Macromedia Flash MX 2004 Advanced for Windows and Macintosh: Visual QuickPro Guide [Paperback]

Russell Chun (Author), Joe Garraffo (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0321213416 | ISBN-13: 978-0321213419 | Publication Date: December 4, 2003

As a professional Flash developer, nobody knows more about Flash MX 2004 than you or at least they better not! To make sure they don't, you need this task-based guide. By applying the popular Visual QuickStart format--easy, step-by-step instructions and loads of visual aids--to more complex topics, this guide offers the quickest, easiest way to get up to speed on the advanced Flash features that can make or break a project. You'll find straight-ahead, concise explanations of all the animation, navigation, and interactivity techniques you'll need to master to create dynamic Web sites with Flash. You'll also find complete coverage of all that's new in Flash MX 2004: essential ActionScript 2.0 commands and standards, expanded support for rich media, a streamlined user interface, and more. By emphasizing methodology and problem solving over features inventories and long, techie discussions, this guide teaches Flash the way you use it--dynamically, interactively, and to get a job done!

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Russell Chun is a medical illustrator, writer, and teacher. He develops instructional media for Benjamin Cummings, an educational science publisher. He has written numerous magazine articles on Flash, and he teaches Flash at the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California at Berkeley.

Product Details

• Paperback: 648 pages
• Publisher: Peachpit Press (December 4, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321213416
• ISBN-13: 978-0321213419
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 7.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,614,241 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thorough but to the point, May 6, 2004

By 

Edward P. Trimnell "edwardtrimnell.com" (Cincinnati, OH USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Macromedia Flash MX 2004 Advanced for Windows and Macintosh: Visual QuickPro Guide (Paperback)

Absolute beginners to the world of Flash MX 2004 have many choices, but the selection thins out once you advance beyond the basics. Doorstop-sized reference books for ActionScript are often of limited help, because they tell you what a particular line of code will do, but they don't reveal the situations in which the code is useful. Authors Chun and Garraffo have extracted the elements of ActionScript that are most important to the intermediate Flash developer, and explained them in the context of specific objectives.

This book covers the essentials of interactivity, nested timelines, and advanced animation that are probably on your to-do list if you are a advanced beginner-intermediate Flash developer. Many of these principles are less than intuitive at first, and the authors have done a superb job of breaking down each task into a series of repeatable steps.

The examples given in the book are detailed enough to illustrate each point, but short enough to digest within a few minutes. (I am often exasperated by computer books that require the reader to wade through a lengthy tutorial in order to locate a single technique.)

At more than 600 pages, this book will also satisfy those readers who believe that a computer book MUST be a doorstop in order to be worth buying. There is a lot of content here, and the instruction assembled by Chun and Garraffo is well worth the price of the book.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for the price!, March 22, 2005

By 

Rick "Flash" (Windsor, ON CANADA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Macromedia Flash MX 2004 Advanced for Windows and Macintosh: Visual QuickPro Guide (Paperback)

We used this book as a textbook for a second flash course in our multimedia program and overall I would have to say that this book is an excellent introduction to some more advanced techniques in flash mx 2004. I especially like the short tutorial approach that these books use - quick and handy. My only beef is that there isn't anything solid on components or xml, so that is why I say it is an introduction to more advanced topics. Topics like creating your own pull-down menus using tweening and actionscript (not components), attaching sounds, and stuff that requires using export for actionscript. If you are not sure what I am talking about then this is probably the book for you! Otherwise maybe consider something like "Flash MX 2004 actionscript" by Macromedia press.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful and balanced, June 8, 2004

By 

M. Smit "amasmit" (Netherlands) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Macromedia Flash MX 2004 Advanced for Windows and Macintosh: Visual QuickPro Guide (Paperback)

Out of 4 books that I purchased to learn Flash, this is certainly the one with the most attractive format -- the formatting of screen shots and text in the "Visual QuickPro" range is superb. I wish all books were as readable as this one. These books read well chapter-by-chapter, but are also very useful as a reference. The balance and quality of Windows and Mac screen shots is also very good.

My minor criticisms are:
- Obviously, the book isn't as comprehensive as the Flash MX ActionScript Bible by Robert Reinhardt. So as a reference, I like having this other book handy as well;
- The book doesn't always mention whether features are only available in Flash Player 7. For example, there is no mention that the ContextMenu class which is nicely described in chapter 4 requires Flash Player 7 to work.

Overall, this book offers excellent value for money.