64 of 65 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Mostly A Well Thought-Out Guide, June 8, 2007
More than most other creative programs, Flash requires learning a vast amount of information in order to use. As a beginning- and intermediate-level instructor of Flash, I am constantly searching for new ways of organizing and presenting this information that are quick, simple, and effective. Flash CS3: The Missing Manual is written for beginners, especially creative beginners, and approaches the learning of Flash differently from other books I have seen by organizing its Parts and Chapters more by overlying concepts, rather than the specific technologies and techniques used in the program. The authors realize -- correctly, I think -- that people learning Flash tend to want to accomplish something with it, and instead of organizing this book around concepts like Motion/Shape Tweening or MovieClips, which mean little or nothing to a beginner, they have given us chapters like "Animating Your Drawings" and "Interacting with Your Audience."
Besides its intelligent organization, Flash CS3: TMM contains all of the features I expect of a good-quality educational book: clear and concise language, screenshots (both Mac and Windows), tips and tricks, workarounds to common problems, and example source files (accessible from a Web site, rather than an enclosed CD-ROM). Perhaps the biggest strength of this book is the discussion of the "intangibles" behind any successful Flash project: planning, storyboarding, research, and critical thinking. The authors periodically take a step back from the hands-on, computer-program-using tutorials to ask us to stop and think about what we are trying to accomplish with our animation (or whatever we are working on). While not directly related to the learning of Flash, these insights are crucial to learning how to create quality Flash projects.
In terms of learning how to create quality Flash, the book could be greatly improved by not urging of the use of Scenes and teaching the placement of ActionScript code directly on objects (Buttons and MovieClips). Both practices have been discouraged for years by the Flash Industry and run contrary to the official Adobe Flash Best Practices ([...]). These methods may be the quickest and easiest ways to get things done in the short run, but ultimately set people up for confusion and trouble later on as they progress in learning Flash. Better to take the time teaching the "proper" methods from the outset.
If you adhere to Adobe Flash Best Practices, you should be able to benefit from reading Flash CS3: The Missing Manual. Most of all, its unique organization of information and its discussion of the conceptual and planning foundation required before starting any Flash project. Its "Menu by Menu" appendix alone -- which defines each and every menu item in Flash and reveals their Mac and Windows keyboard shortcuts -- is priceless to any beginning or intermediate Flash user.
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18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
A Disappointment, December 16, 2007
Generally you can count on "The Missing Manual" to provide what you need to learn a software package quickly. In this case, however, I didn't get anything I needed, and a lot I didn't need.
I already own FlashCS3 Professional Advanced, the Visual Quickpro Guide, and am very happy with it. As a reference book, it's well-organized and thorough, aimed as much at the Interactive Designer as the Animator. But what it lacks are tutorials that can get me up to speed quickly on new features and shifting paradigms, in an application that has changed radically since moving from Macromedia to Adobe.
Having been very happy with the great tutorials in the Dreamweaver CS3 Missing Manual, I went ahead and purchased the Flash volume.
I should have looked more closely before I bought, instead of relying on my experience of The Missing Manual series. There is not a single tutorial in this book! It is far less thorough and sophisticated than the Dreamweaver volume, with most of the pages being devoted to very basic step-by-steps, mostly on drawing and animating tools. Less than 100 pages on adding interactivity, and not even a single chapter devoted to learning and using Action Script. Finally, there are 60-some pages on testing, debugging and publishing, which might be of limited value to me.
If you're looking for a book that will quickly get you up to pro speed on a pro application, I'd say that -- unlike the Dreamweaver CS3 Missing Manual -- this ain't it.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great easy to follow book, October 7, 2007
Flash CS3: The Missing ManualI just got this book and in less than 24 hours Im using Flash in a beginners level, its easy to follow and the learning curve is really good. I firmly believe that when Im done with this book ill be doing mere complex stuff for animations and web.
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