Customer Reviews

Flash 3D: Animation, Interactivity, and Games

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Flash was never really intended as a 3D application. That hasn't stopped people from trying to use it as one. Flash 3D covers numerous ways to add depth to this otherwise 2D program.

Although this book's subtitle says it covers Animation, Interactivity and Games, the animation section is easily the shortest. Other than some good coverage of using shading to make things look less flat and simulating depth with parallax scrolling, everything else is pretty much programming based. Although a resourceful Flash filmmaker could still make good use of the other tutorials.

The majority of the instruction involves creating mathematical 3D space we can use to move our 2D objects around in. Each example builds on the ones before to eventually create a scene with a movable camera and objects that maintain a believable 3D space.

Flash 3D also covers how to mimic OuicktimeVR files, creating interactive object rotations and panoramas in Flash, as well as building a very rudimentary 3D engine that can draw and manipulate 3D solids.

The final section shows you examples of how to take everything you've learned and put it together into complete projects.

The comprehensive coverage in this book makes it a great asset for anyone looking to add more depth to their Flash projects.

Easy, concrete and full of very appealing examples. I read this book day by day without interruption, trying all the exaples in it. Sometime i found Actionscript a little bit redundant, but i suppose only to underline all the passages in the examples.It's not requyred a huge ability in math formulas or a great skill with flash. The only skill required is the individual imagination.

Flash 3D is an excellent book and I highly recommend it! It is well written and all the exercises are very easy to follow. The overall flow of the book is great.

The first few chapters provide tips on how to create graphics with depth and how to animate depth using the Flash timeline. The rest of the book covers how to use actionscript to simulate 3D and create interactive 3D environments. The authors do a wonderful job explaining each exercise and provide excellent comments within the code.

When it comes to actionscripting, I would consider myself an intermediate and I appreciate the effort put in the exercises and the level of explanation of the code. I really enjoyed chapter 5 "Math Primer: Trigonometry 101," which explains the basic trigonometry behind many of the exercises that follow it. I modified some of the exercises and started using them in my own work! Thanks for a great book!

I found this book to be an excellent guide to producing 3d Flash animations. It is easy to follow, well layed-out with clear instructions and examples.
I use Flash occasionally and sometimes get rusty. This book has helped me immensely when needing to do specific animations. I sometimes struggle with actionscript, so the way the information is presented makes it clear and easy to understand.
I recommend this book to anyone needing a textbook or a primer to create Flash 3D animations simulations.

One of the first things I realized when the book arrived where all the colored images... and that's great because many of the explanations would be hard to understand without colors.
I think the biggest advantage of the book may be for some the biggest disadvantage - it's very well explained, sometimes to well, and very extensive. The chapters are build like tutorials with step-by-step instructions complete with review after every chapter in 'what did we learn today'- manner. The language of the book mirrors both author's profession - they lecture in universities. So often I felt a little like sitting in a classroom reading this book.
Nevertheless it's a great book. More for beginners than for pro's, obviously. One thing gets clear fast while reading though: There is not much 3D in flash :)
But what there is, you'll find here.

i was really disappointed to get this book and read through it - i was expecting a higher level book that cut the BS and got right down to the nitty gritty mechanics of developing a 3D environment in flash. instead it spends way too much time on stuff that i think most competent flash designers would consider common knowledge - topics like creating the illusion of depth via scaling. and beware, it only devotes one chapter to creating "true" 3D objects using actionscript drawing tools. you are better off googling "flash 3d" and reading through some tutorials than buying this book.

Book has been a disappointment and source of frustration. The authors are not good writers and have failed to really provide any depth on the critical principles that would help readers grow as 3d flash designers. For example, here is a statement from the book: "sine we now have multiple objects, the placeObj function needs the addition of calculating the angle myAngle at which each object is on the path (line 31)." HUH? This statement is far too vague to be meaningful. I won't get into the diagram they provide - just skip them when you reach that part in the book, it will do you good.

The good part of this book is once you get past bad explanations and language, its a decent introduction into flash 3d. Lots of code in the book can be reused in other projects but if you attempt to build or expand on these projects, it would be better if the authors had spent more time discussing the more general principles of 3d in flash. Good luck.

UPDATE - after finishing the section on "Viewer Rotation about the Y-Axis," I regret giving this book a rating of 2 stars -- it is at best 1.5 stars.\

The section introduces new concepts which it skips over in a rush to code. The code is reusable in other projects but leaves readers with very little understanding of the mechanics involved. Without a sound understanding of the mechanics and concepts, most readers will only be able to perform the code as a routine, i.e. copy it on the next project and hope little customization is necessary. It is a real shame because this book is thorough in introducing fundamentals of 3d space in flash.

I studied After Effects with Professor Jackson and found his notes clearer and easier to understand than any of the in-print guides, which seemed to be written for, and by, aliens (as in, from another dimension.)
This book is as clear and concise as Jackson's notes and will be a worthy addition to any student or educator's bookshelf.