He should try Edge animate, clearly Flash Successor. The UI looks more like After FX which could be a bonus if your brother later jumps into video. (and Edge animate is free)
The word "trial" is not something I associate with "free".
And before you mention Adobe's Creative Cloud product, let's try to be pragmatic about what "the cloud" really is. It's not something you ever really own, because nothing in "the cloud" is ever really "yours". You never honestly have control over something when it's on someone else's server, and they're paying the power bill. And truthfully, if you have to pay for an always-on internet connection, in order to take advantage of a software-as-a-service, the main drawback is that's the software is only as reliable as your internet connection, but not only that. There is also the demand that every system between you and the server hosting the SaaS must also function flawlessly, or you risk losing your work.
Not to mention the nature of secrecy and intellectual property rights, and "stolen" artwork or "ideas", regarding "the cloud".
Here's a link, and all I see is an offer for a 30 day trial: http://html.adobe.com/edge/animate/
The word "trial" is not something I associate with "free".
And before you mention Adobe's Creative Cloud product, let's try to be pragmatic about what "the cloud" really is. It's not something you ever really own, because nothing in "the cloud" is ever really "yours". You never honestly have control over something when it's on someone else's server, and they're paying the power bill. And truthfully, if you have to pay for an always-on internet connection, in order to take advantage of a software-as-a-service, the main drawback is that's the software is only as reliable as your internet connection, but not only that. There is also the demand that every system between you and the server hosting the SaaS must also function flawlessly, or you risk losing your work.
Not to mention the nature of secrecy and intellectual property rights, and "stolen" artwork or "ideas", regarding "the cloud".