Byte-Size Flash MX: Adventures in Optimization [Illustrated] [Paperback]

Genevieve Garand (Author), David Hirmes (Author), Cody Lindley (Author), Kip Parker (Author), Keith Peters (Author), Robert Reich (Author), Roy Tanck (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 2002

Have you ever poured all your creativity into a Flash movie, but found your friends grumbling at the download size? Have you tried to use just one tiny picture in your movie, and seen the file size go through the roof? Is it possible to do anything remotely effective in a small file?

More than you could possibly imagine! This collection shows you just exactly what can be done with tiny Flash files, using some of the hottest Flash designers around. These authors pull designs out of the top drawer and show you exactly how you can go about creating great SWFs with the smallest amount of download pain.

We will look at:

creating incredible generative designs -- so small you can use them for wallpaper
producing 3D animations that roll in at under 5k in size
creating sound toys in the smallest possible file space
de-mystifying the use of JPEGs and photographs while keeping your Flash movies small
strategic use of back-end technology to keep your delivery times down to nanoseconds!
changing the boundaries to look at new ways of delivering entire sites!

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Who is this book for

You've worked with Flash, but are wondering why people are getting tetchy at the download time. You're willing to start learning some ActionScript tricks to fight the file flab, and you're not afraid to become addicted to optimization!

About the Author

Geneviève Garand

Conceived 3weeksinApril.com, an experimental web site that explores new ways of navigation and features an engaging narrative.

David Hirmes is a Flash developer living in Brooklyn, New York.

Kip Parker

Works through his own company Hi-Rise Limited and in collaboration with Anthony Burrill as Friendchip, which was established in 1998.

Keith Peters

Found Flash to be the ideal medium for creating graphics with code.

Robert Reich lives in Hamburg, Germany. Flash became his favourite besides normal HTML and serverside driven website creation. He is working as freelancer for several firms.

Roy Tanck

Currently employed in Hilversum, as part of a team that creates innovative e-learning solutions. Within this environment, Flash is a great tool.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Friends of Ed; illustrated edition edition (December 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1904344097
• ISBN-13: 978-1904344094
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 8.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,689,404 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic!, January 5, 2003

By 

Simon "si-w" (Cheltenham, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Byte-Size Flash MX: Adventures in Optimization (Paperback)

Finally somebody's seen fit to gather these kinds of techniques. It says on the cover youre looking at files under 4 KB, but most of these are like under 2. It's got a really good balance, going from some staple stuff to begin -- mouse trails and smoke effects and fireworks through simple scripting. After that, it passes into the really useful things, like an animated photo gallery, with gorgeous wipes and fades. I haven't yet got on to the later stuff that I've just never seen anywhere before -- an interactive 3D city, and sound! A big thumbs up, and it should have been called bit-size.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I LIKE THIS BOOKS, March 7, 2003

By 

ErwinSchiphouwerAkADeamothul (Groningen, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Byte-Size Flash MX: Adventures in Optimization (Paperback)

i have just bought this book, i began actionscripting about two or three months ago.
This book showed me some bad mistakes i made in programming just by doing the first three tutorials(the mouse follower, fire, smoke,fireworks)

I'm taking it step by step, but one thing is sure this book is the book for me.it explains things i like and in a way i want to see it explained.
In some of the first examples in the book one of the authors explaind emitters, particles movement, waves and amplitude.

this are some of the things in the first chapter and i really like likelikelike IT.
This book isn't a good book 4 people who don't know nothing of flash(as), but you really don't have to be a flash(as) or math expert to understand a lot of the things.
(i havent got through the whole book though, i trying to learn the examples one by one and i want 2 make sure i don't go through it to fast)

Very Good book, buying it is definitely no mistake

4.0 out of 5 stars size is everything, March 4, 2003

By 

Todd M. Yard (Astoria, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Byte-Size Flash MX: Adventures in Optimization (Paperback)

Well, isn't THIS a fun book! The material is extremely diverse-- some is merely cool, though not altogether useful, while other material (such as the great chapter on separating form from function) can go a long way to helping you produce more functional, configurable sites. All through the book the reader is offered insight on techniques that will keep the file size down, and since this is the most important aspect of the book, I would have perhaps liked a checklist near the top or an index at the end of these of these ideas. As it stands, you have to go through each tutorial (although they are all interesting) to get a full list of byte-saving techniques. Not a major drawback, but a small chapter that gathered all of the authors' tricks together would have been useful.