Comments on: How to make make cool interactive/artsy web pages for free?

Question: How to make make cool interactive/artsy web pages for free?

andrew cooke — Sun, 08 Aug 2004 12:31:17 -0800

I want to make cool interactive/artsy web pages for free. How?

There are many sites that I find amazingly cool (eg here). They seem to use Flash or Shockwave, both of which seem to have commercial authoring tools.

Do any free, legal authoring tools exist? Is there a freeware equivalent that is at all popular? Thanks.

By: andrew cooke

andrew cooke — Sun, 08 Aug 2004 12:42:09 -0800

(I have access to Linux and Windows 2k machines, but not Macs)

By: tweebiscuit

tweebiscuit — Sun, 08 Aug 2004 12:51:37 -0800

With the possible exception of Java, I'd have to say that no, no free tools exist. Many of these tools are extremely sophisticated, and thus are pricey. However, keep in mind that Flash, a $500 program, allows you to do work that would have cost tens of thousands of dollars a few decades ago.

By: jpburns

jpburns — Sun, 08 Aug 2004 13:05:31 -0800

Get good at JavaScript and xHTML and all that stuff. It's pretty robust (not Flash, mind you, but very flexible and useful stuff).

By: dobbs

dobbs — Sun, 08 Aug 2004 13:20:52 -0800

Apparently done without Flash. All XHTML and CSS.

By: Aaorn

Aaorn — Sun, 08 Aug 2004 13:40:08 -0800

People have done some beautiful/cool things using Processing, a "visual programming" framework for Java. It's currently pre-release, but even the completed version will be free software.

By: andrew cooke

andrew cooke — Sun, 08 Aug 2004 14:26:37 -0800

thanks. i'm aware of xhtml + css, but that really isn't the way i want to go (eg animations).

i need to look at processing again - i was aware of it (and dbn), but didn't realise it could be used to generate dynamic images.

i've also turned up ming, which looks like it might be relevant and/or lead to new leads (i'm not at all bothered about a gui - emacs is just fine).

By: andrew cooke

andrew cooke — Sun, 08 Aug 2004 14:32:43 -0800

and swftools.

By: andrew cooke

andrew cooke — Sun, 08 Aug 2004 14:42:41 -0800

and javaswf. sorry for posting before looking this hard. i thought there would be a more obvious solution (none of these seem that popular).

By: magullo

magullo — Sun, 08 Aug 2004 14:45:10 -0800

Wax is a freeware video postprocessor that can generate some types of SWF files. Be sure to give it a spin - it's fun, easy to use and learn and fairly powerful.

By: neustile

neustile — Sun, 08 Aug 2004 15:20:00 -0800

ming is pretty cool but bugilly buggy. I am using the perl version of ming for a relatively large project, and it's indispensable but I am fixing more bugs than I'd like to as I go along.

By: andrew cooke

andrew cooke — Sun, 08 Aug 2004 15:20:40 -0800

and finally openswf.

By: Grod

Grod — Sun, 08 Aug 2004 17:09:10 -0800

ahem. I would never suggest that those pricey tools you mention—Flash and Shockwave—could be acquired for free. Of course, it isn't a crime to use someone elses computer and if that computer happens to have this software installed that is a bonus. Of course, there are also free trials available. The only thing you sacrifice when you don't own the software you use is the support.

By: davidmsc

davidmsc — Sun, 08 Aug 2004 17:37:42 -0800

How about Swish? Several options, all under $100. Good luck!

By: darkpony

darkpony — Sun, 08 Aug 2004 18:41:38 -0800

you can do alot with SVG and a text editor. oh, and javascript.

By: andrew cooke

andrew cooke — Sun, 08 Aug 2004 19:09:22 -0800

is svg going anywhere? i got the impression it hadn't caught on. swishmax does look good, and within my price range, though i'll probably try the other options first.