Flash without Macromedia?

[Keith T. Hemari]

Ok, I've been looking into getting started with flash animation, but I simply cannot afford the $700 it takes to buy the 'official' animation studio to do so.

So I've gone looking for alternatives. So far I've found Koolmoves ( www.koolmoves.com/index.html ), which looks (form the demo) to be about what I'm looking for, and costs a good deal less. However, I'm not sure, and unsurprisingly I don't want to dump money into something that could turn out to be very limited.

I remembered that there are a few flash animators amongst us MCers, so I thought I'd pick your brains.

Is there any alternative to Macromedia Flash (that does not involve illegal downloads, cracks, hacks, etc)? Not necessarily freeware, but cheaper than the main product. I'm not looking to do really complex stuff.. I'm thinking more cartoony type things (like what you see in my avatar), so it doesn't have to be as vastly featured as the primary program.

Or should I just start saving up?

[Keith Stack]

Well, it's very simple. First you-

keithhemari said:

(that does not involve illegal downloads, cracks, hacks, etc)

Oh. Nevermind.

[rogerfromimp]

Heh, I started with a dumb programm called art dabbler, but you can only use 99 frames and no sound, and bleh, so it hardly qualifies as Flash ^^;

There's another programm called Macromedia Director, which came pretty close to Flash, but is more aimed at interactive (offline) productions.. but yeah, still macromedia, and still costs a healthy dose of money (1200 dollars I see from the official site)..

Ehmm.. That's all I know about other animating programms, so I'm afraid you have to save..
I believe there was also a programm just for tiny animations like your avantar (and by the way, Photoshop is also able to pull that off if you got it) but i can't remember the name, so I'm not much help ^^;

[Epon]

SwishMax is a lot more expanded now than Swish2, try that. It's a pretty easy tool to use.

[Sofox]

There is The Tab: www.the-tab.com
But you're looking at $99 for a 1 year liscence, and $595 for the full version, although you get a free Wacom tablet either way.

[Oni Lukos]

Uh...I got the educational edition...
Oh, and, Director is what you make Shockwave things in. (Crap, I ended a sentence with a preposition again)

[Keith T. Hemari]

Eh, it was worth a shot. Swishmax sounds good. Hmm.. I shall ponder this.

Thanks for your input guys^^