Flash Basics > Flash basics overview

Flash movies are graphics and animation for Web sites. They consist primarily of vector graphics, but they can also contain imported bitmap graphics and sounds. Flash movies can incorporate interactivity to permit input from viewers, and you can create nonlinear movies that can interact with other Web applications. Web designers use Flash to create navigation controls, animated logos, long-form animations with synchronized sound, and even complete, sensory-rich Web sites. Flash movies are compact, vector graphics, so they download rapidly and scale to the viewer's screen size.

You've probably watched and interacted with Flash movies on many Web sites, including Disney®, The Simpsons®, and Coca-Cola®. Millions of Web users have received the Flash Player with their computers, browsers, or system software; others have downloaded it from the Macromedia Web site. The Flash Player resides on the local computer, where it plays back movies in browsers or as stand-alone applications. Viewing a Flash movie on the Flash Player is similar to viewing a videotape on a VCR—the Flash Player is the device used to display the movies you create in the Flash authoring application.

For an interactive introduction to Flash, choose Help > Lessons > Introduction.