A)Which Macromedia software makes effective/professional banners? (I know Dreamweaver makes websites.......) But Which one of the following makes banners? Macromedia 'Flash' Macromedia 'Fireworks' Macromedia 'Freehand' B)Do you make banners with them? If so is it easy to learn the software/ via practice? (I learnt and mastered Dreamweaver), so woundering if the banner software was easy to learn..?
Macromedia Flash makes the actual animation. I think you can use Fireworks to create the images (although, others create images in Photoshop and import into Flash). I really haven't mastered Flash myself yet, so I can't tell you if it's easy or hard. It's harder than Dreamweaver. You actually have to know how to use many of the functions in the program and maybe even learn actionscript. Or, look up some tutorials online and decide for yourself!
Macromedia Flash is used a lot for cartooning as well. If you plan on having a static banner, then maybe Flash is not the choice for you. I love fireworks, easy to use. Don't know Freehand. I know adobe illustrator or photoshop can be options as well. If you want to learn, I suggest video tutorials because they are much easier than simple text tutorials. Do a search in Google or check out my sig for some videos.