One of the best ways to use Flash is intros

[JayCharles]

Christ man... if you don't want opinions then don't ask for them. since you've got it all wrapped up I guess there's no need for any of us to comment on your posts.

We're all very proud of you.

[erova]

uhhh Mr. PC, i'd take it easy on saying that the people who disagree with you don't know anything about marketing or applicable uses of Flash; in fact, i'd say the people who (particularly me) are disagreeing with you believe the future of flash lies not in "30 second commercials" but in the development of Macromedia's latest buzz word, the *rich internet application*, where flash is the interface receiving and delivering dynamic content via Cold Fusion.

i never think the future is 30 second commercials. read any usability guide or ask someone's grandmother--people are just not gonna sit and wait for content they can find elsewhere faster.

but i can admit there are two sides of any coin, so here's my favorite intro (a few people should recognize it)....

and I also got curious to see what our friends at macromedia have to say about intros, since they might know a thing or two about the future of flash...

[mrpc]

Yes, it is true that Flash MX certainly unleashes the ability to deliver dynamic content through very functional means and I think this is an incredible feature and will be the driving force for making Flash the designers choice for just about every aspect of web development.

Further, I appeciate much of the skill that many of the posters to this forum have regarding Flash functionality. Which is one of the particular reasons I posted this subject in the first place.

Forgive me for not making that clearer in my previous posts. And I would like to say that my individual skill pales in comparison to many flash designers here. Yet, I am a marketeer and have found much success in the ability to anticipate the end users reaction to a message/product throughout much of my life.

Philosophically, I do not wish to claim more knowledge and understanding about this than anyone. So I humbly bow out and leave the future of Flash in all of your capable hands. My intention is not to create, develop or assemble design ideas that are not effective, to be sure. Thus I will continue my case studies, keep them to myself and will keep an open mind on this subject.

Thank you for all who participated in this discussion, found it to be quite eye opening.

PC

[animalstudios]

Hi,

Don't take this personally, but I agree that the site does not really reflect any kind of revolutionary design. You have a long way to go. Sorry buddy.

Cheers!

Ani.

[mrpc]

I just landed 2 strong accounts today...How about all of you "PROFESSIONALS" - HA!

PC

[JayCharles]

I'm sure we're all very proud of you.

If your attitude in this forum is any indication of your professional attitude, it's likely they'll be someone else's clients before too long.

[disorda]

ok ,im sure you have worked hard,
but simple comes to mind, and when i say that i mean "simple"
Take a look at some sites, and see where flash is going.

especially with intros.

[bbmj]

After reading all the replies, I had to go back and watch this about five times. Yes it works just fine. It will do what it is intended to do, but I do not think it will impress the more web-savvy clients. It is just not refined enough. You are advertising design. The graphics in the intro are pretty rough for a top-notch designer piece. (It is way better than anything I can make.)

[mrpc]

Out of all of the replies, bbmj's was the most insightful. It is true that there are many things that could take this site and make it even better, including better graphics. This situation can easily be remedied as we add talent to our team.

Isn't that the case for any site? Couldn't it always be better? Or are there some who have achieved such perfection that there is no room for improvement?

The point is that we believe that our formula works - in fact we are sure of it. Not to discount the developer's use of flash. I personally am not saying that a "flash intro" is the future of flash as erova tried to put words in my mouth. Simply, that the flash intro is an extremely viable way to market on the Internet. One of the reasons that Macromedia is not particularly keen on the flash intro as erova made point of earlier, is because Macromedia wishes to escape the stigma that many earlier designers had placed on flash - with truly pointless and meaningless content. This I can understand fully, for Macromedia has developed a tool that is much more powerful and functional than their earlier versions of flash. More power to those who would continue to break the barriers of useful dynamic content, using flash as a development tool.

As far as disorda saying that simple is not effective - I would say if that were the case many major marketing firms would have no existence at all. The marketing business is ruled by a few principles, one of them being "Simple is More". You do not have to ram complexities down a visitors throat in order to be viable. Once again, it is about defining the target market and then delivering a product that will impact that target market. Flash is only going were the designers are willing to take it!

JayCharles seems to very proud of our team now and even stated that twice. Your approval will help me to sleep better at night.

Though I do not agree with the typical developer's attitude that 'one is only a professional if one is only concerned about delivering content dynamically.' This is simply not true and rings of snobbery, yet I am accused of having a bad attitude? The unwelcoming tone in this forum and the subtle jabs that were taken by some in here are evidence that there is a group of designers that think they are elite. The only one who posted negative comments in this topic that actually had anything worthwhile online was erova - and even still the small text and difficult to find navigation on that site are the types of things I would personally avoid. But diversity is a beautiful thing in my book.

Still I do appreciate all of the comments and the discussion itself.

PC

[JayCharles]

Although I don't often take forum squabbles to this point, I feel the need to share the email I just received from MRPC, with the subject of "Whatever".

-------------------------

This is a message from mrpc at Flash Kit Community Forums ( http://www.flashkit.com/board/index.php ). The Flash Kit Community Forums owners cannot accept any responsibility for the contents of the email.

To email mrpc, you can use this online form:
http://www.flashkit.com/board/member...&userid=159152

OR, by email:
mailto:misterpc@misterpc.net

This is the message:

You are a condescending little snoot aren't you? Just because I'm proving that I'm right about my theory, you have to throw a jab? How mature you are.

I've been designing for 5 years and if you took the time to look over my portfolio, you would see that my HTML work is better than most - despite what you think of my flash. The point is that not only do I really get paid well for what I do, but I've only lost 2 clients in 5 years.

No need to quibble over this anymore. Thanks for being proud of me - dork!

PC

-----------------------------------

Funny how defensive some people can become when you disagree with their opinions. I never actually commented on the quality of the work posted for review, but rather, commented on the title of the thread.

Like I said before MR, if you don't want to hear other peoples' opinions of your work or your theories... don't ask.

[dnraz]

i agree with most ppl here, i was thinking about making some intro kind of thing for my own page, playing a little more with flash (started just a few weeks ago) and create sth that i think is cool. but reading this and thinking about it, hey, i pretty much always skip intros myself...so why make one??
i havent looked at your website mrpc, i dont really care, if you think its cool and it works, thats your thing. but as said before, dont ask for opinions if u dont wanna hear them.
ive looked at the 2advanced website today -i still think that is impossible to do - and my website looks crap compared to that, but im proud of what ive done and it serves its purpose. still id like to hear ppls opinion on it, even if they say it totally sucks.
and please dont speak bad of this forum, its a great source of knowledge and i wouldnt have done as much as i have without it.

[mrpc]

JayCharles must certainly be a liberal. For instead of engaging in the conversation at hand you continually resort to silly tactics to avoid the point of the disussion.

"We are proud of you" - "If your attitude in this forum is any indication of your professional attitude, it's likely they'll be someone else's clients before too long"

Give me a break. This is a place of discussion, not a place to take cheap shots. So don't try to turn the tables as if you have been sweet as pumpkin pie.

[JayCharles]

My original point in this thread was that from the studies I have read and participated in, it seems that the average viewer is not interested in watching an intro.

You asked the members of this forum to offer comments and opinions, which you returned with a defensive attitude because the comments weren't what you were looking for. You responded by lashing out at the other members who posted with comments like:

"you nay sayers can take your biased opinions and stuff 'em!"

While it may not have been the most friendly message, I pointed out to you that if you don't want to hear other people's opinions, then don't ask for them. If you're going to become defensive when someone disagrees with you, you're going to have a hard time every time you post your work to be critiqued, as well as a hard time dealing with people in general. There will always be someone who doesn't see things the same way that you do, and if you can't deal with that in a civil manner, I suggest you put yourself in a position where you don't have to deal with other people at all. If you always want to hear "Hey that's wonderful... you're the best", then ask your mother to check your sites, not the forum members.

The comments I made further down the thread were simply my reaction to your childish, defensive attitude. The comment you made about the new contracts you landed (which I seriously doubt the reality of) was your attempt to somehow put everyone in their place and see you as the top pro of this forum. When I was in high school, my immediate reply to that comment would have been something along the lines of "Good for you... did you want a medal or a twinkie".

The bottom line here is that your attitude in this forum stinks, the posts you make on other peoples' sitechecks are crude and without constructiveness, and you work is quite honestly not all that good (don't forget... you asked for opinions). You may go on thinking as much of yourself as you woud like, but I can assure you that the chip on your shoulder will eventually bring you problems in life... and for that I feel sorry for you.

[mrpc]

Yes it is true that I did make the comment, "you nay sayers can take your biased opinions and stuff 'em!". Even though this statement was a general statement and not directed to anyone in particular, let me take this moment to apologize and admit that my post would have been better with this comment left out. I do not have a problem admitting when I am wrong.

With that said, if you (JayCharles) are going to take such offense to 'one comment' in general terms - so much so that you are now able to characterize me and all of my statements as "Crude" and further to say "that I have a chip on my shoulder" and then even further to insinuate that I am a liar? That is poor form my friend no matter how you slice it. There is no need to say such things. This is going way beyond a disagreement and perhaps we have both strayed from the point of a discussion forum.

Also, you've once again put words in my mouth. Never once did I say that I was a top pro nor was my desire to put anyone in their place. Simply to back up my original point. I've stuck to the topic at hand. Flash intros are a viable tool for marketing an idea or product.

You - Mr. Charles have decided to take more than one opportunity to tell me how horrible the site is and then call into question my integrity and you do not even know me. This is surely getting out of hand.

For the record, to dispel any of these lies and mischaracterizations that you would have others believe let me profusely and sincerely apologize for anything offensive I've said to you personally JayCharles or generally speaking to anyone in this forum. I do not have a chip on my shoulder, but am rather a straight talker. I say what's on my mind. If you are honest and really read what has been said in this discussion, I made one stupid comment and that was it. On the other hand - you have called me a liar.

This is my last post in this forum.

PC

[gladzooks]

Conversation? You posted your piece of garbage web site up on this critique forum and then procede to attack people who tried to help you - by pointing out what a piece of crap your website is. Your design is absolutely, irrefutably pathetic. I thought your music was a joke parodying porno film music - but then I almost keeled over laughing when I realized it wasn't. Your layouts are a la the Hooker flyers that people hand out in your home town. Your utilization of flash is so amateurish, it boggles the mind that you would have the audacity to attack other people for not knowing what they are talking about. But I guess that's the typical conservative's lot in life - to be a completely ignorant, mean-spirited, short-sighted, cretin, that likes to throw around loaded words to obfuscate the fact that they are sleazy, short-sighted, mean-spirited, ignoramuses.

Your company website is an absolute disaster. It's an affront to the eye balls and ears. It so ridiculously bad, I can't even imagine who could think that it was in any way, either good design, or an effective portfolio site. And your marquee site is probably the worst piece of "web design" I have ever run across. You are a buffoon!

Originally posted by mrpc
JayCharles must certainly be a liberal. For instead of engaging in the conversation at hand you continually resort to silly tactics to avoid the point of the disussion.

"We are proud of you" - "If your attitude in this forum is any indication of your professional attitude, it's likely they'll be someone else's clients before too long"

Give me a break. This is a place of discussion, not a place to take cheap shots. So don't try to turn the tables as if you have been sweet as pumpkin pie.

[flashmx boy]

Nice intro with cool animations! Like the colors you are using.... And the Background sound, and the man who speak! Nice work!
Hope you keep on flashhing

[caseywhitcher]

You should definately practice a little more listening to people who are far more successful, experienced, and skilled than you if you really want to succeed with your "company"

[caseywhitcher]

You know I hadn't listened to any of your audio you had on the sites, after listening I think if you had designers on par with your music and sound you would have an awesome team.. Maybe it's time to start re-investing some of that money your getting from all these new clients and get a real designer, If not, if I was your audio guy I'd be looking for a better company to work for.

[R!CH4RD]

Well that was fun reading all these posts. Mr 'whatever' I am just getting into this flash lark and I love it. Not because of the intros (I think most people skip them nowadays). But because you can make an interesting interactive website that potential customers, surfers, and joe public can get involved in. When they get involved in it they'll remember it. Any intro isn't an advert its a waste of someones time. Your web site is the advert.

By the way I liked your post with all the 'Your website is great ' stuff. Do you also write the 'Caution: this product contains nuts' on packets of peanuts. Twat.

[midnight9]

Wacky product labels? Try these:
http://channels.netscape.com/ns/atpl...ing_labels.jsp