Adobe Rebrands Flash into Adobe Animate CC

News This post may contain affiliate links. If you buy something we get a small commission at no extra charge to you. (read more)

Adobe has finally announced the release of Animate CC. This program will replace the beloved Adobe Flash, originating from Macromedia which merged into Adobe during the 2005 buyout.

News started circulating back in autumn 2015 when Adobe first announced their intentions to retire Flash following the same path as Fireworks(another Macromedia product).

So what’s the difference between Adobe Flash and Animate? Quite a bit, actually. But Flash users will still find all their familiar tools intact.

animate cc brush panel screenshot

SWF and AIR formats still get full support in Animate CC. However it can also export custom animation filetypes like GIF and SVG, along with encoded video formats.

Here are some of the cool new things you’ll find in a long, growing list of features.

  • Audio controls with a custom timeline right in Animate CC
  • 360° rotatable canvas for Wacom Cintiq users
  • Onion skinning for detailed frame-by-frame animation
  • Export filetypes include WebGL, OAM, SWF, AIR, and even video files up to 4K resolution
  • Detailed publishing settings that support sprite sheets
  • Custom HTML5 Canvas templates that export with editable code

Visit the Animate CC landing page to see example projects and new features.

To get a sneak peek of these features you should watch Adobe’s official release video walking through some of the biggest changes.


Author: Jaime Morrison

Jaime is a jr. designer interested in mobile UI/UX research and frontend web development with JavaScript frameworks. He covers general news and useful resources in the web design space.