Macromedia flash professional 8 for free?

[Guest]

Hi I have been watching awesome animations on youtube and I was like, I am so going to do that. So then I watched how to vids and found out about Macromedia flash professional 8 which is what a lot of people are using, for free. Now I know that Adobe wold never give something as good as this for free but couldn't find anywhere to buy it and I didn't want to get any malware, spyware, and or virus can someone please help me. By the way I do not have the money to get CS6 or any thing like that.

[kglad · Accepted solution]

macromedia flash 8 isn't (legally) free.  legal license holders can download it free.

[Nancy OShea]

Macromedia went out of business in 2005.  That software is VERY old & will not run on newer computers with the latest operating systems. 

Animate CC (formerly Flash Pro) is only available by subscription to a Creative Cloud Plan.

In the US,  $29.99/month paid monthly (cancel at anytime).  Or  $19.99/month for a 1 year contract.  You can't cancel for 1 yr.

You can try Animate CC free for 7 days after which the software will stop working unless you pay for a subscription.

Download a free trial or buy Adobe products | Adobe downloads

[Bani Verma]

Moving to Adobe Animate CC - Home​

[rayek.elfin]

A legion of kids out there is still using Flash 8 and other older versions (up to CS4) to create animations. Because those older versions are easily obtainable for them - although I don't really understand why they would prefer an ancient illegal version of Flash over modern powerful (open source and free) alternatives such as OpenToonz or Krita. But it is what it is. Flash is still quite popular with the young animator crowd.

These kids are generally unable to rent CC: too expensive, and/or they are under 18. And thus rely on illegal and very old versions.

[KingKobraFilms]

As a young stick figure animator, I will say that using cheaper, less than legal spinoffs work better for us since we are usually still students and may be pretty broke. and these programs do work very well, especially mx 2004, here's a screenshot

[rayek.elfin]

Well, I am not saying I don't understand why young animators tend to levitate towards old (hackable) versions of Flash. It *is* a lot of fun to work in.

That said, open source and free alternatives like OpenToonz are much more powerful and feature-rich, and pretty easy to learn and use as well. I actually very much prefer to animate Frame-by-Frame in OpenToonz instead of the latest versions of Animate CC.

OpenToonz is free, completely legal, is a modern app that works on the latest operating systems, and has great animation tools, good bitmap painting tools and vector painting tools, great colouring, and the onion-skinning is far better than the older versions of Flash. Not to mention all the high-quality compositing options and visual effects... With excellent render options and great camera controls.

Proven in 2d feature-length animation production (for example, this one:)

In short, why use very outdated illegal Flash versions for FBF animation when a superior professional industry-level legal open source and free option exists? I don't see the point.

Get the latest version of OpenToonz here:

Releases · opentoonz/opentoonz_nightlies · GitHub

[KingKobraFilms]

yes, I understand that. I used to want to use Opentoonz as my main software, but I chickened out of the program after just a few days of trying to learn the UI of the program and turned to Macromedia flash. I haven't looked back since.  And I respectfully disagree with your statements of "Other freeware alternatives are more powerful" These ancient versions may not be the most modern, but still can be considered good even in this day and age. Another thing is that this version of flash is very beginner-friendly, and is better for a younger audience. one last thing, what were you trying to imply here then if you weren't trying to say that you don't understand why younger animators use flash

[KingKobraFilms]

and not trying to be rude or anything

[i_created_this_for_this_q]

Sorry for necro, but Macromedia flash mx 2004 IS legally free. It's basically the same, except it's an older version by 2 years. You can download it from some random website, I used oldversion.com, and the serial code to activate is on Adobe's website itself. https://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/policy-pricing/macromedia-legacy-activation-error.html Is the link for the serial code (scroll down in that link to find it).

[i_created_this_for_this_q]

Here's a picture of me using it.

[rayek.elfin]

https://forums.adobe.com/people/i+created+this+for+this+q  wrote

Sorry for necro, but Macromedia flash mx 2004 IS legally free. It's basically the same, except it's an older version by 2 years. You can download it from some random website, I used oldversion.com, and the serial code to activate is on Adobe's website itself. https://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/policy-pricing/macromedia-legacy-activation-error.html Is the link for the serial code (scroll down in that link to find it).

Nope, it's not legal to download and use any older version of Flash without owning a proper license. That page is meant for users who own a legal copy which they purchased (or were given) at some point, and not meant for anyone else.

Simple as that. 

[Edited my Moderator]

[rayek.elfin]

All I am saying is that in the end a young animator has to decide whether they think it is justified to use old illegal versions of software when viable free options exist.

I personally don't care if you do or if you don't. It's up to your own moral compass. In my opinion young animators never had it so good with access to a range of lower level up to truly high-level production animation software that are free and legally available.

And If all you are animating are stick figures, then almost any animation software will be up to the task.