Foundation Flash 8 Video [Paperback]

Jordan L. Chilcott (Author), Tom Green (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 159059651X | ISBN-13: 978-1590596517 | Publication Date: June 13, 2006 | Edition: 1

Video (and other Multimedia) on the Internet is becoming hugely popular, due to higher bandwidth making it feasible, and improvements in software putting it within the reach of anyone with a reasonable level of computer literacy.

Flash is one of the best, and most popular ways of delivering video to the web—Flash Video (FLV) is a small and efficient video format, and Flash allows you to apply a lot of great effects to video quickly and easily, and manipulate it using code. The new version, Flash 8, features a lot of new advancements for video, which developers are crying out for information on.

This book will be one of the first books solely dedicated to Flash 8 Video development, so will go a lot deeper into the subject than other books. It starts off basic, so that even those with little Flash experience will be able to pick up the pace quickly. By the end of the book, the reader will be creating advanced interactive video applications, using video alpha channels, masking, blends and filters, the Camera object, and much more.

To add further value to the book—time is spent showing how to manipulate your video using popular video packages such as After Effects, Movie Maker, Final Cut Pro, iMovie, and Premiere Pro, getting them closer to how you’d like them to look before they are imported into Flash.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Tom Green is currently Professor of Interactive Media in the School of Media Studies at Humber College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning in Toronto, Canada. He has written 4 previous books on Macromedia technologies, and many articles for numerous magazines and web sites, including the MX Developers Journal, Community MX, and Computer arts. Lastly, he has spoken at over 20 conferences internationally, including Flash in the Can, MX North, Digital Design World, TODCON, and SparkEurope.

Previous books:

Flash Professional 8: Training from the Source

RoboDemo Visual Quick Start

Building Dynamic Web Sites with Macromedia Studio MX 2004

Building Web Sites with Macromedia Studio MS

Macromedia Director 8 and LINGO: Fast and Easy Web Development.

Jordan L. Chilcott, born and raised in Toronto and now a resident of Guelph, Ontario, graduated from Radio College of Canada's Electronic Engineering Technology program in 1983, only to discover that he had a passion for computer programming. Spending his days working as a service technician, Jordan invested many sleepless nights teaching himself Assembly Language. He published his first program in 1985 and started learning higher-level languages such as C and C++.

Jordan co-founded The Computer Software Specialists, now known as Interactivity Unlimited, and eventually left the computer hardware industry to focus on his passion for programming. Today, Jordan has written various web and kiosk applications for various industries including the automotive and airline industry, and programs in various languages, including ActionScript, ColdFusion, Java/J2EE, and C/C++/Objective C.

When not programming, or administering the Dreamweaver-Talk list, he spends time with his wife, Joelle, and five children, Margot, Dina, Henry, Jack, and Joshua; he has recently become a grandfather. Jordan also loves to compose, produce and record music, helping upcoming artists as well as producing movie soundtracks, is a wedding photographer with Joelle, and now holds a Black Belt in Goju Ryu Karate.

Previous books:

Flash Professional 8: Training from the Source

Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: Apress; 1 edition (June 13, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159059651X
• ISBN-13: 978-1590596517
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 7.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,883,923 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not quite what I had hoped, July 6, 2006

By 

Peter R. Wiley (Lewisburg, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Foundation Flash 8 Video (Paperback)

I had hoped that this book would bring me up to speed on how to use Flash video in a more sophisticated way than the Flash video components allow. The book fullfilled this hope about 1/2 of the way.

It did show me how to do some basic action script for the control of video in a clear way in the last part of chapter 4. I was frustrated that the authors did not extend the discussion of creating a custom video player past use of a play/pause button -- to, for example, creation of a custom seek bar. Yes, components can be used to provide one, but, as the authors point out "many Flash developers tend to shy away from reliance on components." So how do Flash developers provide bells and wistles beyound simple buttons?

The chapter on action script anf Flash video would have been much more useful if had concertrated on a real-world application instead of the "jordivision" example that is focused on how to control glows and blurs -- sure, these effects might be useful, but if one is seeking a quick way to understand how to impliment action script controls in the context of a more commerical application one might be frustrated with the example, as I was.

What is presented is presented in a clear and easy to follow way, however.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Decent start in Flash Video, October 20, 2006

By 

Matt Przybylski (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Foundation Flash 8 Video (Paperback)

As someone who has been working with video in Flash quite heavily recently at work, I was eagerly anticipating this book to be released. At first I wasn't disappointed as the book has a great intro to video. It goes through a relatively thorough explanation of video and how it works on the net, talking about progressive and streaming downloading, and so on. As the title suggests, this book is a Foundation book so it is not code heavy and is perfect for beginners.

There is a chapter in the book about editing video, which if it is out of the scope of the book or not, is a very handy chapter. Not everyone in the world could afford huge software packages like Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premiere (or After Effects, depends on how you like to do things I suppose). This chapter goes over how to edit video with some of the tools that come shipped with your OS, whether it be iMovie on OSX or Windows Movie Maker on PC.

Getting back to the whole code thing, as an ActionScript developer I sometimes get let down by not seeing a lot of code (although it really depends on how you see things, because not everyone is nerdy like me and would rather not sift through code and just do things a different way). Page 186 clearly warns that this book is about Flash video, not ActionScript programming, but I believe when doing video you HAVE to know how to code around it. I see some video apps on the web today and all they have is the default FLVPlayback component skin on them. That's fine and dandy, but those things are ugly and everyone who knows how they were made just laughs at them.

Chapter 9 and chapter 11 get a bit more code heavy and even into some class programming, but the coding done throughout those chapters is geared more towards applying code to the video that make its stylized, a la blend modes and filters. To me, when I see a book on Flash video, I want to learn the ins and outs of controlling the video and making it do things like play videos in sequence, loading in the background, so on and so forth. I already know how to use blending modes and filters from the other great Friends of ED books (Flash 8 Essentials).

All in all, this really is a beginner book on video and if you're looking for a way to learn to control your videos thoroughly in and out, you won't find it here. If you just want to add some effects to your videos, this is the book for you.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Solid Foundation, April 18, 2007

By 

Tim Harris "with a pinch of salt..." (Shanghai/Mumbai) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Foundation Flash 8 Video (Paperback)

This is a well-written and enjoyable immersion into the nuts and bolts of creating and publishing video on the web using Flash 8. Aimed squarely at those beginning to work with Flash Video, the book is quite thorough for that audience. Most importantly, it covers all the essential principles one needs. From data rates for encoding videos to alpha channel effects to using the BitMapData and other classes, this book will set you up to launch that internet tv channel you've been thinking about.

However, if you're looking for the mind-bendingly master kung-fu video tricks that break existing rules of reality, I'm afraid you'll have to look further. Or write it yourself!

I like the clear organization and simple instructions the writers give. The book serves as a handy reference for those just starting to use video and other related objects in Flash. The code is broken down and explained for the reader and one can use these building blocks in combinations to stunning effect. Especially helpful is the section on playing multiple videos.

The writers make the whole thing fun and light. Hell, we're all playing around figuring out what we can do with these toys. I'd like more heavy, serious passages as well, though. Still, worth the cover preice, though.