# Similar product to Macromedia Flash? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 22, 2004, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/similar-product-to-macromedia-flash/260935 "2004-08-22T03:25:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2004, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/similar-product-to-macromedia-flash/260935/1 "2004-08-22T03:25:18Z")
I’ve seen lots of interesting Flash animations over the years and wonder is there a similar, but less expensive, program that can do the same things? ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2004, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/similar-product-to-macromedia-flash/260935/2 "2004-08-22T03:44:42Z")
Macromedia flash player is free. ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2004, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/similar-product-to-macromedia-flash/260935/3 "2004-08-22T03:47:36Z")
I believe he is looking for a product to create Flash animations, not just view them. Unfortuneatly I do not know of any. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2004, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/similar-product-to-macromedia-flash/260935/4 "2004-08-22T03:50:00Z")
Something like [this](http://www.tucows.com/preview/293780.html)? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2004, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/similar-product-to-macromedia-flash/260935/5 "2004-08-22T03:52:24Z")
> [@Amp](#): > > I believe he is looking for a product to create Flash animations, not just view them. Unfortuneatly I do not know of any. Yes. Or perhaps some sort of animation software. ---
**Author:** ![jujitsuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e79b87/32.png) [@jujitsuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jujitsuka)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2004, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/similar-product-to-macromedia-flash/260935/6 "2004-08-22T04:14:33Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > I’ve seen lots of interesting Flash animations over the years and wonder is there a similar, but less expensive, program that can do the same things? [Swish](http://www.swishzone.com) is great, easy to use, and cheap! ---
**Author:** ![raz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@raz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raz)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2004, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/similar-product-to-macromedia-flash/260935/7 "2004-08-22T05:12:28Z")
Try ebay. I bought Flash 4 a year or so ago for $15, I think. It had the manual and everything with it. Or, if you are attending college, or are in the education business (or if you know someone that is) then you can get the “educational version” for a whole heck of a lot less from their website, [macromedia.com](http://macromedia.com). Or you can get the educational version on Ebay, for even less than the regular version, and chances are the seller won’t even bother to ask if you’re going to use it for educational purposes. Maybe this is of no help to you at all, but I just got the impression that you are straying away from Flash because of the price. And also, the newest versions of the Macromedia products, MX, are a bit harder to use and rather more complicated to learn, IMHO. Plus they’re more expensive. The older versions of Flash, like 3 and 4, are good to learn on and can do almost as much as the newest version. This is just from personal experience. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2004, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/similar-product-to-macromedia-flash/260935/8 "2004-08-22T14:39:00Z")
> [@raz](#): > > Maybe this is of no help to you at all, but I just got the impression that you are straying away from Flash because of the price. The price is the main sticking point. I just want screw around with it, not make a career out of it. Thanks for the info. I’ll try ebay. > [@jujitsuka](#): > > Swish is great, easy to use, and cheap! That looks pretty good! ---
**Author:** ![WCStyles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7cd45c/32.png) [@WCStyles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WCStyles)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/similar-product-to-macromedia-flash/260935/9 "2004-08-23T01:15:48Z")
Another vote for SWISH here. I’ve been using it since my 30-day Flash 4 trial ended a few years ago, and can do pretty much whatever I need to. The scripting lags a bit behind Flash, but 90% of the functionality for 15% of the price seems like a good deal. Wish I could find an easy way to make movies play in reverse, though.