Flash vs. HTML

[Daveitt]

Just out of curiosity what would be the best I know both sort of, started to work on a 100% Flash site but stopped. I stopped because I just wanted to get some opinions on if I should continue with all Flash or go with HTML or a hybrid of both.

[geldslaw]

for ease of use, use that which is most practical and suited to the job.

but more importantly than anything, don't forget to put lots and lots of comments as to why 'this does that or that does this' 99% of the time you go back to update or implement a new feature and the code you had written which you knew inside out 6months ago you sit there staring at cluelessly trying your level headed best to work it out.

always comment on code.

[Amotea]

I'd say only use flash when you are so good at it that it adds something to the overall quality. If it's just for navigational purposes, it's probably best to use HTML only. I just hate it when I have to surf a website through some obscure flash navigation system. Most of the time flash websites make it harder to browse through a portfolio and slow the visitor by using loading animations and such. Also don't forget visitors can't right click an image that is embedded in a flash website to save it.

[Jelmer]

Personally I would use html, although some flash animations could be added if you need to show off animations. I would only use it if you're making a portfolio specifically showing of your flash skills. html sites load faster, and are always more accessible. If done right, it will look just as good or better than flash, furthermore it's usually easier to get around like Amotea said.

[chickentech]

I personally would go beyond html and use javascrip which can do many things done in flash navigations but using javascrip to do so would make things so much better and nicer. plus javascrip is fairly simple and there are lots of resources on the web to learn it.

[Jelmer]

Why would you need javascript? most of the basics like navigation can be done just as well with CSS, some browsers might not support javascript properly, and it will slow your site down as well.. although it might be useful for some purposes, there's not much use for it if you're doing a portfolio site, or is there???

[chickentech]

check out this link JavaScript vs. Flash for Animation - WebReference.com- , it explains how javascript is capable of the same things flash can but it makes makes your site so much better and friendly to a wider range of people. it explains also that though some people may not have javascript enabled but there will still be usable content however if some one doesn't have the right flash player installed none of the flash will work at all. it gives really good reasons to use javascript. take a look esp. at the bottom where it talks about why javascript is better.

but in the end its all what you think would work best for your site.

[Motammad]

And all in all... you cant have a Flash site without html anyway... hehe

"but in the end its all what you think would work best for your site." true as.

[mRvMan]

Flash or HTML...

Why not both? It's easy enough to have a "Welcome to my site.." initial page that offers a choice as to which version of your site a visitor wishes to experience.

If you're looking to get really fancy, you can have that page detect whether the browser is flash-capable and navigate there by default.
If you pursue this type of content, include links in each version pointing to the other version so a visitor may switch as desired.

Go for consistency in both versions (assuming you go for this approach)

Added pros on Flash versions - you can make the site "self-contained" and thus make it distributable on CD/DVD etc, to include any models/video renders you wish to share as part of your portfolio.

While an HTML can (and in some instances is) be used on CD/DVD, the Flash version may provide more a polished "interactive portfolio" - depending on what you are after (i.e.: game modeling/animation, etc) it may help convey your [growing] expertise with not only 3D design and creation, but know-how on producing distributable content through varous media (web, disc, etc)

And at the risk of totally derailing the intent of this post - don't forget to consider mimicking your portfolio (which ever version you decide to go with) onto a PDF-type file... in case someone wishes to print out your portfolio, too.

[kishou]

you should start learning AJAX too. but i say HTML because its quicker and flash is takes forever to load especially for dial-up ppl.