Macromedia Flash 8 is a powerful authoring tool in which you can create simple Web animations, Web-based software applications, multimedia experiences, and business applications that work on- or offline. Flash's capabilities are deep and diverse; fortunately, it's not too hard to get started with simple Flash projects.
Flash provides easy-to-use vector drawing tools for creating graphics. You can integrate these vector graphics with video, bitmaps, and sounds created in other applications.
Perhaps the easiest starting point in Flash development is the creation of animations. With Flash, you can create the illusion of motion by placing content in successive frames, which pass by so quickly that the eye perceives motion. Flash's authoring environment is based on the metaphor of frames in a movie reel; you place content in each frame, and when the Flash movie plays back, it proceeds through the frames until it reaches the end.
Organize elements in space and in time, using Flash's intuitive timeline.