The growth of animated web pages this year has been remarkable. This is due in no small part to the availability of Macromedia's web animation programme Flash 5. As the version number suggests this is not a totally new concept in web design but this year perceptibly, Flash sites have become common. For the first time animation contributes rather than detracts from site use.

To enable browsers to read a Flash animation an exterior programme called a plug in is required, that is to say a module that manages specific data within a browser window. Flash plug-ins are available for both Netscape and Microsoft Explorer and once installed, load times are substantially reduced allowing animations to start before all the information has been downloaded. In September 2000 alone the Macromedia site recorded over 79 million downloads of the Flash player.

In France with its established reputation for graphic design, a number of sites have embraced the technique making effective use of the ability of Flash to integrate graphic, video and sound files, in particular MP3 files, more easily and far more effectively than ever before.

If you add to this the increased interactivity between the user and the 'pages' downloaded, it all makes for a different sort of web experience. It is now possible to zoom in and out of a page, as well as determine the graphic quality. Objects can be manipulated and exchanged. It is possible to create sophisticated cartoons and even games. Not forgetting creative artists who are exploring this new type of media interaction to produce completely new visual effects.

Some select Flash sites

The animation of sites is not without critics because it creates bulky files, which can be time consuming to download. The blinking now loading sign is reminiscent of the hourglass, which used to symbolise Internet waiting. Also by constantly 'improving' the plug-ins, Internet users are continually being asked if they wish to add on the very latest upgrade. It seems however, that with the increasing number of broadband Internet connections the trend towards animation as site embellishment can only grow, to the general satisfaction of the viewer.

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