How do i make website designs and flash designs?

[Callumpy]

I want to make a website for a band and i want it to have flash and i also want it to look as proffesional as possible, but i have no idea how to do any of this! Please point me in a direction

[Cerberus]

Try this site.

Also remember Rome wasn't built in a day. Once you've read through some tutorials, then get yourself a decent web page editor. Dreamweaver, Front Page to name a couple.

[Callumpy]

Originally Posted by Cerberus

Try this site.

Also remember Rome wasn't built in a day. Once you've read through some tutorials, then get yourself a decent web page editor. Dreamweaver, Front Page to name a couple.

I know about how to write HTML, its more or less the design work and making flash sites

[Cerberus]

There is a flash tutorial on there too. It's not just HTML. Just thought that site may give you an insight into flash.

Flash sites are something I have never dabbled with tbh. Like I said a good web editor or Adobe flash should help.

Sorry I can't be of more help mate.

[Callumpy]

Originally Posted by Cerberus

There is a flash tutorial on there too. It's not just HTML. Just thought that site may give you an insight into flash.

Flash sites are something I have never dabbled with tbh. Like I said a good web editor or Adobe flash should help.

Sorry I can't be of more help mate.

Thanks For Your Help

[Halcyon]

To make a proffesional website you should first look at other bands websites to get some ideas and then come up with your own idea that is different and offers a unique touch.
You need to think why people would come to your site in particular and then start to design it.
Do rough drawings on paper of the layouts and sub pages that you want coming off it.
Think about how you will organise it and how it will be broken up into different sections.
People will not stay on your site if it takes them more than a couple of clicks to find the information you are looking for.
They will also be put off if they are hit with anything that puts the reader off.
So, to keep it proffesional make sure you make it compatible by testing it in more than one browser, keep fonts the same and use appropriate colours / backgrounds that are easy to read and not impossible to see.
Organise the site well so that it is easy to navigate.
Don't put in any java scrolling banners or host your site with a company that launches a billion adverts at you.

As for what programs to use......There ar eplenty of freebies out there but paid for software is the one I'd recommend.
Macromedia Dreamwaever, now owned by Adobe I believe will let you design the pages, layout, and style of your site in a what you see is what you get style, as well as letting you input your own html and scripting too.
You can then add images that you've prepared and saved to the right size in any photo editing package, eg. Photoshop.

Flash content can be created in a variety of programs. If you want a free option, I believe there is a program called Swish that let's you make flash creations.
The main software I'd use is Macromedia (Adobe) Flash.

You need some time to master it but in a nut shell you basically draw things on different layers and choose how long these images appear on a timeline. You have several scenes that make up your flash movie and you can then animate content by creating different omvements at different key frames, etc.
You can also add Action script which allows you to create numerous flash content buttons, forms, effects, applications, behaviours, etc.

your best bet is getting a good book that will come with a library of actionscript and creating your first movie tutorials.

Once the flash content is done, you render it into a .swf file and just like you would an image, you insert it into your webpage layout.

Have a mess around with it.
There are plenty of flash tutorials that will get you going with the basics.
Once you know how to use the software a lot of it comes down to your own website design and how you will use the software to implement the design.

[Callumpy]

Originally Posted by Halcyon

To make a proffesional website you should first look at other bands websites to get some ideas and then come up with your own idea that is different and offers a unique touch.
You need to think why people would come to your site in particular and then start to design it.
Do rough drawings on paper of the layouts and sub pages that you want coming off it.
Think about how you will organise it and how it will be broken up into different sections.
People will not stay on your site if it takes them more than a couple of clicks to find the information you are looking for.
They will also be put off if they are hit with anything that puts the reader off.
So, to keep it proffesional make sure you make it compatible by testing it in more than one browser, keep fonts the same and use appropriate colours / backgrounds that are easy to read and not impossible to see.
Organise the site well so that it is easy to navigate.
Don't put in any java scrolling banners or host your site with a company that launches a billion adverts at you.

As for what programs to use......There ar eplenty of freebies out there but paid for software is the one I'd recommend.
Macromedia Dreamwaever, now owned by Adobe I believe will let you design the pages, layout, and style of your site in a what you see is what you get style, as well as letting you input your own html and scripting too.
You can then add images that you've prepared and saved to the right size in any photo editing package, eg. Photoshop.

Flash content can be created in a variety of programs. If you want a free option, I believe there is a program called Swish that let's you make flash creations.
The main software I'd use is Macromedia (Adobe) Flash.

You need some time to master it but in a nut shell you basically draw things on different layers and choose how long these images appear on a timeline. You have several scenes that make up your flash movie and you can then animate content by creating different omvements at different key frames, etc.
You can also add Action script which allows you to create numerous flash content buttons, forms, effects, applications, behaviours, etc.

your best bet is getting a good book that will come with a library of actionscript and creating your first movie tutorials.

Once the flash content is done, you render it into a .swf file and just like you would an image, you insert it into your webpage layout.

Have a mess around with it.
There are plenty of flash tutorials that will get you going with the basics.
Once you know how to use the software a lot of it comes down to your own website design and how you will use the software to implement the design.

Woah, thanks for the nice big reply

I will try sme of the stuff you put in there and i must point out, im am my host Its going on my server

[AbyssUnderground]

Avoid flash unless you 100% definitely absolutely need it. The majority of people will leave a flash based site before its even loaded. Myself included, and as I'm a web designer for my job, I know the trade well. I have a flash based site at work and the site used to get a lot of hits before the flash was put onto it (owners choice, not mine). Now it gets very few and he wants the flash removing again.

Flash is only designed to be used for very professional designs and the odd video player or audio player like youtube and the likes. Its not designed to make fully fledged sites with.

Another thing if you must go with flash is sound. Don't have sound playing by default and/or with no option to stop it. That WILL drive 99% of viewers away from your site. The same goes for any embedded music players. I rarely view myspace pages but the ones that play music when opened really do irritate the hell out of me so I close the page instantly. Friends then realise why I won't go on it.

Hope this gives you a bit of insight and maybe persuade you to stay away from flash. A good site only has to be functional and easy to read, nothing more.

[Graham M]

Flash was originally designed with pretty buttons and widgets in mind, nothing more. Eventually though it got more and more complex, perhaps too much?

[AntiSilence]

I too tend not to use Flash-only web sites. They're annoying (especially if you wanted to copy some text from one) and although they can look impressive, the load times can be quite long.

I don't mind some small usage of Flash though, live a nav menu or a site logo. Also, all the Flash cartoons that people make (think www.weebls-stuff.co.uk) can be excellent, but the site is HTML based.

[Stuart C]

Originally Posted by Zeph

Flash was originally designed with pretty buttons and widgets in mind, nothing more. Eventually though it got more and more complex, perhaps too much?

Actually, Flash (or to give it it's original name, Futuresplash) was designed to make drawing on-screen comics easier. Then, they added the animation and eventually Macromedia bought and renamed it.

But, I too would go with the recommendation not to overuse Flash. It can achieve some amazing things (for instance, I once saw a website using a fairly fully functional simulation of the Mac OS 9 desktop for an interface), but a lot of people are irritated by it (it may look impressive the first time you see an effect, but how will it look the 2nd, 3rd, 4th time etc.?).

Also, if you ever get into commercial designing, you need to think of the Disability Discrimination Act. This requires that all aspects of a company (including any online presence) be accessible to the disabled. Disabled people may have trouble using a heavily flash based site. Those using Screen readers will have particular trouble (Flash has very bad support for screen readers), as I am sure Dilli will tell you..

[Callumpy]

Well... Thanks for all your replies, i managed to get a designer to make the site for me, as i said its for my friends band so it wont be over done with flash, it will be a few things like buttons popping down when the site is entered and the logo will hopefully flash too.

As you said abyss, most people leave a flash site before its even loaded, well... most of the visitors will be fans of the band or people who want to find out about the band, so if they leave its up to them

[Jefferson T]

Originally Posted by Callumpy

Well... Thanks for all your replies, i managed to get a designer to make the site for me, as i said its for my friends band so it wont be over done with flash, it will be a few things like buttons popping down when the site is entered and the logo will hopefully flash too.

As you said abyss, most people leave a flash site before its even loaded, well... most of the visitors will be fans of the band or people who want to find out about the band, so if they leave its up to them

Wow what a brilliant way to encourage people to become fans.

---------- Post added at 11:15 ---------- Previous post was at 11:13 ----------

Originally Posted by Stuart C

Actually, Flash (or to give it it's original name, Futuresplash) was designed to make drawing on-screen comics easier. Then, they added the animation and eventually Macromedia bought and renamed it.

But, I too would go with the recommendation not to overuse Flash. It can achieve some amazing things (for instance, I once saw a website using a fairly fully functional simulation of the Mac OS 9 desktop for an interface), but a lot of people are irritated by it (it may look impressive the first time you see an effect, but how will it look the 2nd, 3rd, 4th time etc.?).

Also, if you ever get into commercial designing, you need to think of the Disability Discrimination Act. This requires that all aspects of a company (including any online presence) be accessible to the disabled. Disabled people may have trouble using a heavily flash based site. Those using Screen readers will have particular trouble (Flash has very bad support for screen readers), as I am sure Dilli will tell you..

Indeed it is irritating, what really irritates me is where people embed a 'skip' button in a video and my reader doesn't read out the button so I know it's there.

Oh that and people who really REALLY just do not give a smeg about anyone else when designing a site.

[Rob]

What really irritates me is when you don't even get a skip button in that startup flash animation. Most of the time if I'm browsing, I want the information a website has to provide, not the wacky graphics that might be amusing to the designer but have not relevance to me. Many sites for games or other "entertainiment" multimedia and such like are real turn offs.

[Callumpy]

Originally Posted by Rob

What really irritates me is when you don't even get a skip button in that startup flash animation. Most of the time if I'm browsing, I want the information a website has to provide, not the wacky graphics that might be amusing to the designer but have not relevance to me. Many sites for games or other "entertainiment" multimedia and such like are real turn offs.

lol, i know what you mean, ive found some of these sites before, but im not getting a statup flash, so there will be no skipping needed, and the bit were you said the designer finds amusing, that happens in everything, including Windows Error Messages