Customer Reviews

Flash 5 Primer

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Gets to the point: This book is almost fluff-free. It starts with a readable "What's New in Flash 5" section, and moves into Flash basics quickly, with step-by-step tutorials in every chapter. (The source files are available online.) By the middle of the book, the reader is exposed to some involved ActionScripts, and a good audio chapter. The last part of the book includes an introduction to Flash games, a hands-on e-commerce site, a thorough Exporting section, and a chapter on Bandwidth issues.

Not just bare-bones: Policano fills the book with quick tips and observations that professionals and novices will appreciate: working with web sites, organizational tips, e-mail, clip art, plug-in detection, etc. Finding these real-world tips sandwiched in with the how-to tutorials elevates the book a little beyond the average Flash tome. There are enough good tips and techniques to make it a good value for intermediate and even some advanced users, like plug-in detection scripts, dealing with framesets, and the idea of storing URLs in text files during production.

Downside: There's no downside to this book. There are books with more color (which runs the price up), and books with trendier page layout (which may or may not help the learning experience), but this book is a straightforward, accurate, well-organized learning tool. A Glossary of Terms would have been nice...I would like to see Policano's spin on some of the definitions.

Bottom Line: No fluff, just solid stuff. There is a lot more substance than style in this book, but that's okay: the style becomes evident after you use the book to learn Flash 5. This book is good for beginners, but is not just for beginners: it gets into intermediate territory quickly. This is not the first book that a complete Flash novice should buy, but it should probably be the second. It is a great first book for multimedia professionals who are new to Flash or Flash 5. PeeCee and Mac users are treated equally, with keyboard commands and software recommendations for both platforms. Beginners will spend 20 - 25 hours digesting this book; intermediate and advanced users will need 8 - 15 hours.

Flash 5 Primer delivers content as promised--without all the unnecessary fluff and instead provides hands-on, solid examples to work on. You'll learn to use the basic tools and menu, creating text effects, write ActionScripts, create Flash games, animation, making preloaders, audio tricks, and much more! This book could be used with Flash 5 or any newer version. I had the book for only a few days and I eagerly digested four chapters--96 pages--and I saw major improvements with my work in Flash.