SWFText is
a flash text authoring tool. I have several applications similar to
this. One is nearly impossible to work with, another in-between, and
another is great. It has lots of effects but is on the expensive
side. SWFText has all the features that make it a great addition to a
web designers toolbox and is affordable. It sells for $29.95
AntsSoft has combined ease of use with affordability and created a
very nice little package that makes great flash text movies.
If you have always wanted to make flash text movies but found
products either too expensive or difficult to use, then this one
will be a pleasant surprise.
If
you are new to this process and not quite sure how it works. It is
very simply to do. The benefit is an attractive and interesting
attention getter that enhances a web page.
Every
thing needed to create an animated text movie is at your fingertips.
And the step by step layout on the interface makes doing it a snap.
So
how is it done? First you select the movie information page and
enter the size of the movie – width and height and then select the
speed (frames per second). Other options include displaying a border
around the flash movie, enabling right click context menu over the
movie, and generating a compressed SWF file.
Next
a background is selected. A solid color, linear gradient color, or
an image can be used. If your web site has a solid background, you
can easily choose the same color so that the movie blends in and
becomes part of the page. If you use an background from a tiled
image, you can choose than and again blend the movie background into
the page. Or you can chose to use an entirely different image as the
background for your movie. I usually do not use a border and match
the background to my web page background so it blends into the page.
A
background effect can be added from one of the 27 choices available.
In the example at the top of the review, I have selected the
Goldfish effect and used 3 fish in the animation. Selecting an
effect is a simple and clicking on it and then adding the number of
items you want displayed in the effect.
I
love the ease of use this application offers. It makes creating a
flash file so simple and fast that anyone can have success on the
first attempt and the variety of effects is great.
The
next steps involve adding the text to the movie. First you enter
your text, then you go to the text effects page and choose what kind
of effect (if any) you
want the text to have. There are 155 choices for text effects.
There’s
a preview window that shows each selection and you can view any
changes you make. After choosing the text attributes you move to the
Font selections.
Setting
the font attributes is also an easy process. Every element is right
there for your selection. Pick a font type, the type style is
displayed in the font name….select regular, bold, italic, or
underlined, then chose a color. Set the transparency setting you
would like or leave the transparency at the default. Move down to
the layout section and pick a text size, rotation, alignment,
horizontal offset, vertical alignment, vertical offset, letter space
(%), line space (%), and that’s it. You can then click preview to
see you settings and or/save at this point.
The
next step, should you want to add its features, is the interaction
page. Here you can set the number of times you want to movie to loop
if you want it to stop at some point. If you want it to run a
particular number of times, check the “Stop movie” box and enter
a number of times for it to loop. If you want it to run forever,
then do nothing.
You
can also add a link that will activate when a viewer clicks the
movie. Enter the URL and target in the appropriate boxes and it’s
all set. Or it can be set to open a web page in a browser after the
movie finishes running. Again it’s as simple as adding the URL and
target selections. Preview and save your settings.
The
final step is to publish the movie. Click the publish button, choose
to generate the html so you have the code needed to add to the web
page. Simply copy the necessary code and add it to your web page. Be
sure the SWF file is included in the directory and it’s all set.
Select
the code from <OBJECT (at
the beginning) to
</OBJECT> at the end. Code:
I
like this application a lot. I would recommend it to anyone looking
to spice up their web site with nice flash text animations. It
combines all the elements necessary for a good tool: it works well,
it is easy to understand and work with, and it is reasonably priced.
It is a product that you will use. Not one that you buy hoping for
the best and discard after several failed or difficult attempts at
making it work. Since flash movies are small in size, they not only
make a page look nice but they don’t add a lot to the download
time.
Click
here to view a flash demo of how it works.
Please
use your back arrow/button to return to this page.
System
Requirements:
Windows 95/Windows 98/Windows ME/Windows NT 4.0/Windows
2000/Windows XP
Macromedia Flash Player 6 or later
