Flash applications are widely met over the Internet as content of web pages. The creation of websites or other multimedia content in Flash could be difficult for beginners, because they have to learn how to use a certain development platform, which in most of the cases present a high degree of complexity.

Sprout Builder is a new online development environment for Flash multimedia applications. The difference between Sprout and other Flash builders is at least the easy and rapid modality of deployment of certain widgets or even complete multifunctional Flash websites. Sprout is suitable for beginners (as well as advanced webmasters) because it does not imply Flash programming knowledge.

The editor is equipped with a user friendly web browser based interface and a library of built-in templates and components that will simplify your work. For example, if you want to create a Flash widget that will display RSS feeds from a certain URL address, like SOFTPEDIA Webmaster News section, there are a few simple steps to perform. First, you have to create a new project and select the canvas dimensions and type of template.

Then, you drag and drop into your project the News Feed component and specify the feeding URL in the Properties panel. You are also allowed to apply transformations and visual effects, modify the widget appearance and customize the feeds display properties. An example of a Flash RSS reader widget built with Sprout is presented in the screenshot and was completed in a few minutes. You can add any type of external multimedia content to your project and after it is in the final form, you have the options to preview, save or publish your work.

The benefits of this service are multiple, especially regarding the simplicity in usage and the power of features offered. As a consequence, if you want to make Flash applications in a visual manner, Sprout will let you to create slideshows, jukeboxes, chat systems and many more. The only things you need are: a modern web browser like Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explorer 7.0, a valid email address and you are ready to test another approach of building Flash applications.