Create a 'Flash' splash page

You've probably seen this plug-in in Web pages, some good and some bad.
But did you know that you can also use the Flash plug-in in Visual
Basic? While it may seem to have limited use, many developers have
begun to use the plug-in to display graphical GUI buttons, as well as
animated splash screens. To take advantage of the Shockwave Flash OCX
(also known as Flash Player) in Visual Basic, you must have it installed
on your machine. If you don't already have it, visit
www.macromedia.com/software/flash/ and select the
Flash Player | Download Flash Player menu option, which leads you to a
simple, three-step download process.

The Shockwave Flash component uses Flash Player Movies, which use the
extension .smf. The Flash software also creates FLA-formatted files, but
you can't use these with the Flash component. Once you create a movie,
drop a Flash component onto a form, and enter the movie's path and
filename into the Movie property on the property sheet. When you launch
the program and form, Flash plays the animation.