by Don Herion

(5/5 Geeks)

When we hear the word 'rich media' these days the response is invariably 'Flash' and for good reason. According to NPD Research nearly 90% of Web users have the Macromedia Flash Player preinstalled in their Web browsers. We're talking a quarter of a billion people. This makes the .swf (shockwave format) the file format of choice for creating multimedia. With such a large base of support it was only a matter of time before other players challenged the 'Flash' monopoly. Adobe has just released 'Live Motion 1.0', their response to Flash. Click here to read the review. But you do not have to be a powerhouse company like Adobe to join the SwF bandwagon. One such company is DJJ Holdings. Their entry is the inexpensive ($30 registration fee) Swish 1.51.

SWFwish
Swish 1.51 is an easy to use program capable of creating Shockwave animations that can be incorporated into any web page or imported into Flash. Now I know what you're thinking, did he fire six shots or only five - sorry - why create SwF files to be imported into Flash? If I have Flash I sure don't need some $30 animation program. But you would be wrong.

You create animations in the canvas

Two-Minute Text Animation Drill
Creating text distortions in Flash like ripple, explode or squeeze is to say the least time consuming. But not for Swish. Swish excels at manipulating text by using preprogrammed effects that can be applied in a flash. Pun intended. All you do is create some text and add one of over a dozen editable effects. It's that simple.

Swish 1.51 is also a very intuitive program. The interface is somewhat similar to 'Flash.' There are two windows, a canvas where you build your projects and the control panel where you edit them. The program comes with several tutorials that run you through the basics of the program. I completed them in under an hour.

You edit animations in the interface.

You insert text or import images onto your timeline and add various canned effects like 'fades in', 'slides out' or 'blurring.' All of these can be edited. Audio files can also be inserted. Swish also supports 'Events' and 'Actions' that allow you to add interactivity to your animation. You can reduce design clutter by breaking your animation into a number of scenes, similar to Flash. You can test your animation at any time by pressing the play button. Once satisfied with your production you export your animation as a shockwave file or you can embed the SwF into an html file. The Shockwave file can also be imported into Flash.

A Wish List Fulfilled
New features of the 1.51 release include the importation of .wav and MP3 files. A vital capability that gives Swish an independence from Flash. Preloaders have been added giving designers the ability to create looping animations that play while the rest of the movie downloads. New text editing features include 'kerning' and 'leading.' There are also three new effects; vortex, blur and spin.

Summary
Swish has no vector toolset. For the moment you can not import vector art such as Adobe Illustrator files. But future versions of Swish promise to support vector artwork and advanced interactivity. For now you are limited to .gif, .png, and jpeg image formats. You are also limited by being able to only export SwF files. It would be nice if there was an export .GIF animation capability for ad banner creation. Hopefully that will also be addressed in 2.0.

Bottom line, if you can live without 'Flash's tool set, extensive programming, animation features and its $300 price tag you might find Swish 1.51 worth your while as a stand alone program. But I really see Swish as a powerful text animation plug-in tool for Flash. Here Swish excels. At $30 the program is a steal, and should pay for itself the first time you use it. I highly recommend it.

Note: There is a free version of Swish available but it exports text as scrambled letters, images render as black and white and mutes all sounds. You must register the program and enter the e-mailed 'key' to unlock the export function.

Download Swish at the SwishZone

System Requirements: