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The act, process, or result of imparting life, interest, spirit, motion, or activity.
The term is familiar and its meaning is clear, yet defining the
role animation should play on your website lies in the murkiest waters of the digital divide. The H in HTML standing for "hypertext", not "hypermedia": the web was originally a
text-only medium. In 1993, <IMG> tag was invented and the placement of graphic images became possible. This fueled an explosion of technologies that transformed the Internet from a static to an
active entity.
In December of 1996, Jonathan Gay sold his invention, the
FutureSplash Animator, to Macromedia: this became Flash 1.0. Five versions, 500,000 developers and 250 million users later, Flash has become synonymous with animation on the
Internet. In March of 2002, Adobe unveiled their own .SWF authoring tool, LiveMotion, expanding the options to create and deploy interactive graphics and engaging animations.
The role of a well-crafted animation strikes a perfect balance
between emerging broadband technologies while still quickly deploying the engaging vitality required for generations of users accustomed more to the television screen than a
computer monitor. Acting as the web's audio-visual equivalent of a sound bite, an animation in the form of introductions, banners, navigation, or even entire interfaces geared for high speed connections, set the
tone, convey the spirit and most importantly, entice you visitors deeper into your site.
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