Macromedia Flash 8 On Demand [Paperback]

Andy Anderson (Author), Steve Johnson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 28, 2005

If you are looking for a fast, visual way to learn Macromedia Flash 8 and create your interactive website, Macromedia Flash 8 On Demand is the book you need. Step-by-step instructions with accompanying 4-color visuals mean you'll spend less time reading and more time learning. You'll learn how you can easily integrate and add interactivity with tools, develop content using pre-built components and effectively improve authoring capabilities with custom extensions.

 

The new features icon used throughout the book highlights what's new in Macromedia Flash 8 and a troubleshooting guide is included to help solve your most common problems. Also, the companion software shows you how to perform everyday tasks and helps you gain web authoring experience. Let Macromedia Flash 8 On Demand help you master Macromedia Flash 8.

 

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

If you are looking for a fast, visual way to learn Macromedia Flash 8 and create your interactive website, Macromedia Flash 8 On Demand is the book you need. Step-by-step instructions with accompanying 4-color visuals mean you'll spend less time reading and more time learning. You'll learn how you can easily integrate and add interactivity with tools, develop content using pre-built components and effectively improve authoring capabilities with custom extensions.

 

The new features icon used throughout the book highlights what's new in Macromedia Flash 8 and a troubleshooting guide is included to help solve your most common problems. Also, the companion software shows you how to perform everyday tasks and helps you gain web authoring experience. Let Macromedia Flash 8 On Demand help you master Macromedia Flash 8.

 

About the Author

Andy Anderson is a graphics designer and illustrator who has worked with Photoshop since it was released. A university professor, Andy is sought-after lecturer in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Steve Johnson has written more than twenty books on a variety of computer software, including Microsoft Office XP, Windows XP, Macromedia Director MX and Fireworks, and the Web publishing. Perspection, Inc. is a software training company committed to providing performance-based training to help people effectively and efficiently use computer technology. Perspection writes and produces software training books, and develops Web-based training for Windows and Macintosh personal computers.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: Que (October 28, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789734699
• ISBN-13: 978-0789734693
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,577,765 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Flash Reference book and prep for certification, January 30, 2007

By 

Keith Johnson (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Macromedia Flash 8 On Demand (Paperback)

I am the manager of the Seattle Flash User Group and I have also passed two Flash certification exams, so I know flash well and have used the program for several years. This book is an excellent book. When someone comes to the User Group and they are new to Flash or want to just learn the program I recommend three books, Lynda.com's Professional Flash 8: Hands On Training, to start learning the program, that will get your started learning the 20% of the program that you will use 80% of the time, the other two books are the Flash Cookbook and this book Flash on Demand.

I have read the book cover to cover; it is highlighted and has several post-it tabs attached to it. It is the first book I grab when I want to do a quick look up. It does a good job explaining and is full of photos.

It is a great reference and study guide for the exam that is why I read it cover to cover. The certification test cover a lot of area and you need a guide to review and study that covers the whole spectrum. One book will not do it, you need a couple and this one is good for that. They give a lot of suggestions on where to study and making mental notes on the test and they are very accurate.

Also I should add I do not know the people or the company that wrote this book. I am giving them a good review because I like this book and if my review helps someone to learn flash better I did my part. It is a great program. When I started to learn flash I bought a lot of bad books, if I can keep someone from being discourage again I done my part for the flash community.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Interesting Presentation Format that I Really Liked, March 14, 2006

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Macromedia Flash 8 On Demand (Paperback)

When I first wanted to learn Flash, I started with the tutorial that came with the software. While I suppose that this works for a lot of people, it didn't work for me. Although I tried to do everything exactly as described, the result just didn't come out the same as the demos.

Next step was this book. It says it's aimed at the Beginner-Intermediate level. Beginner is me. Then I looked at the format of the book inside. It has an interesting format of two columns on each page. One of these is basically text that describes a problem and talks you through the solution. The rest of the page is what the screen looks like when you do it correctly. This worked for me. I knew what I was trying to do at each step. I saw where to point with the mouse. and generally speaking the result turned out like expected. (OK, so a couple of times I had to do something two or three times.)

This is a splendid way to do a tutorial book that leads you through programming in Flash.

In addition, there are two othe features of the book. First if you already know Flash, and you just want to get up to date on the new stuff in Flash 8, it is clearly marked. Second, the back cover says that this book meets the objectives for the Macromedia Certified Professional Program. These certifications look good on a resume. I'm not ready to take the test yet, but I'm headed that way.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good reference manual, March 21, 2006

By 

S. Magedanz - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Macromedia Flash 8 On Demand (Paperback)

This is a good reference manual for all the basic functions of Flash 8. It demonstrates clearly what all the menu options, tools, etc., do; where they're located; and how to work them. As others have noted, it's aimed at beginners. The first couple chapters will be old news for experienced users, and it covers only the most basic concepts for Action Script. It's a good overall introduction, although the text suffers from poor editing and occasional typos. These generally don't affect the content, but they are distracting.

If you're looking for a hands-on approach to learning Flash, this isn't it. You can download demonstration files at Perspection's web site, but they're always the finished product, so you don't get much chance to work out the process yourself. The book has a couple of projects in the back, but they're brief and more like extra features than tutorials. If you want something with a "learn by doing" focus, consider one of Philip Kerman's Flash books.