Best option for text display

[proggybilly]

I am creating a website to propose to my g/f. I have a speech written out to display on the page, but I do not want it to just be there for her to skim her eyes over. I would love to have it display across the screen word by word. Can any of you recommend a good option how to do this?

 

[Ferrian]

Very interesting idea, not something I had ever considered.

Making text appear one word at a time would be quite difficult in Javascript I would think, as you'd probably have to code each word as an individual element (though I might be wrong, I'm not so hot on javascript).

If you want it to look great then get hold of a copy of a Flash or Silverlight creation kit, I haven't done any Flash since it was Macromedia Flash MX a fair few years ago, but using a Flash tool will make each word appearing look great, only downside is the long load time (and the time it will take you to design it, but I assume that you're not too worried about taking your time!)

~Ben
Occasional sparks in a darkened room

 

[proggybilly]

Thanks, yes I do not have a problem with taking time. Even if I can get one line at a time it would be better than nothing. I don't suppose you know of any opensource flash tools do you?

 

[Ferrian]

I have had a look and haven't yet found any actually free flash tools, but there are a few which offer a free trial period. That means you can get it and work for a few days to get what you want done and deploy it. Of course they may watermark such a piece until you pay for the software, I haven't tested any of them.

Flypaper looks like it might be quite functional, I know the Adobe Flash product is incredibly powerful, but can take a while to get your head around. Also say SWiSH, which is a lot cheaper than other tools, so may be a lot less powerful, but you don't need a lot of power for what you're planning.

If you find any of these which work for you then I would create the text in the shape you want it to appear, then set a number of flat colour rectangles above each word and over the timeline have each one fade out, showing each word in the order you require. if you wanted to go further you could turn each word into an image and have it appear, flying in from the sides or coallescing from huge down to it's end position. Just a few ideas, the possibilities are endless with a little creativity

Oh, just found this, it may work:

http://www.sothink.com/product/swfeasy/index.htm

It looks very simple, I haven't had time to actually test it, but it's free and may have what you need (since you're looking for graphics, not interactivity, which the big flash tools offer)

~Ben
Occasional sparks in a darkened room

 

[proggybilly]

Thanks, I forgot about the sothink app. I have used it before to modify a movie once. I will definitely use that one!

 

[PaulBricker]

You could look at

http://www.dynamicdrive.com

They have scrollers that you can download for free and install on a webpage. Then you could put the information either directly into the javascript, or put the info in a database and call the record from the javascript to display your proposal. My opinion is the first method might be easier to do.

Paul

 

[spamjim]

...Another vote for a place like dynamicdrive.com

I wish you the best of luck on the proposal but a route like this might be more ideal for someone like Stephen Hawking.

Are you creating a form so that she can reply?