Free Flash Animations

Are Flash Animations Right for Your Site?

First off, you should think carefully about the site you're designing. A humor site where you run a small community sharing pictures of beer can sculptures and wacky personals ads, it's probably quite all right to have a banana doing the Pulp Fiction dance as a way to break up the homepage. If you're a tax lawyer trying to gain the trust of local companies, even a tasteful rendition of the same banana wearing an impeccable suit and tie just might not be what you're looking for.

All jest aside, it's easy to get carried away with animations, and there's a distinct risk of cluttering up your site with distractions and/or creating that wince-inducing late 1990s-look. Packing your site with unnecessary animations is like crying out "Hey, look at me, I just learned about this cool Internet thing yesterday! Do you want to see my LOLCAT collection, too? Hah! Gotcha, that was what we in the know call a 'Rickroll'!" Either way, the rule of thumb should be: Only add stuff that really makes your site better. Fillers, especially moving ones, almost always end up making things worse.

Are There Technical Concerns?

Flash, now owned by Adobe, is available for free download on Adobe's website. The current version as of this writing is Flash 9, and it is always a good idea to include a link to the latest version so that users can quickly and easily download it to their web browser. Once that is accomplished, there should be no issues for any of the major web browsers.

On a side note, don't forget to check the sites you're using for obtaining free Flash animations. Most are perfectly legit, but as always, be wary of tainted downloads (big zip files should be viewed with suspicion) and don't divulge any important information. In fact, if the site is asking for anything beyond an e-mail address (unless you're springing for a customized product,) be wary.

Where To Find Free Flash Animations

Here are three sources to get you started in your search for the right animation on your site:

• Free Flash Animations is a feature-filled blog with ready-to-download animation packages. The packages has animations for animals, geometric morphs, dancing people (iPod style), background bubbles and much more. All content is completely free for businesses and enthusiasts alike.

• Flashiness offers mostly free features, but also offers upgraded and personalized versions for a modest fee. The emphasis is on spiced-up versions of fundamentals like hit counters, banners, intros and so forth.

• SpillYerBeans has a bunch of humorous animations with code ready for copy-and-pasting. The animations range from elaborate gas price jokes to basic TGIF animations.

Of course, there's plenty more where these came from. Do a couple Google searches, but be prepared for "free" sites where you have one or two lousy freebies with everything else costing an arm and a leg. Also, some sites offer "free animations" -- that only work in the context of their paid product. Again, don't get suckered into giving out your credit card number unless you're explicitly ordering a customized animation. Good luck!