Flash Components - worth it?

[mikeinitaly]

hi there,
being new to action script, and having to do some work for a client, I am thinking about investing a few hundred dollars in buying some flash components from flashloaded.com. before buying, I'd like to ask how easy it would be o create the following effects
http://www.flashloaded.com/flashcomponents/gridnavigation/
http://www.flashloaded.com/flashcomponents/photoflow/
is it worth spedning the pennies or should I learn?
thanks

[KECrawford]

Hi.

I have used code purchases from FlashLoaded.com in the past. In particular the photoFlow. (See www.novologic.com sucessess area)

To answer your question it really depends on your project. For fixed fee or projects with tight timelines, I would recommend the purchase. I would ask yourself, how much time does this component save me and how much time would it take me to learn it. If your hourly rate is 30.00 an hour and it would take you 4 hours to develop it yourself, then it would make sense to purchase the code at$55.00 vs 120.00 of your time. By the way time does equal money. :)

If its a high ended project that is very Object Oriented in its design and approach then these components are a little bit harder to add in, but can be done. I typically use a DisplayManager class to control these types of components.

Lastly, the components from FlashLoaded are typically well designed and can be controlled via xml and or ActionScript itself. They also have a rich set of API's that you can use to control the component. They also provide listeners that you can add for your own customizations.

Lastly, I would also recommend you look at FlashDen.com They have lots of components that you can purchase and they typically come with the source code so you can figure out what is being done and they are very cheap.

I hope this helps.
Kevin.

[mikeinitaly]

thanks my friend, i suppose you are right. thanks also for flash den.net. any other cool websites like that?
thanks again
mike

[Dewdan]

"the components from FlashLoaded are typically well designed and can be controlled via xml and or ActionScript itself. They also have a rich set of API's that you can use to control the component. They also provide listeners that you can add for your own customizations."
Kevin.

I have also used some of their component in the past and will probably still use some in the future. I just want to make a little point about Flashloaded, If you expect help from them about any component, be ready to seat several days/weeks before you get any help. Their forum is a one sided, so you want find much information, specially concerning customer feedbacks on the products, since they filter all the messages.

But ,yes the components saved me precious time in more then one occasion.:rolleyes: