Hype 1.0 allows you to create slick, animated websites in HTML5
If you've wanted to create a simple but attractive site with some animation but didn't want to go through the hassle of using Flash (not to mention the cost), check out Hype on the Mac App Store. Hype uses a simple timeline metaphor to allow you to place images, text, shapes and more into pages and animate them. Hype uses a Scene metaphor to arrange your pages, much as you would arrange slides in Keynote. Add in your graphics, video and text, and a simple animated site can be yours in a few clicks.
Hype also provides a JavaScript API so that you can plug in your animations to a larger site, one perhaps beyond the capacity of Hype to adequately manage it. This isn't an application for creating a large e-commerce site. Hype is more tuned to simple, informative sites.
While you can make animated sites quickly with Hype, the real beauty is the fact that you don't need plug-ins to deploy your pages. Freed from Flash, Hype exports lightweight HTML5 that will work nicely across iOS devices and Macs without crushing your CPU or draining your battery. My MacBook Air is so relieved!
Hype is available on the Mac App Store for a limited-time price of US$29.99.
You can also take a look at the free beta of Sencha Animator, a similar tool that Brett checked out late last year that's aimed more at the online advertising market.
