Customer Reviews

Macromedia Director MX 2004 Bible

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've read many of Brian Underdahl's books and like his style of writing and how he uses examples. I'm somewhat familiar with Director, but never really knew how complex this application is... the book goes into special effects and scripting much deeper than I expected, but was glad to learn it. I've had a few opportunities since reading the book to actually implement some of the material in some multimedia presentations for some clients. They were wow'd! One client asked me how in the world I got a particular animated sequence to work because a previous freelancer couldn't do it - I told him I had a reference book that explained it quite clearly. There just aren't that many Director books out there that go deep - most of the ones I have are very simplistic and go over the basic toolbars and animation techniques... if you're looking for some advanced topics, put this book on your list. Worth the $.

having learned the basics of director in a class was a good start to the program, but being the MONSTER that director is, a 'beginner' like myself, definitely needs the extra help. This book is relatively easy to understand, (relative because the program itself is just so complex), and is thorough. I found solutions for problems in the book that I could not find on the Macromedia website!
In all honesty, if it wasn't for this book my site would not be as cool! so my heartfelt thanks and congrats to the authors!

I was recently taking a college course where we were required to use Director. The course didn't have a required book but I picked this one up anyway. This book has been a godsend to me. So many times I wondered "how would I do such and such?", and a quick glance inside the book gave me answer after answer. The book is very well layed out, and well indexed. The descriptions are well written, and there are plenty of screen shots to remove any doubt about what you have to do to accomplish various things. It is perfect as a reference and if you are using Director, you'll want it on your bookshelf, believe me.

I usually don't buy books for software programs, but the lack of online resources for Director had me searching for a book. I've been going through the book starting at Chapter 1, and it has been extremely helpful. Director isn't as daunting as it once was...well at least until I get to the scripting chapter :)

I have a copy Macromedia Director 8 Bible from the same authors, and thought I might learn new Director capabilities like Flash Componets, 3D Lingo, and Javascript syntax from this new edition. To my great disappointment their treatment of these topics is on the verge of nil. Almost nothing compared to tutorials one can find on the web. Avoid this book if you are looking for information on the new capabilities of Director MX 2004. As a matter of fact, there isn't any single volume that satisfactorily treat all these new stuff. There are some very good books on Director 3D, but none on Flash Components and Javascript syntax. You are still on your own when it comes to these topics. Good luck.

I bought this one along with the "Macromedia Director MX and Lingo: Training from the Source". Although I do recommend this 'Bible' title (Director is the type of software you need al the reference you can get), I must say this should be used only as a good reference book. For a logical and easy to follow training approach, go with the 'Training from the Source'.

And, if you can't or don't want to buy any extra book, only one, then I'll have to say buy the other. As most of the 'Bible' collection titles, this is the type of book you'll only use for consultation as it's very unpractical to use as a training textbook.

I rated it 2 stars only because my project is primarily with the Shockwave 3D portion of director. There are lots of wonderful 3D things you can do with Director since it has an excellent cross platform 3D engine (if you can figure out how to use it). However this book won't help you to do that. Since Director itself does not document this or provide tutorials, you have to seek this information out on your own.

this book is great - it is not too advanced for beginners. It walks you through director setup, but also allows for you to skip to the more advanced stuff. Its a great book for any level and is engaging, and an easy read. I recomend it strongly.

This book is good...but i would really like it it has a little more picture on the steps.