Insights
From Flash to Jitter: Rediscovering the Joy of Motion Design
There was a time when Flash was the tool. I spent years creating everything from multimedia projects to animated banners to short films. It was flexible, creative, and fun. Then some some company killed Flash, and just like that, the magic was gone.
After that, I shifted gears. I experimented with JavaScript motion libraries — some of them incredibly complex — and later leaned on CSS animations to create microinteractions. They were powerful, but they never felt as intuitive or playful as Flash once did. Eventually, I circled back to Adobe Animate (basically Flash in a new suit), but by then it had become too heavy for small experiments. Animating an icon or building a quick motion study felt like overkill.
So I kept searching. I tried tools like SVGator, tested other browser-based options, but nothing really clicked — until I discovered Jitter.
Visual assets in prep for the animation.
Learning Jitter in a Day
For my first project, I wanted to explore a 3D-inspired animation built from a 2D setup — essentially rotating a can-like object to give it depth and presence. Jitter made it not only possible but easy. It’s one of those tools where you can actually see the transitions and experiment without feeling like you’re coding your way through every frame.
The surprise? I picked it up in just one day — and that alone felt revolutionary. I created my visual assets in MidJourney, refined them in Photoshop with color corrections and final touches, wrote the copy with ChatGPT, built the first composition and prototype in Figma, and then moved everything into Jitter. From there, I was animating within minutes.
Keyframes composition
Final animation.
Why Jitter Feels Different
The magic of Jitter is that it gives you back what Flash once offered: a sense of play. Instead of wrestling with complexity, you get to explore motion. And because the team behind Jitter is constantly shipping new features, it feels alive in a way many legacy tools don’t.
Similar Tools Worth Exploring
While Jitter has quickly become my go-to, it’s not the only player in this new wave of motion design tools. If you’re curious, check out:
Browser-Based Tools
SVGator – Browser-based tool for animating SVGs with no coding required.
Animista – CSS animation playground for generating microinteractions.
Prototyping + Interaction Tools
ProtoPie – Interactive prototyping tool for building realistic prototypes without coding.
Rive – Real-time interactive animation tool with open-source runtimes for apps, games, and platforms.
Principle – Mac-only prototyping tool for UI animations and transitions.
Motion Graphics + Advanced Tools
LottieFiles – Standard for creating, sharing, and implementing lightweight Lottie animations.
Adobe After Effects – The industry standard for advanced motion graphics and compositing.
Motion One – Modern JavaScript animation library built by the Framer team.
Looking Ahead
What excites me most is that motion design no longer has to feel like a chore. With tools like Jitter, it feels accessible again. For me, it’s like rediscovering an old love — only now with modern speed, collaboration, and possibilities baked in.
So if you’re looking for a tool that makes animation fun again? Try Jitter.
You can see my first Jitter project here: 3D Inspired Product Intro Animation.