Flash Animation and Website Design

As a website designer in Austin, Texas I don't normally like a lot of Flash animation on a website. My biggest problems with Flash are that search engines can't read Flash objects for keywords, and most Flash controls seem to have to be clicked twice to get them to work.

That said, a sprinkling of tasteful animation in a website can definitely add to it's appeal. I built the above animation using photos I took of the 360 Bridge over Lake Austin in Austin, Texas, as well as mine (Steve Cook Austin Texas) and my significant other's cars. I then merged the bridge photo with a graph paper background. Finally I layered in the cars, adding motion paths and size changes to create the illusion of 3 dimensions. I had to resist the temptation of adding boats, airplanes, helicopters, etc. - that would no longer constitute a "sprinkling" of animation.