Google recently introduced Google Web Designer and Adobe has The Edge Suite and in particular Edge Animate. These tools produce interactive content for desktop and mobile devices. See the Adobe Edge tools used to showcasethemselves.

Flash used to dominate this domain, which was used primarily for ads, but was pushed out after stepping foul of Apple’s QuickTime and the popularity of the iPhone. Who wants to pay for ads that wealthy iPhone owners cannot see?

That left a vacuum that CSS3, HTML5 and Javascript are supposed to fill. CSS, HTML and Javascript are not Flash, and as you can see, even creating basic animation is challenging.

To solve this, both programs provide a drag-and-drop, easy-to-use user interface for creating animation and interactivity using HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Adobe wants to recapture the Flash market, and Google wants people to create ads, because that is where Google makes its money. Google is an expert at the commercialization of good will.

Though we have access to both programs, I like the way Google Designer allows me to switch to code view and edit the parameters directly. Adobe Edge Animate requires Edge Code to look at the underlying code, and may be more ambitious in the long run, but it is not nearly so interesting and useful for us as Google’s Web Designer.

Google Web Designer

Download a copy and use it to do your animatic or motion enabled ad. Instructions on how to use the program can be found on the original download page.
Google Web Designer tutorials