Animation
can lend interest to a page, draw attention to particular features, highlight special
offers, assist the user with navigation etc. There are a growing number of different
techniques available for web designers to use to animate web pages. The banner below is
animated using a Java Applet. Other animations on this site may use gif files or scripts
or Flash animation techniques to change images. Video clips can also be incorporated into
web pages. Full video streaming and live TV are also possibilities.
Animations like the
banner below can display a number of different messages and images, that may be directly
related or unconnected, one after another.
There are a number of
things to consider about using animations in web pages apart from the cost. Large
animations can take a long time to download and the beneficial effects can be lost if your
visitors have to sit in front of a blank screen for a long time. It is also worth bearing
in mind that repetitive animations can be annoying to the viewer if used under the wrong
circumstances. On the other hand a page that does something can be a lot more interesting
than a page of nothing but text.
Animations, like page
links, can be interactive. Graphics can be programmed to appear or change as the result of
your visitor moving their mouse cursor over an image or clicking on an object. Please try
out the examples below.
Mouse over
Mouse
over
Click the green
image
Animations are often a
series of pictures run in a sequence to give the illusion of continuous movement. The sky
writing cartoon on the introductory page contains over 130 separate frames running at 10
frames per second. Simple animations like the heading and banner on this page can be
constructed quickly and cheaply. Creating detailed or lengthy animations can, of course,
be expensive. On the next page we look at some of the animated effects that can be
achieved using Java Applets.
