What does discontinued online support for Adobe Flash mean for people who still want to use Flash?

"Specifically, we will stop updating and distributing the Flash Player at the end of 2020 and encourage content creators to migrate any existing Flash content to these new open formats." From Adobe's website https://theblog.adobe.com/adobe-flash-update/

As with all software, I'm sure there will be third party and unofficial support from other users. There is still third party support and hardware for the Sega Genesis, years after Sega stopped any support.

Hello Rebel. What do you mean by "third party and unofficial support from other users"?

As in people who are unaffiliated with Adobe who will provide updates and support.

Just because the company will stop support does not mean there will no support at all. People, in their free time, usually can provide support for other users for free.

Okay.

I should ask my friend on YouTube, whom I haven't interacted with in a long while, where he plans on getting support from for Flash once Adobe discontinues online support for Flash.

I know he said he wanted to continue producing Flash cartoons and showcasing them on YouTube for as long as he can.

Adobe also has tutorials on how to convert a Adobe Flash file into (the Flash replacement) an HTML5 file.
https://helpx.adobe.com/animate/how-to/convert-flash-to-html5.html

Adobe also has other animation software you can use. I have to ask: Are you trained and experienced in using Flash? Or do you want to use Flash because of that one Youtube creator using it?

Why wouldn't anyone switch over to HTML 5? Flash has always had problems. Now it is obsolete.

I've expressed an interest in wanting to produce Flash cartoons long before I discovered Ixapter's work. I've seen a bunch of other Flash cartoon videos produced by a number of artists other than Ixapter on YouTube, like the guy who makes the Foamy the Squirrel cartoons. I've seen a bunch of Flash cartoons produced by a number of different artists on other video sharing sites like Dailymotion and Metacafe.

Seeing that there are a number of animators who have produced Flash cartoon videos and showcased them on video sharing sites like YouTube, Dailymotion and Metacafe which have generated at least one million videos was enough to convince me to produce my own Flash cartoon videos and showcase and monetize them online.

I have been on Newgrounds for a long time. I have seen a number of Flash cartoons on there. I have critiqued some of them.

I still would like to create video showcases of original comics that I produce and showcase and monetize them online.

You didn't answer my question:

Are you trained and experienced in using Flash?

No. I thought I indicated that I am not experienced in using Flash in other threads.

I recall I said in at least one thread that I want to learn how to use it.

You asked me why I want to learn Flash. I answered.

Additionally it's an easy program to learn and use.

I am a little confused- doesn't Flash go by the name Animate now?

When Adobe discontinues online support for Flash does Adobe's online support for Animate come to an end?

Here is the technical question to your question

1. Abobe Flash ran on the "Flash Player". This was a plugin, i.e. a third party application that was embedded in your browser.

Many Software Engineers (myself included) hated the Flash player. It was proprietary (meaning that we couldn't control or see how it worked internally). And it was a security risk... when you use the Flash Player, it is easy for websites to drop hidden super-cookies that the end user can control. This allowed websites to track and exchange data about users from website to website.

The Flash Player is still available, but it is obsolete.

2. Adobe provided tools to create and edit Flash animation. These tools (which I suspect you have seen) allow people to draw, and animate visually on their screen. Originally these animations would be packages as SWF files and run on the Flash Player.

3. The Internet has moved on. The most popular way to run applications now is HTML5. This has a number of advantages over the (now obsolete) flash player. It is more secure, more powerful and is a transparent standard.

4. Apparently Adobe Animate is a tool to create animations. I was just reading about it. It's main purpose is to create animations for HTML5. As a side feature, it seems to be able to output animations as "legacy" SWF files.

Whether or not Animate is a later version of Flash builder is a matter of marketing. Animate can create animations in the modern HTML5 format (which is the most important thing). It seems it can also output animations in the now obsolete SWF format.

5. You can write animations in HTML5 without Animate. This is an advantage of using an open format. It may be that Animate is still the best tool for your use, but there are other options including writing them by hand.

I hope that helps.

Adobe Flash and Adobe Animate are two different programs.

If you have no experience with Flash, then why waste time on a dead end software, when you can avoid future troubles and use Adobe Animate? It appears that Animate will be supported for the foreseeable future, as it is compatible with HTML5.

Do people still use Photoshop, Illustrator and Quarkxpress? I was told a lot time ago I should get and use these programs to produce animation and comics with.

Does it make any difference whether or not I've had any prior experience using Flash?

If you did have experience with Flash, then I could understand why you are hesitant in changing formats.

However, since you have no experience, then you have more freedom in using another animation software.

And it always has been considered leaky security wise. Makes ones system pretty vulnerable hacking wise.

So many literal years in asking about Flash alone. Yes. It makes a huge difference. You haven't started the learning process. How much longer are you going to take before you pull the proverbial trigger and start learning Flash? Or finding a better alternative animation program?

FLASH:
Best case scenario: You learn Flash NOW. Find you spent too much time on a program that will become obsolete sooner than you expected.
Worse case scenario: You wait and wait and wait. Maybe you learn about Flash ... after the 2020 deadline. Stumble onto problems with the program. Can't afford to hire 3rd party tech support (and they will not be free of charge). And you give up. Your decade's dream dead on arrival.

ANY OTHER ANIMATION PROGRAM:
Best and/or worst case scenario: You learn _____ and create your comics and animation projects. Your work is judged by its content and on its own merits.

I learned something about how to use Flash from talking to a cartoonist/animator I befriended on YouTube, who makes animated Flash cartoons he showcases on there.

You are incorrect.

Do you know any people who use or had used Flash?