Customer Reviews

Macromedia Flash MX Upgrade Essentials

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I don't often review the books i buy, but i was inspired by the previous review which gives a bit of an inaccurate picture in my opinion. I know Flash 5 pretty well, and i have a number of 'Beginners' books so there's no way i wanted to go over a lot of old stuff that i've already read a thousand times. That's why i bought into this whole 'upgrade' concept, and i think any of the pros looking for an early start to MX will do the same. OK, I only got it last week but it's keeping me real busy. Even some of the simple stuff, like pinning scripts and using shared objects, i know would have taken me forever to figure out so i'm really happy with this book. There's also a constant flow of examples throughout, which is exactly what i like. Right now i'm reading how to build advanced components, it's pretty heavy stuff, but the author's language is ideal (for my level at least) and even seems to make it interesting!! With reference to the Macromedia site i can't see any new features of MX that this book misses out. I know there are a couple of other MX books out there too, but if this book represents an 'attempt to get something to market quickly', it looks to me like a pretty successful one to me. Wow, i feel like i've justified my $$$ now!

Sham is the author or the co-author on about 85% of the flash books I own... I'd have to say his way of explaining things is great. The only thing that irritated me about this book is that Sham continually rambles on about the new menu docking feature in Flash MX... You hear about it in chapter one... and then chapter two... I then skipped ahead to chapter 5 to read about the new actionscript features... and what's the first thing Sham starts talking about? Docking the actionscript panel... 'ohhh lets see.. you can put it over here.. or over here... ohh.. how about over here... yay!'..... My other complaint of the book is that it seems a little "dumbed down" for a book thats supposed to be for people with a pretty solid understanding of flash 5... Sham sometimes takes 3-4 paragraphs to desribe what could ultimately be said in 1 or two... Buy the book if you know flash 5 fairly well and plan to upgrade..(the reviewer that gave this book 2 stars because the book seems to be 'geared to those that already knew flash 5' needs to read what the book is about before makes future purchases... it says right on the book that its for people with solid background in flash 5... I had flash mx 4-5 days before I had this book and didn't notice about 75% of the new features because they are subtle and you might miss them if someone doesn't tell you they are there... Overall Sham is prolly my fav flash author still... he explains things great... and as this is the first MX book really written, I rate this 4 out of 5 mainly because I got tired of hearing about docking over and over and over again.... If you are a newbie to flash 5 and planning to upgrade to MX, don't buy this book. You really have no need to read about 'what's new' in MX if you didn't know what was in flash 5. Instead buy a flash MX newbie book and save yourself $.... Otherwise, this book promised to get me into flash mx as quickly as possible and I felt it delivered on that promise. I'm nearly done with the book and I'd to say it was worth the money to get up to speed on a great new version of flash

This book is more than worth the price (even without the 30% discount!)

I totally disagree with the negative reviews. Sham is a very
good writer, and makes learning Flash a fun experience. His book is geared to anyone who has a working knowledge of Flash5, and just wants to get up to speed on MX, and he states that
plainly.

This book is invaluble in exploring all the new features of MX.
I'm verrrry happy with it!

Thanks, Sham, and Friends of Ed for producing great Flash books! Keep it up, mates =)

I've always wondered why somebody didn't write a book specifically targeted at those who are upgrading to a new version of software they already know and use. Now somebody has. Sham Bhangal has created the perfect book for those that are Flash 5 users, wanting to hit the ground running in Flash MX. Many books cover new features, but if you already know the previous version of the app in question, you are forced to slog through page after page of information you already know. The brilliant thing about this title is that it not only covers the new features in depth, but it tells you specifically how these new features will change the way you work in Flash MX.

It's not necessarily obvious, how radically different are some of the new features found in Flash MX. This book spells it out, with clear-cut examples of how to take advantage of each feature. Bhangal's conversational writing style makes the book an easy read. The depth and breadth of his knowledge of the inner workings of the new features makes it obvious that he worked closely with the Flash MX development group.

If you want to cut through the clutter and get right to the heart of the new features in Flash MX, this is the book to buy.

There are some great aspects about this book, but also quite a few that take away from them. First of all, there are some things which are errononous -- ie: just about all of the Accessibility coverage (quite an important new feature) -- some of the things it tells you to do won't work. That piece of code is for something entirely different, not checking accessibility. Secondly, some of what is said about video is not correct as well. Finally - some of the tutorials are not completed -- it says they will be in a "later chapter" - but this doesn't seem to occur. Perhaps this book was rushed out (the typos and grammatical errors might explain this - why the review goes from a "3" to a "2"). Anyway, apart from that some valuable points and lessons in this one.

It must be difficult writing one of the first MX books, so considering that. this book is ok. It has no real depth on any one subject and feel like thirty percent of the book is repeat Flash 5 content. Too much time is spent on the free transform tool.

Good coverage of components. Not a bad buy for the price. However this author has done better work.

I am a Psychiatrist who only ever openned a PC 10 years ago. I believe in GUI as a good unique way of presenting techniques.
Flash MX is the natural progression from Flash 5 but more so. It is much more than an improved version.
On reading Upgrade Essentials the learning curve is made much more manageable. The book is enthusiastic & encouraging. It is never simplistic but is always concise & takes nothing for granted.There is no rereading paragraphs to look "where did that come from?" similarly there is no skimping pages.
This is not just a "how to do book" it is much more. There is a genuine & open effort to retrain thinking & conceptualising. Whilst ActionScript is not handled as a subject in its own right it is comprehensively & adequately covered.
As the printing press enabled "us ordinairy folks" to share knowledge that we could not previously obtain so does this book enable us to levels of knowledge that otherwise we would not have.
The examples & explanation are sometimes devastatingly simple & yet highly effective. In a short time I was producing effects I had dreamed about or planned & never really thought I would handle the "Black Magic " needed. I can hardly wait to put it all into action!
This book is all it states to be .As many of we "autodidatics" know this is very seldom so.
A geat effective & efficient guide to a great tool.

This was my very first MX book
(after about 10 on Flash 5), and
I was quite happy to get an overview of the new features.
As it is an overview, some details will be
missing; as you have a good choice now,
maybe get something more in-depth.
Still, one of FoED's best authors!

I've always wondered why somebody didn't write a book specifically targeted at those who are upgrading to a new version of software they already know and use. Now somebody has. Sham Bhangal has created the perfect book for those that are Flash 5 users, wanting to hit the ground running in Flash MX. Many books cover new features, but if you already know the previous version of the app in question, you are forced to slog through page after page of information you already know. The brilliant thing about this title is that it not only covers the new features in depth, but it tells you specifically how these new features will change the way you work in Flash MX.

It's not necessarily obvious, how radically different are some of the new features found in Flash MX. This book spells it out, with clear-cut examples of how to take advantage of each feature. Bhangal's conversational writing style makes the book an easy read. The depth and breadth of his knowledge of the inner workings of the new features makes it obvious that he worked closely with the Flash MX development group.

If you want to cut through the clutter and get right to the heart of the new features in Flash MX, this is the book to buy.

I've always wondered why somebody didn't write a book specifically targeted at those who are upgrading to a new version of software they already know and use. Now somebody has. Sham Bhangal has created the perfect book for those that are Flash 5 users, wanting to hit the ground running in Flash MX. Many books cover new features, but if you already know the previous version of the app in question, you are forced to slog through page after page of information you already know. The brilliant thing about this title is that it not only covers the new features in depth, but it tells you specifically how these new features will change the way you work in Flash MX.

It's not necessarily obvious, how radically different are some of the new features found in Flash MX. This book spells it out, with clear-cut examples of how to take advantage of each feature. Bhangal's conversational writing style makes the book an easy read. The depth and breadth of his knowledge of the inner workings of the new features makes it obvious that he worked closely with the Flash MX development group.

If you want to cut through the clutter and get right to the heart of the new features in Flash MX, this is the book to buy.