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Action!

Although movement and action can enliven a Web page, traditional animation formats would be too demanding for the Net's narrow bandwidth. You can use a variation on the humble GIF format to create compact animation files, or you can go all out with animations created with high-end authoring apps.

PhotoImpact GIF Animator ($29.95; Ulead Systems, 800-858-5323, 310-523-9393). This is one of the best--and cheapest--GIF animators around. You can quickly construct animations either from multiple GIF images, by color cycling or by using a variety of built-in transitional effects.

Macromedia Shockwave 6 (Free; Macromedia, 800-326-2128, 415-252-2000). Shockwave 6 is the ultimate for adding multimedia to the Web. It covers Director, FreeHand and Authorware. It compresses files created in these programs and lets any Web visitor with the plug-in quickly download and play the files back. This means complex multimedia applications, like those created with Director, can be played over the Web with little download lag.

If You Build It, They Will Come: Sounds Good