Web designers who want to create Flash intros, banners, ads or other Flash text animations, but may find Adobe Flash too daunting, should check out Amara Software's Flash Intro and Banner Builder – a feature-rich but user-friendly and affordable tool that combines professional text effects with the user's own images, SWF files and even music.
Take a minute to download the free shareware version of Amara Intro and Banner Builder from the Amara Software website and you're ready to start playing around with the options (PC/Windows only).
You don't have to get your credit card out until you want to save your creation and put your Flash banner or intro on your website. And even then you only pay US$39.95 for the registered version, which includes free upgrades for two years.
Amara Intro and Banner Builder 3.0 includes some samples to get you going quickly, or you can start building your Flash banner or intro from scratch by clicking 'New' and going through the tabs to enter your settings.
Flash Banner vs Flash Intro
First of all, let's establish the difference between a Flash intro and a Flash banner, as defined by Amara Software.
• A banner consists of a sequence of sentences or a sequence of text blocks appearing one after the other. This is the traditional banner as seen on millions of websites.
• An intro is more complex as the sentences or text blocks do not necessarily appear one after another. It's possible to set the incoming time of each text effect and the duration to make the next ones appear while the previous ones are still displayed.
Creating an animated Banner or Intro
Amara Intro and Banner Builder is not a complex tool to use, and even if there's a setting you don't quite understand, you simply try it out, click 'Generate and Display' and see what happens in the Preview Frame on the right.
There are step-by-step tutorials for creating banners and intros on the Amara Software website, so if you're unsure about something or should get stuck, you can always follow the developer's instructions.
To design a Flash banner or intro from scratch, click 'New' on the right hand side, and then work your way through the four tabs at the top: Layout / Type / Texts / Sound. Here's a brief overview of what's under each tab.
1. Layout
In the Layout tab, you set the movie dimensions to the size you want for your banner or intro, and the frame rate. Other options in this tab include border, background color or background image (GIF, BMP, JPEG or PNG), background SWF clip (yes, you can use a photo AND a Flash animation as background of your Flash text effect if you want) with various property settings, compression, loop and preloader. Amara Software offers dozens of free Flash animations on their website, which can be used in the program.
2. Type
This is where you select whether you want to create a banner or an intro (see definition above). You can insert a URL where users are taken at the end of your animation, and there's a 'Skip intro' display option.
3. Texts
The Texts tab is where you build your Flash text animation. For each line of text you want to create, click 'Add item', type your text and set properties such as URL links, text positions, timing values, font styles and of course the style of effect. Amara Intro and Banner Builder 3.0 comes with 20 different text effects to choose from.
You can assign a unique set of properties, including different font styles, position and effects, to each and every line of text in your animation.
4. Sound
It's possible to include your own WAV or MP3 file as a background to your animation, which you can import here, set the volume and select loop if you want it to keep playing. If you don't want sound with your Flash intro or banner, simply skip this step.
By clicking 'Generate and Display' in the Preview Frame on the right at any time during the creative process, you can check what you're doing and make adjustments to get it just how you want it.
Saving
In the registered version, all your creations are automatically saved within the program. This means that all your settings, e.g. for pictures, URL links, fonts, text, colors and sound, are automatically loaded the next time you use Amara Intro and Banner builder, so you can easily change or update animations you created earlier or use those same settings as a template for a new animation.
As explained above, you can only save your creation as an SWF file to use on your website if you have bought the registered version of Amara Intro and Banner Builder for US$39.95.
Conclusion
Amara Intro and Banner Builder is an effective and intuitive application for which no Flash or programming skills are required. At the price of $39.50, it seems very good value for money.
Things I particularly like:
• Ability to simply upload your own photos, animations and even music to use in the background of the text effect.
• Easy WYSIWYG interface and 'Generate & Display' preview pane to immediately see what you're doing.
• Fact that you can use an unlimited number of text blocks or lines in the one animation and that each can have different fonts, colors, sizes, positions and effects.
• Incredible number of possible properties and settings for the effects to really create a unique and individual animation.
More information including a tutorial, samples, FAQ and free download of the trial version are available on the Amara Flash Intro and Banner Builder website.
