone - Review of Flash Builder

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Review of Flash Builder

by Adult Buzz

Company/Publisher - FlashBuilder.net
Download NOW - www.flashbuilder.net

Ever wanted to build a Flash website but knew it was all over your head? Flash Builder is a great way to get your feet wet without knowing a lick of Macromedia Flash Design - or HTML for that matter! This WYSIWYG design program is a fun way to explore the world of Flash and see what it can do for you and your website.

Simply download the program, install and you're ready to go. The program is so easy, it walks you step-by-step through everything that you need to do to whip up a simple - or complex, depending upon how much time you want to spend on it - Flash website!

The first thing you'll see is that you do need to create an account and login each time. This is sort of like a free hosting account for the first 30-days. The Flash site that you create is hosted on FlashBuilder.net's servers so you will need to login each time you wish to update your Flash website.

Login to the account and you're ready to go. Step 1 is all about the design, look and feel of your Flash Website. Choose from Website Intro - where you create an introductory screen of text, timed events and overall style. Then you go on to the Website Theme section. You can choose a pre-made theme OR you can choose to upload your own - whatever works best for you. Uploading is easy and takes just a few seconds via the FlashBuilder.net website interface that's built right into the design console.

The third category in Step 1 is where you choose your Web Interface - this is basically the background and set-up of how, where and in what theme your individual pages will load and images will appear. Fourth we choose Background Music - again you have many built in choices OR you can upload your own mpg creations. Background Color is chosen next, followed by Movie Width - and finished off with Website Modules. The only Module choice available at this time is to add an on-site chat option.

We move on to Step 2 - the Web Content section of the console. Here you will design your introductory page with text and images, flesh out the information page as well as add in the individual pages and options of your Flash website. Choose from easy-to-use buttons down the left-hand side of the console to move from one page to another. The interface is WYSIWYG or you can turn on an optional HTML version if you prefer. Just upload the images you wish to display and then add in any text, descriptions, headers, footers or other HTML you want added to each page. Each page may display up to 5 uploaded images - and sub-pages are available as well if you need more space for your site.

Step 3 is where you save your design options - or changes; you do use this interface again to make modifications - and then preview your Flash website. You'll be amazed to see a fully functioning Flash website appear before your eyes sporting your text, images and choices. Then hit the SAVE button; wait for it to load and you can go directly to your Flash site on the net.

DRAWBACKS - the site is only FREE for 30-days. After that period you are essentially paying $4.17 per month for hosting this single Flash site account. Also - you cannot save your Flash creation onto your own server. It must remain on the FlashBuilder.net site and all TOS and rules apply.

GOOD POINTS - this tool is fun to use, a great way for webmasters to explore Flash to see if it's something that they would like to learn more about. Or maybe they would like to see about hiring a Flash Designer to create their next tour or maybe even a few banners.

As broadband increases in popularity more and more surfers are going to demand high-speed, dynamic, Flash-like content. Of course you don't want to forget or shut out those dial-up customers who still dominate the market, but it's not a bad idea to start learning about Flash and other high-speed design options now so you'll be prepared to meet the demands of your customers in the future.

All in all I give this week's software 3 stars out of 5. It was a lot of fun to play with and explore - but I would have enjoyed it more if I could save my new site for use on my own domain.