3D Flash Animator

That is not to say the program is not complex, but is designed so that the user can make it as complex as they desire. That means those lacking the knowledge to do some highly complex actions can still get a great result; those wishing to go the entire distance can produce amazing results.

Select "Refresh" to see animation repeat

There are two areas that help make 3DFA stand out. One is that it offers both frame-based and time-based animation. For those of us who think more in terms of seconds than frames, that is a great attribute. Secondly, it has the power to create 3D animations and convert them to 2D vector animations. The program uses elements, loaded from files or developed from within the program's interface. Many of those elements can have "child" elements, which is where the complexity of the result is made but is actually fairly simple to create.

When the parent element moves, all of the connected child elements move accordingly. For movement, there are a number of effects built into the program, but for those more technically minded there is the ability to script the movements as desired and get much quicker results.

That is all made easier by the program's dynamic HTML interface, which includes those movements down the side for easy application to the element. Not only does the program allow Flash scripting, but users can also use Javascripting, complete with variables, loops, arrays, math functions, string manipulations, and the ability to detect collisions between moving objects.

That -- and the fact it provides interactive components and other programming powers -- makes it great for game development and educational applications, too.

While elements are easily imported into a document, they can also be created from within the program. A set of draw and paint tools, complete with advanced options effects and automatic shadows, is available for building on the fly.

The types of elements that can be easily included are: painting an image; adding 3D title text; formatted text; layers; clipart; masking; background gradients; 3D models; child movies and timelines; frame and explosion animations; form-type elements such as buttons, check boxes, edit boxes, and radio buttons; keyboard input; foreign languages; menu generator; bitmaps; sounds, and many more.

Further, while its price of $49.95 is similar to other programs -- and about 1/10th that of Macromedia's Flash MX -- it includes two registration keys, reducing the price for each key to $24.98.

For people just beginning their Flash animation experience, 3DFA is a great choice because it makes some very technical issues quite simple; for those with experience, it can save a lot of time producing what to them might be considered "normal" results. Either way, it's a great choice.