Flashy — Canvas Animation Studio
Flashy is an HTML5 Canvas vector animation engine with a full authoring IDE: a timeline, MovieClip-style nested clips, tweening, and vector drawing tools — the Flash authoring experience rebuilt on open web tech. Deploying it on Launchmatic gives you a personal animation studio at your own URL: open the page, land in the editor, start animating. No install, no license, no build step.
A real, working app — free, in ~30 seconds
No repo, no build step, no code. The pre-built image deploys straight to your own SSL-secured URL, and one instant app fits the free tier exactly — no credit card.
What you get
- Timeline-based authoring with keyframes and tweening
- MovieClip-style nested, reusable clips — the Flash mental model
- Vector drawing tools rendering to HTML5 Canvas
- Runs anywhere a browser runs; animations play on open web tech, no plugin
- Open source — inspect it, fork it, extend it
- Static pre-built image: first visit lands directly in the editor
Who it's for
- →Animators who grew up on Flash and want the timeline + MovieClip workflow back
- →Teaching animation fundamentals without per-seat licenses — hand students a URL
- →Prototyping game and UI animations that export to canvas-native playback
Or deploy from the CLI
npm i -g @launchmatic/cli && lm login
lm template deploy flashyZero configuration — no environment variables, no database, no accounts. Deploy and open the URL.
FAQ
Is Flashy actually a Flash replacement?+
For authoring, it's the same mental model — timeline, keyframes, tweens, nested MovieClips. The output is HTML5 Canvas, so it plays in every modern browser with no plugin. It won't run old .swf files; it's the workflow that's back, not the runtime.
What does hosting it cost?+
Nothing to start — one instant app fits the free tier (your own URL, SSL, no credit card). Free services sleep after 30 idle minutes and wake on the next visit; $9/mo keeps your studio always-on.
Can I use it with students or a team?+
Yes — it's a URL. Everyone with the link gets the same editor in their browser. Deploy one instance per class or team if you want isolation; each deploy takes about 30 seconds.