The more frames in the animation, the bigger the file and the longer it will take the image to load in a Web browser. The animated GIF is the most common form of Web animation, but other forms are becoming increasingly popular. While these formats are not available in the NWE at this time, you may find it useful to know a little about them. Shockwave and Flash Shockwave and Flash are popular animation formats produced by Macromedia Director and Macromedia Flash. Shockwave uses a special streaming technique that downloads and plays animations quickly.
Flash uses vector graphics to provide sophisticated animation effects without huge image files.
In order to view Shockwave or Flash animations on the Web, you must install special players on your computer. Macromedia provides the players free of charge for Windows and Mac systems, as well as many other operating systems. This means that if you make Shockwave or Flash animations with Director or Flash, you won't be able to share them with your instructors and classmates in the NWE labs. The format still is being tested by industry experts, so it probably won't show up on your Web browser any time soon.