Adobe Edge Animate

Adobe Edge Animate is a cloud based software which allows you to create graphic animations for use in your apps and on your websites. As of late 2015, it's not being developed any longer. Though it is supported so you can continue to use it via their cloud based membership. I noted that they are currently dispersing the features from this and integrating into their flagship software's such as Dreamweaver and their Flash Professional software which is about to be called Adobe Animate CC as well. You could get very fast with this software as you become proficient with it. There's a core set of functions which make the rest learning quite a bit easier once you dive in. It's quite easy to navigate around your dashboard and work with your content. You view the code as well which is nice so you can adapt this to suit you away from the software, or have someone make some edits for you and then re-import back into your project speeding things up overall. It's really easy to resize your document and make a multitude of edits to your simple HTML animations from your central dashboard. It does not come close to the amount of features and capabilities of their After Effects product but this makes it easier to use for just your HTML animations. If you're just learning this may be a good introduction to their more complex video based software such as After Effects and others. If you're familiar with using their Flash program you will notice a lot of similar functionality in the menus and so on making it easier to use it. There are interactive tutorials built into your account for many of its features which are a great help initially. You can view samples of usage for that particular function you're looking to learn as well. In addition, there is a large community and forum available by Adobe which you can use to ask regular users or experts for help to take the next steps. And there is a Help tab as well which links to the online documentation. I've used this source hundreds of times and most of the time I find what I'm looking for there without having to search Google or Youtube for a clearer example or a video showing how to do something new.

Earlier I mentioned while reviewing Illustrator there was a time when it seemed quite a lot more complicated than Photoshop when in fact it is easier to use in my opinion and is not nearly the most complex software in their portfolio. Adobe Edge Animate is another learning curve if you are willing to take it which has some cool possibilities, but it's not as much to do with the drawing itself that is the issue but learning the how to animate it using the motion features which is new and takes time to learn if you're primarily using Photoshop or Illustrator. It well may be more practical for you to use a standard video or a series of images or an infographic with a video embedded in it than using this software at all. But it's ideal for what it does.

You can download this software for free and try it out to see it if it's the best choice for you. There's no risk with no credit card required. The best use of this software is for online magazines to differentiate branding and create a very professional perception of content by adding animations where appropriate. For someone who is relatively savvy, I recognize the effort it takes to develop a custom animation to deliver your message and by using it in addition to video, infographics and other dynamic media you're integrating the value possible for your end user and that should be the priority. There are limitations to the animations by the fact it's for HTML and CSS which are pretty limited for animations by themselves but you have the added value knowing that these elements should work across browser and device types.