As the topic says, I would like to know which is the best flash program for animation.

I have read about many of you having macromedia flash 8 because it was the last you bought before adobe bought macromedia and brought the creative suits and you've stuck with it. I have also read about some who tried out cs3 and didn't find a reason to upgrade to further versions either. However, none specify the positive/non-economical reason of why the stick with a program, I've rarely seen anybody even consider cs4/cs5/cs5.5/cs6 as if they were worse somehow.

For this I want you to consider that money isn't a problem and that I've found various places to buy the different versions (including macromedia flash proffesional 8 which is the oldest at amazon). Knowing that, I want true reasons of which of them is the best version and why, what it offers that makes it better than the others? I only want to make the money inversion once, as even flash professional 8 is a bit costy (yet economical compared to the rest).

For now I'll post this as is and if I remember about anything in specific I'll edit it in here, please help me make the best choice!

CS version has more features than flash 8. But flash 8 has more brush sizes. So if you are using brush I say get flash 8.

I think the main barrier to progress is that a lot of people have the old version which isn't compatible with files from the newer versions. That means that if you want to take part in a collab you have to find people who can convert the files down for you. The newer versions may be slightly better, but the older versions are perfectly sufficient with the added bonus that you can participate more easily in collabs.

Quote from AlphaMan

CS version has more features than flash 8. But flash 8 has more brush sizes. So if you are using brush I say get flash 8.

Thanks for giving me a valid reason of why some people prefer flash 8, so for some more brush sizes>more features then.

Quote from Zed

I think the main barrier to progress is that a lot of people have the old version which isn't compatible with files from the newer versions. That means that if you want to take part in a collab you have to find people who can convert the files down for you. The newer versions may be slightly better, but the older versions are perfectly sufficient with the added bonus that you can participate more easily in collabs.

So can for example, cs6 save the file in a way to make it compatible to any of the earlier versions? As in, everybody would have to downgrade to the lowest flash version that any person in the group has to make the colab? Kind of how you use microsoft word 2010 which saves as .docx, but it can save it in older .doc formats for compatibility?

Just making sure I understand what you mean with your post.

I don't think CS6 can save in a way which is compatible to, for example, flash8. I should stress that I am not a flash user, but from what I have seen you end up having to save in a way which is compatible with CS5, and then send it to a CS5 user who can save it as CS4, and then a CS4 user brings it down to CS3, and then a CS3 user can make it flash8 compatible. You get a chain of hassle.

Quote from Zed

I don't think CS6 can save in a way which is compatible to, for example, flash8. I should stress that I am not a flash user, but from what I have seen you end up having to save in a way which is compatible with CS5, and then send it to a CS5 user who can save it as CS4, and then a CS4 user brings it down to CS3, and then a CS3 user can make it flash8 compatible. You get a chain of hassle.

Ah ok, thanks for the example to make it perfectly clear, I can see why it can be a pain.

Further arguments and reasons are appreciated, as I'm sure that there are/will be others who will be searching for a thread like this before they make a choice as well.

Flash 8 is simpler to use for me, and the main reason of why I keep using it, it's because the and because I don't need to have an upgraded version of it, flash 8 has everything I need to make an awesome animation.

I use Flash 8. I'm pretty sure most people on Stick Page also use Flash 8. Why? It's more simple then Flash CS3-CS6. You don't need all of those extra features, it's mostly for Action Script.
Also, I just like the way Flash 8 looks compared to the others.

Macromedia flash 8, Just because i'm most comfortable with it, its less complex and easier to understand. While Adobe CS4, 5, or 6 are all really complicated, But I have to admit that Adobe flash CS3 wasn't that far of a step from macromedia flash 8. So it was kindof like using the same program.

I've always preferred flash 8 but adobe flash CS3 is practically the same thing with a fancier name and sexy layout.

Yeah,i had no problems with 8 to 5.5 eighter,so if u can afford the best,u should get it,but it is still your choice
Edit:oh and i voted cs5.5 because i have no problems with it so far,it is good programming and animation,plus it has actionscript 3
And more options then 8

As things are going here, depending on the total costs of flash 8 + the cs# version that gets the most votes, I might consider getting flash 8 to get the hang of flash and be able to join colabs, then afterwards test the trials of cs# (up to cs6) one by one to see for myself if I am overwhelmed or not. Because it seems that if you go one by one like some have mentioned about cs3 not being such a huge difference from flash 8, maybe I enjoy cs6 in the end. Worst that could happen is me not liking them and sticking out with just flash 8. What do you guys think?

Edit: Also, this actionscript you guys have been mentioning, is it flash's programing code? Since sotech mentions its good for programming as well, because if it is I might be interested in trying it out then as I'm an apprentice programer.

Quote from Jombo

I don't understand the people saying 8 is simpler to use. Later versions won't overwhelm you with their complexity like bl3u suggests. The later versions do have more features, but if you can use Flash 8 you can use CS6. It's still Flash after all, and all the basic tools are still there. I had no problem transitioning from 8 to CS6, as wide of a gap as that is.

The people who are choosing 8 are mainly choosing it because they're comfortable with it, which isn't a good reason because OP doesn't have a version he's comfortable with yet. And saying the later versions are too complex is a pretty silly reason too because of what I said above.

I never said it would overwhelm you with its complexity and I never was implicating that, I said that it was complex. I'm just more comfortable with macromedia, and even CS3 is fine. I just feel like CS4 and up was just stepping out of what i'm comfortable with.

I suggest 5.5 or 6,u can adjust it so thr timeline would be on the top,and all that,so u can adjust it to wht you are confterble with

As someone who's just stepped from Flash 8 to CS6, I can say that it honestly wasn't a huge transition for me. Sure, there's more features, but the core principles are still the same. I also don't get brush sizes as a reason for choosing Flash 8 over CS-whatever, mostly because if you want to work in larger strokes then you can just zoom out slightly and get a bigger stroke that way.

I also really like the sprite-generation feature on CS6, especially if I want to do animations for some 2D games. It's a handy feature.