Customer Reviews

Foundation Flash CS3 for Designers

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Torn between 4 or 5-stars, it is the question "where are the source files" that makes the book less than perfect. Anyone that reads this book will ask the same question and hunt for the answer, so I'll answer it right now. Go to their website at www.friendsofed.com. Click on Downloads. Then scroll down and click on the title of the book. You'll get 2 ways to download the files - 1 big zip file (444 MB - about 2 hours w/DSL) or 14 smaller chapter files. I chose to download the individual chapters because it's quicker and Chapter 8 (video) is 324 MB by itself (Hint: download later!).

The book is so well thought out with a great layout, that I think it's unbelievable that they would overlook such a major omission. All of the content is upfront, even the tech reviewer and cover designer have their own bio pages. In fact when I looked at the blank white page that immediately follows the "introduction" but precedes the "layout conventions" I began to suspect that I probably missed it - and I did. It's written in micro-print as the last line on the copyright page (where?) just before the credits. So what gives? Probably a little joke on the readers and a gentle shove to visit their website for the clicks (uh, content).

If you can get over the fact that the pages are written in b&w or having to create your own cd (flash drive!)- it's really a great book to read and work with. I'll use Chapter 1 (Learning the Flash CS3 Professional Interface) to explain my reasons why. The title is a bit modest because it introduced a lot of material like concepts, keystrokes (PC & MAC), tools, timelines, symbols, movie clips, library, objects, layers, motion and more --- in every day language. Along the way, you're actually using them. At the end, I had a really good general understanding and a nice comfort-level with the features of Flash while being hungry for more. Perfect timing because the remaining chapters are more in-depth and build on Chapter 1. Moreover, I was excited to realize that it bridges the learning curve for the other CS3 programs. Afterwards, I jumped into another newbie book (Adobe's Dreamweaver CS3 On Demand) and nope - no fog! I haven't written a review on it yet but it's looking pretty good and it's in color.

I have never used Flash before. I purchased this book in order to learn how to put together some cool animations for video title scenes that I am working on. I am very happy with this purchase. I am not an expert after having gone through it, but learned exactly what I needed to in order to get my job done. That is one of the strengths of this book, after the first three chapters, you really can jump around and focus on what you need to.

Overall this book is well written. The authors managed to anticipate all of the questions that popped in my head as I was reading and following the examples. I did get a little frustrated in the "Building a Flash Movie" section of chapter 1. This section offers step by step instructions on the elements of creating a flash movie. Unfortunately, not all of the instructions are clear cut for the novice. For example, there is a set of instructions on creating a moon shadow that I followed precisely many many times. The confusion comes about when you are instructed to "click" on an object. There are different ways to click on an object in FLASH which the authors do not cover in chapter 1. In addition, I had "object drawing mode" turned on, which is not explained until chapter 2. This was very frustrating to me because I was following the instruction precisely and it was not working out. I persevered through it and can now tell you exactly what was wrong.

Chapter 2 is a real eye-opener if you manage to get through "creating a Flash Movie" in CH1. In chapter 2, I learned about the fundamentals of the features that had frustrated me in chapter 1.

Chapter 3 rounds out the last of the essentials that you should really have under your belt. There was a section on 9-slice scaling that I feel was not well done and the example used was in poor taste. The authors used images of a cross-dressing man in green leotards that dresses up as Peter Pan. I found the images to be quite disturbing and had the misfortune of having to work with this image in order to learn 9-slice scaling which I never learned because maybe I was too distracted by the fact that I was working on an image of a grown man dressed in pantyhose, a green dress and shiny shoes. Whatever happened to images of flowers and mountains? Really guys? Peter Pan? Was the Cinderella guy too busy to pose for you that day?

Peter Pan aside, this book get a full 5 stars for content. I really learned a lot and the authors made this book fun and easy to read. I do recommend that the novice reader not dwell on the building a flash movie in section 1 if things are not working out. It will all become clear in subsequent chapters. Also, maybe it is written in really big letters somewhere and I missed it, but I could not find one reference in the book to tell you where to go to download the companion zip folders that contain the sample files that the reader will need. I had to google it and when I did find a source, the Chapter 8 files kept coming in as corrupt files. I had to go to a secondary source to find Chapter 8. (you can find the files on the friends-of-ed website.) With these small few exceptions, I highly recommend this book.

In a word... Excellent! Challenging material made clear and accessible. It's not surprising to find that one of the authors is a long time teacher.

I've been reviewing this book for use as a textbook in community college level interactive multimedia classes. Since our department has grown out of a traditional graphic design program, we still face some resistance when it comes to teaching any kind programming. Now that so many artistic pursuits involves pushing around 1's and 0's, the institutional tendency to separate art and science, right brain/left brain, is no longer workable. The artist/designer of the future will have to be skilled in logic and at least the rudiments of programming. (for an excellent rant on this, see Aral Balkan's forward to ActionScript 3 for Animation by Keith Peters)

So, imagine the smile on my face when I saw the index to this book. ActionScript in chapter 4... well before animation in chapter 7... in a book with "for Designers" in the title! The inclusion of ActionScript so early in the learning process will allow us a much more integrated approach - something that is critical now that Flash is all grown up.

What I like about this book is how David and Tom approach the technology; the analogy between programming principles and real life, which will steepen the learning curve of a non-programmer who learns flash considerably.

As far as the book is concerned it's marvellous material for any flash beginner, up to intermediate- though the intermediate flash programmers will merely use the book to broaden their flash expertise using specific subjects on audio, video or CS3/AS3 components. It's not in-depth on advanced programming in Actionscript 3.0, nor does it cover the changes between 2.0 and 3.0, which an experienced 2.0 programmer might want to review.

So, though useful for experienced Flash users, the book mainly aims for the new users. But if you are indeed new, this book is all you need to get very broad and decent basics. Great stuff!

An excellent primer, engagingly written, filled with real-web examples and clever exercises. With humor, wit, and a genuine love for the program, Tom and David manage to bring out the code-phobic designer's inner techie without tampering with the creative impulse. Developers and designers alike will benefit from keeping a copy of "Foundation Flash CS3 for Designers" within arm's reach.

Whether you're brand new to Flash, or a little more advanced and want a nice reference book... this ones a winner. Very easy to follow, provides examples throughout, and easy to use a reference for quick look ups. I HIGHLY recommend this book for Flash CS3.

Tom and David have created the Flash CS3 book equivalent of Bill Nye Science Guy show. Easy for everyone to learn, yet the material is quite complex. A very uniquely rare talent of making the complicated easy because of the intertwined humor in the material.

To top it off, I had a question about one section in the book and David replied quickly to answer it.

A very fun read that will benefit any beginning to higher than moderate Flash CS3 user!

After using this book in conjunction with a university class, I can say that it's just about everything that you could ask for in an introduction to Flash CS3--whether you're completely new to Flash itself or have used previous versions and just want a shortcut to figuring out new features and understanding the nuances of the most recent release.

The authors do a commendable job of presenting a very wide range of information in a format suitable for a wide range of readers. The writing is clear and entertaining, and covers almost all aspects of the authoring tool. There is also a brief theoretical background of object-oriented programming leading into the discussion of ActionScript 3.

The authors present ActionScript 3 in a way that's both easy to skim, for readers used to programming, and easy to follow (without being overwhelming or intimidating) for those who've never programmed anything before. There are lengthy examples and sample bits of code (even an MP3 player you can create by following along with their example), and going through the online projects accompanying the text is a painless way to become acquainted with not only the "big picture" concepts and principals but the finer points of the authoring tool.

With ample sections on working with Text, Animation, Audio, Video, Interaction (through Components and ActionScript), and tips on everything from planning to publishing your project, the breadth and depth of this book make it a must-have for anybody who's looking for a solid introduction to Flash CS3.

Let me be clear on this. I'm a professional, experienced designer who is very comfortable with other Adobe products such as Photoshop, Illustrator, and Indesign. I've even done video work before in Final Cut. So I figured Flash couldn't be that complicated, right? Wrong. My first time opening the application was like trying to understand a foreign language. Flash scared me, and I put it away for several months.

Then I found this book, and it has become my rosetta stone. It took a while to wrap my head around the concepts of Flash, and there were many hours of frustration as my tutorials never seemed to come out right. So I agree with the negative reviewers that Flash is difficult, but that is because of the program itself, not this book, which was an excellent guide for my learning. Tom Green and David Stiller have a friendly writing style that is easy to read and comprehend, and their joking nature makes the book far more enjoyable than it might otherwise be. I am now as comfortable in Flash as I am in the other Adobe programs, and this book still rides shotgun with me through all my projects.

Let me also add that the book's assistance doesn't stop within its pages. David Stiller maintains a blog (http://www.quip.net/blog/) on which he answers Flash questions and provides additional resources. After struggling with a particular Flash problem for days and not figuring out the answer, I emailed David and asked if he had any ideas. He didn't have to answer my email -- that's not his job, after all -- but he did, and even took the time to walk me through some possible solutions. From there I was able to figure out the rest on my own. I was very impressed with his generosity, because in the design world, time really is money.

I know there are other books out there that delve into more of the specifics of Flash and Actionscript, but if you are a true beginner like I was, this book is for you. You don't have to be scared of Flash anymore.

Green and Stiller's book is really helpful, especially for someone like me who had no previous experience with Flash. The book provides easy-to-understand descriptions on the functions of the basic tools in Flash. There are also step-by-step exercises for producing a variety of creations from simple animations such as the Nanagook Lake tutorial to more complicated media applications such as the mp3 player that may require some code.

The book is also organized in a way that makes it easy to follow for developing Flash skills in basic graphics to animations, audio, and video publications. Each chapter represents an important technique in Flash CS3 and is further subdivided to specific aspects of Flash from which to choose from if you decide to focus on a certain area. Another advantage of the book is the pictures and code samples serve to guide you through the exercises to make sure you are doing the right thing by comparing your work. Also, you can download the final .fla for the exercises to double-check or to get an idea of what to expect if you are stuck while following the instructions for the tutorials.

The entire book is very useful overall either as a reference for someone with some Flash experience or as a resource for a person learning about Flash for the first time. Being a beginner, I am satisfied after using this book and thanks to it, I have learned a lot about Flash and the wide range of things you can do with it. It truly sets the foundation for any person interested in this unique multimedia tool: Flash.