Macromedia Flash MX Production Techniques [Paperback]

MD Dundon (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0321123980 | ISBN-13: 978-0321123985 | Publication Date: January 31, 2003

Macromedia Flash MX Production Techniques, based on author MD Dundon's popular multimedia course curriculum, is for designers and developers who want a concept-based approach to learning production techniques for Macromedia Flash MX. You'll learn, for example, how to optimize and build user-friendly files that work well at any bandwidth and processor speed. Unlike many Flash books on the market today, this book is designed to teach you smart Flash work habits—from the best ways to set up your desktop and organize your libraries to the nitty gritty of reducing your file size by 50 percent to the ins and outs of syncing your sound track to the visuals. Designed to be much more than a task-based exploration of the Flash program or a quick "tips and tricks" handbook, Macromedia Flash MX Production Techniques emphasizes the concepts behind using Flash, accompanied by real-world projects you can use to produce a working portfolio of Macromedia Flash-based projects. By focusing on the concepts behind Macromedia Flash production, you'll learn the "why" behind what you're doing, so that you can begin making your own projects more quickly.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Macromedia Flash MX Production Techniques, based on author MD Dundon's popular multimedia course curriculum, is for designers and developers who want a concept-based approach to learning production techniques for Macromedia Flash MX. You'll learn, for example, how to optimize and build user-friendly files that work well at any bandwidth and processor speed. Unlike many Flash books on the market today, this book is designed to teach you smart Flash work habits-from the best ways to set up your desktop and organize your libraries to the nitty gritty of reducing your file size by 50 percent to the ins and outs of syncing your sound track to the visuals. Designed to be much more than a task-based exploration of the Flash program or a quick "tips and tricks" handbook, Macromedia Flash MX Production Techniques emphasizes the concepts behind using Flash, accompanied by real-world projects you can use to produce a working portfolio of Macromedia Flash-based projects. By focusing on the concepts behind Macromedia Flash production, you'll learn the "why" behind what you're doing, so that you can begin making your own projects more quickly.

About the Author

MD Dundon is the founder of Flash411, an experience design and prototype development company. She is a contributor of the Flash 5 Bible; the author of Inside Flash MX: Production Essentials, a CD-ROM tutorial; and the developer of the curriculum for several Flash training programs. One of the first Macromedia Flash teachers in the world, MD has shared her love of Flash with everyone from Macromedia employees to some of the biggest multimedia companies in the world.

Product Details

• Paperback: 344 pages
• Publisher: Macromedia Press (January 31, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321123980
• ISBN-13: 978-0321123985
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,952,261 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Should be titled, "Yet Another Exceedingly Basic Intro", April 11, 2005

By 

D. Meriwether (Bay Area, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Macromedia Flash MX Production Techniques (Paperback)

Macromedia flash MX production techniques by MD Dundon is incorrectly titled. I would expect a book on production techniques to include at least one production technique. I was hoping to find in this book examples of how to organize content, design layout, and structure your flash files for a production environment where the content of your flash files changes frequently at the whim of the client or changing needs of the project. I was hoping that this book would cover methods of using external images and movie clips, external variable files for textual content, and the powerful XML interface. Given a thorough understanding of these elements one could create a Flash layout or framework and populate it dynamically according to the needs of the situation, chronological needs, or changes in project requirements. This is how I would define a production environment. However, this book was not written with a production environment in mind.

There are 11 chapters and 303 pages of text. Chapter 1 is entitled "Setting up your workspace". This seemed to be a good start as, in a production environment, your workspace is critically important. Just as a chef would not start cooking without careful attention to her mess en place, a flash developer would not start creating flash files without organizing the space for efficiency. However, chapter 1 is identical in concept and structure to every other "learn basic flash" book on the market. If you need a basic book where concepts like, "stage," "timeline" and "toolbar" need to be explained, this may very well be an adequate book. But it almost completely lacks information the day-in/day-out flash developer/designer would need the help them develop a true production environment.

Although exceedingly minor, considering the books abject failure in presenting information that a production developer would find useful, the illustrations used throughout the book appear as if created by someone with negligible artistic ability. The case can be made, especially in flash books, that illustrations can be so overblown as to obscure the instruction. However, in a book designed for flash professionals, one could expect a modicum of design skill. The illustrations are so bad, they detract from the instruction by making the designer think, "I haven't drawn a stick figure since I was three, and even then they were better than the ones presented in this book."

I wanted to return the book, so I didn't open the CD and cannot comment on its quality, use, or value. The web site, http://www.flash 411.com/books/did not, when I tried to look it up, exist.

All told, the book was a significant disappointment. It did not cover production techniques, it did not cover ActionScript in any meaningful way, and I didn't even mention the XML object. Having been a professional web developer since there has been a web, I bought more then my share of dubious-quality books. This book, however, has the distinction of being, I believe, the first I've ever returned.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Streamline your production., February 6, 2003

By 

S. King "zinlover" (Sacramento, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Macromedia Flash MX Production Techniques (Paperback)

Macromedia Flash MX Production Techniques is a must buy for your Flash MX library. As stated in the title, this book covers the aspects of efficient production. The book contains 11 chapters. Each chapter explains the Flash concepts that you need to understand in order to accomplish your production tasks. The procedures are written in a clear and logical style, followed by practice sessions. Although the book is written at a basic level, Flash users of all levels will benefit.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Get up to speed in a hurry!, May 4, 2003

By 

Joel Klein "joelk42" - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Macromedia Flash MX Production Techniques (Paperback)

I bought the Flash program a couple of years ago but never had got around to learning it in any comprehensive way. Finally, a potential project was looming on the horizon so I signed up for MD's online Flash Production class. It was great! As a working professional, she knows what's required to produce professional level work efficiently, and created for us a well-structured, comprehensive course. We went from being absolute newbies to competent production machines in just a semester (and with her unique style we had a lot of fun doing it, too!) The projects were well-planned and built up in complexity and scope to consolidate skills and impart professional production approaches and techniques. The class paid for itself almost immediately as I started to pick up some client projects. She's used the same great approach with this book, which is an excellent curriculum for getting started doing professional work in Flash MX.