Adobe Flash animations was the industry standard for high impact visual excitement and interactivity for a very long time.  Currently, flash is not 100% cross device compatible due to issues that Adobe and Apple have with each other.  The later means that flash is not viewable on some mobile phones, tablets, iphones or pads.  So, I recommend creating sites without flash and using JavaScript image manipulations instead so that cross device compatibility is not an issue.  

Flash is widely used in tradeshow presentations, videos displayed on monitors, video screen backdrops, and floor videos in clubs, advertisements on smart glass or flat screen TV/monitors, video billboards, movie/video logo effects, movie/video intros and credits, etc… 

The following is a menu of ogdenian flash categories filled with animation examples: