Flash 5 Advanced for Windows and Macintosh Visual QuickPro Guide (With CD-ROM) [Paperback]

Russell Chun (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0201726246 | ISBN-13: 978-0201726244 | Publication Date: December 29, 2000

Looking for guide to Macromedia Flash that goes beyond the basics? You're not alone. This popular software has generated an enormous demand for advanced Flash titles, but most third-party books offer limited instruction in Action Scripting and Movie Clips--essential functions for complex Flash interactivity.

Well, look no further than Flash 5 Advanced for Windows & Macintosh: Visual QuickPro Guide. This is not your typical cookbook-style guide with examples for users to copy. Instead, this thorough reference covers the advanced features and techniques of Flash, and demonstrates ways to approach animation and interactivity, encouraging you to "think" in Flash. The book covers five main topics: advanced animation, understanding ActionScript, navigation, transforming graphics and sound, and working with information, and uses the same task-based, visual reference format of the Visual QuickStart Guide series.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Whether you've just finished working through Katherine Ulrich's Flash 5 for Windows and Macintosh, or have taken another route to Flash 5 competence, this book is aimed at you. Author Russell Chun is speaking to anyone who has "mastered the basics of tweening and [is] ready to move on to more complex tasks involving video, masking, dynamic sound control, or movie-clip collision detection."

Flash 5 Advanced for Windows and Macintosh is organized into five sections covering advanced animation, ActionScript, navigation and timelines, transforming graphics and sound, and information handling. Each chapter builds on what's gone before as the book deals with progressively more complex techniques, though that needn't stop you from dipping in further back if, for example, you're itching to know how to do clever stuff with sound.

The book pulls you in right from the start with strategies for building complex animations from simpler parts. The logical structure of the chapters encourages you to fast-forward if you feel you're ahead of the rest of the class. The numbered tasks (rarely comprising more than six steps), together with frequent tips, make it a simple matter to locate a technique, try it, then apply it to whatever you're working on.

Flash 5 Advanced for Windows and Macintosh isn't full of stunning animation. If you want to be impressed by the possibilities of Flash, you'd be better off with New Masters of Flash. But for a thorough and comprehensive tutorial that doubles as an accessible reference, it hits the right level for those ready to hone their Flash authoring skills. --Ken McMahon, Amazon.co.uk

Review

"If you're ready to take the next step with Flash design, this manual illustrates the key techniques that make some of the most complex Flash sites possible."Computer Arts - Flash Special, Issue 18

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Product Details

• Paperback: 424 pages
• Publisher: Pearson Education (December 29, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201726246
• ISBN-13: 978-0201726244
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,107,595 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An Honest Assessment, February 1, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Flash 5 Advanced for Windows and Macintosh Visual QuickPro Guide (With CD-ROM) (Paperback)

Prior to purchasing this book I also bought "Macromedia Flash for Windows and Macintosh Visual Quick start Guide" by Katherine Ulrich. I would give that book a 5 star, and purchased this book feeling it would be of the same mold. But I was wrong.

If I were to be honest I would have to say on the positive side that this book is very good from the standpoint of the topics it covers, its structure, and goals.

However, the reason I would only give this book a 3 star rating is because it is full of errors and is often very unclear. I realize that the writers assume the reader already possesses a clear understanding of Flash and will proceed from there. However that is not the problem, but is rather that in may examples the writers are far from clear on where they are going. And there are many errors. For example, when going through one exercise creating radio buttons one is told to create a "movie-clip" and a short time later told to "select the first button instance", but there is no button, only the movie clip the reader is told to create. The book is full of errors like this.

If the purchaser does not mind spending the necessary time to figure out how the writers have arrived where they end up, and going back to correct numerous directional errors the book does have its merits. In the end it is great in concept, but poorly written.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, Recommended!!, March 20, 2001

By 

"pbleper" (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Flash 5 Advanced for Windows and Macintosh Visual QuickPro Guide (With CD-ROM) (Paperback)

If you know how to use the very basic tools in flash, like drawing, animating, and tweening, then get this book! This book teaches you more than most other books do about the advanced features in flash. If you are totally new to flash, then i would recommend reading "Macromedia Flash For Windows and Macintosh 5 Visual Quickstart Guide"

The author of this book does leave out some detail while explaining different tutorials, but it's usually very simple things, because he assumes you have a basic knowledge of Flash.

Overall, this is one of the best flash books out there. When you're done reading this book, I would recommend reading "Foundation Actionscript" for an even deeper knowledge of the powerful Actionscript language in Flash.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good, but not focused., January 14, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Flash 5 Advanced for Windows and Macintosh Visual QuickPro Guide (With CD-ROM) (Paperback)

I bought this book because all other Flash books I saw had been written for beginners. I picked it up and read some chapters and was pleased. It shows you how and where to use those odd actionscripts you dont know about but often does not focus on one subject and jumps to another. Still, it is a very good buty and I still reccomend it to a Flash developer looking for intermediate or advanced skills.