Flash MX 2004 Savvy(tm) [Paperback]

Ethan Watrall (Author), Norbert Herber (Author), Sybex (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 16, 2003 | ISBN-10: 0782142842 | ISBN-13: 978-0782142846

savvy n. Practical know-how

Both new and experienced Flash users need plenty of help mastering these versatile, powerful applications. Whichever group you belong to, Flash MX 2004 Savvy gives you the resources you need to advance your skills. This means clear explanations, real-world examples, and carefully crafted tutorials in which you'll learn the full range of Flash techniques. You'll find in-depth introductions to the features new to Flash MX 2004 and Flash MX Professional 2004: Timeline Effects, the expanded components library, built-in project management tools, and more.

Designed so you can work your way from front to back or focus on the topics most important to you, this book helps you understand why Flash works as it does and how to meet the demands of your Flash-based projects. Coverage includes:

• Content creation: painting and drawing, text manipulation, reusable content, interactive slideshow presentations, content for the Pocket PC
• ActionScript: manual scripting, movie clip management and parameter control--plus a complete ActionScript Reference on the CD
• Interactivity: interface elements and controllers, new Flash components, new ActionScript behaviors
• Audio integration: synchronization, compression schemes, implementing interactive audio
• Media integration: with Director, with CD-ROM content, with 3D animation, with full-motion and streaming video

Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

savvy n. Practical know-how

Both new and experienced Flash users need plenty of help mastering these versatile, powerful applications. Whichever group you belong to, Flash MX 2004 Savvy gives you the resources you need to advance your skills. This means clear explanations, real-world examples, and carefully crafted tutorials in which you’ll learn the full range of Flash techniques. You’ll find in-depth introductions to the features new to Flash MX 2004 and Flash MX Professional 2004: Timeline Effects, the expanded components library, built-in project management tools, and more.

Designed so you can work your way from front to back or focus on the topics most important to you, this book helps you understand why Flash works as it does and how to meet the demands of your Flash-based projects. Coverage includes:

Content creation: painting and drawing, text manipulation, reusable content, interactive slideshow presentations, content for the Pocket PC

ActionScript: manual scripting, movie clip management and parameter control—plus a complete ActionScript Reference on the CD

Interactivity: interface elements and controllers, new Flash components, new ActionScript behaviors

Audio integration: synchronization, compression schemes, implementing interactive audio

Media integration: with Director, with CD-ROM content, with 3D animation, with full-motion and streaming video

About the Author

Ethan Watrall is a visiting faculty member in the Department of Telecommunications at Indiana University, where he teaches several web design classes. He is also a trained archaeologist and the author of Dreamweaver MX Design & Technique and Flash MX Savvy.

Norbert Herber is a visiting lecturer in the Department of Telecommunications at Indiana University, where he teaches classes in multimedia development, scripting, interactive design, and digital audio. He is co-author of Flash MX Savvy.

Product Details

• Paperback: 784 pages
• Publisher: Sybex (December 16, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0782142842
• ISBN-13: 978-0782142846
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.4 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,257,193 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm a faculty member in the Department of Telecom, Information Studies, and Media at Michigan State University. I teach interactive design, game design, and game studies. I've written 7 books on Flash, Director, and Fireworks. I like monkeys...and monkeys like me.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent kick-start reference, October 5, 2004

By 

Stuart Dalessandro (Reno, NV USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Flash MX 2004 Savvy(tm) (Paperback)

Getting started with Flash MX 2004? Get this book!

As a new Flash user but an experienced programmer / Web developer, I had been looking for a good reference to get up and running quickly with Flash MX 2004 Pro. I started with one book that had tedious step-by-step examples and little background into why things are done a certain way. I then bought this book and on almost every page I found myself saying "Oh, THAT'S why!". I gave the other book away.

This book is very well written. It gets to the point quickly and doesn't linger too long on any one subject. The writing style is clear, easy to follow. and even fun to read. The exmaples are practical in that the authors don't assume that you need to see every mouse click and keypress listed as a "step". Each chapter ends with an online site that exemplifies the subject of that chapter - good for inspiration.

This is not an expert book and only covers ActionScript in passing (fine for most beginners). The CD-ROM includes bonus chapters (useful) and "essential" ActionScript examples and references. Since it is not a complete ActionScript reference it's unlikely to make my collection of essential CD-ROMs, however.

If you are getting started with Flash MX 2004 / Pro I highly recommend buying this book first.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Flash MX Savvy 2004 - 5 Star Book, January 20, 2004

By 

"godum2" (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Flash MX 2004 Savvy(tm) (Paperback)

I bought the last edition of this book and was incredibly pleased. It was everything a beginner Flash user needed to get up to speed on the program. Now, being a far more expereinced Flash user, I still went out and bought this new eiditon as soon as it hit the shelves. It is still the most useful Flash book that I own.

I think the thing that I like the most about the book is not so much the actual core Flash coverage (and there is a lot of that - everything from basic animation to fairly sophisticated ActionScript), but the non-traditional Flash topics: like Flash & Director, 3D Flash, Flash & Freehand (which is a bonus chapter on the book's CD), Flash & Audio Applicaitons, Flash & Pocket PC, etc. There is a lot in the this book that you'll have to search through a lot of other Flash books to find.

On top of all of the great topics, the authors have a wonderful bablance between instruction and hands on tutorials. At the end of each section, there is a legnth project tutorial (called Hands On) that lets you take what you've learned and apply it to a real project. This is an incredible balance that you aren't going to find in many Flash books.

Finally, and this is something that not a lot of people think about when they are buying a computer book is the quality. The book is printed on really high quality paper. I know this sounds silly, but a top of the other really big Flash books (Flash Bible, etc.) are printed on paper which is one step above newsprint).

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars *The* Flash MX 2004 Book, January 13, 2004

By 

"gabrielrowland" (Toronto) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Flash MX 2004 Savvy(tm) (Paperback)

Flash MX Savvy 2004 is easily one of the best (if not *the* best) Flash book on the market today.

I actually bought the previous edition (Flash MX Savvy), and was eager to pick up this newest edition as soon as it came out. Not only is it written extremely well & organized amazingly, but it features significant changes from the previous edition. This is a huge deal to me when many new computer books are simply pathetic revisions of the previous edition in which the authors simply when through and updated the software name! This book definitely doesn't fall pray to this problem. Not only does it keep the best of the previous edition, but it also has a great deal of new content dedicated to the new features in Flash MX 2004 & Flash MX 2004 Pro. And, we're not talking about a paragrah here or a paragraph there kind of new content, there are a number of completely new chapters dedicated to new Flash features. On top of that, the authors have added some other really great new chapters - such as one on creating Flash content for the Pocket PC (my personal favorite) and one on working with Flash and Dreamweaver MX 2004.

So, here is the skinny, Flash MX Savvy 2004 is an excellent book, hands down.