Customer Reviews

New Masters of Flash (WITH CD-ROM)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I agree with Water monkey. Don't get me wrong, this is a good book for getting design inspirations and ideas, but not for learning Flash 5 the right way. There's enough books on Flash about doing the basic to intermediate stuff, but what everyone wants is a good Actionscript book. This book is better than the Flash 4 Magic book (which has tons of scripts but no explainations), and it actually does try to explain the definition and reason behind the applied scripts. One major complaint I have is quite a few chapters have scripts showed in Flash 5(a good thing) action window, but its obvious the codes are converted over from Flash 4 format, not written in the efficient manner using the dot syntax format of Flash 5. SO IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A BOOK TO SHOW HOW TO CODE PROPERLY IN THE FLASH 5 WAY, THIS BOOK WILL DISAPPOINT YOU. The codes in this book still use the // and ../ or /: way of addressing, which is what Macromedia trying to phase out with version 5. Well, that's my two cents on this book, great for visual inspirations, not for learning advanced Flash 5 script properly.

Before you plunk down a bunch of money to buy this book, you should know that all of the examples given use Flash 4 actionscript. Not a big deal, right? Well...it is. Flash 5 (the latest version) features a heavy re-write of the Actionscript code that powers all of your movies. In some cases, the syntax is completely different. If you know the differences between Flash 4 code and Flash 5, you should be able to easily understand what to do. If you don't, you'll be stuck learning code that is outdated. It's a shame they couldn't wait a little bit longer and publish this book with up-to-date actionscript. The examples and methods are good, but whenever they show the actionscript code that powers the movie, it's Flash 4. Don't use this book to learn actionscript. Get a book on Flash 5 actionscript instead. This book is good for inspiration and not much else.

When I first saw this book I was hoping for a good reference book on some of the more advanced Flash topics, like the various scripting languages and ODBC connectivity. Lets face it there are no truly advanced Flash books available. All Flash books assume you know little more than rudimentary tweening skills.

This book does expect you to know more than just your tweens, which is good. Many of the topics in this book can't be found in any other books. The designers even do a decent job showing you how to re-create their designs (although little concept and reasoning is applied to their actions).

The problem with the book is the tutorials are specific to the design created. This is probably the same reason advanced Flash books are not published. There are no generalized tutorials. If you are lucky enough to pull pieces from the designs and use them within your own , great.

As far as the designs themselves, they are inspiring, but you can view them on the web for free. By going to the designers web sites you can view their protfolios and see their work. Of course, they won't provide the tutorials.

This is a nice book to get ideas from, I just wish it had more instruction and reference material.

These guys (and one girl) should stick to Flash design and keep as far from writing informative text as possible. All of the things the show are watered down versions of what is on their websites and their very cryptic when it comes to re-creating their work...so we don't learn anything that you can't find tutorials on the web for. Their writing is more about their personal visions than anything solid we can grasp and make use of. This book is nothing more than a "I'm better than you...ha ha ha...oh but here's some table scraps for you to chew on so you don't realize I just pick pocketed you."

Designers tend to be overly insecure, protecting what they feel is their holy grail of knowledge like the guards at Fort Knox. This book is a great example of that insecurity on steroids. We will all be better off once world class designers realize that they have a vision that can't be consistently duplicated, therefore sharing their techniques elevate the craft...and everyone wins.

These 19 designers are the definition of insecurity.

If you are looking for a strict how-to Flash 5 Techniques/Actionscript book, then turn back. This book offers more to the seasoned designer than to geek-heads or weekend designers looking to scramble up some new effects and action scripting techniques for their latest project. What's more, this book is the first to concentrate on design principals and philosophies and allows each author to express where they drew their influences from, how their sites have evolved, and what lead them to make the design decisions that ultimately put them on the map. Furthermore, this is all in conjunction with the step-by-step how-to. So often, people (lazy designers) are looking for an easy source to duplicate what they see rather than using these resources to deepen their creative forces and ultimately create something of their own.

I started reading the "New Masters of Flash" over the weekend. Yes, I'll agree it looks thick and the pages are filled with large screen shots, but by no means does this hinder the books ability to convey its rich source of information in any way. It's simply an incredible collection of strong design philosophy and mainstream techniques. I will agree that the step-by-step writing could have been better implemented. However, what I like so much about the book is that each author describes his/her own design philosophies and creative reasoning in detail, as well as showing work by other more credible artist and designers from the past who have inspired their ideas. The authors describe these influences and how they draw their ideas, elements and philosophies into their final Flash projects. Anyone can publish a techniques manual for Flash that you can duplicate the step-by-step instructions to create a variety of visual effects. But, New Masters of Flash offers a great deal more. It offers you a chance to be inspired by what has inspired the authors of this book. This book will help you make more productive design and creative decisions. This book truly opens your mind up for new and exciting creative ideas with Flash. Giving you a plethora of information and techniques to go off on your own with, rather than just, simply copying techniques verbatim. This book is a true joy for those looking to deepen their creative pool and advance themselves to a new level of artistry.

As far as the any missing tutorials on the CD-ROM go. You can visit various web sites listed in the book to download them. Some sites even offer bulk downloading for those of you with a broadband connection.

The more critical reviews here are on target. This book is a great example of vile design -- neither visually nor functionally strong. It is easily 30% more bulky than it needs to be (and probably twice as costly). The reason? The authors and designers want you to think you're getting something you aren't.

What everybody wants with Flash 5 is a thorough and methodical account of Actionscripting. This book does provide some great examples by outstanding Flash people. But ultimately, it's like the huge box that arrives. You pry it open and inside it's mostly straw. Yes, there are some gems in there, but given the number of web sites that explain many of the same things.

like other reviewers here, i bought this book looking for actionscript meat...having found little real info elsewhere. i was both excited and disappointed by this book, however. its clear from the description that you wont be getting a clear set of actionscript tutorials, so i dont understand why so many people here were upset by that. what you do get are loads of interesting examples of flash components and how to build them. some of the contributions are more interesting and useful than others, and i was especially peeved that not all of the contributions are included on the CD-ROM!

overall, this is a good resource to A) keep on the coffee table for a flash geek dinner party B) consult for design ideas C) as a last resort, consult to adapt actionscript examples provided on the CD

if youre looking for more detailed actionscript resources, youll have to wait til more books, such as foundation actionscript, are released.

I spend all day checking out sites, looking for inspiration and I think I've found it. The book brings in different designers and highlights certain aspects of their sites, which then explains the process step-by-step. I've been doing flash for about over a year now and have been waiting for a book just like this. These designers are the cream-of-the-crop. The book manages to go over several flash secrets without being repetitious.

One thing, it is not a basic flash book. The book expects you to have the basics and some advanced actionscripting knowledge. If you know the basics this book is the next step.

I bought this book thinking that it would be a great reference to advanced action scripting. I am only sorry that I did not spend more time paging through its bulky and confusing pages in order to see what exactly I was buying. Back to the trenches- I say.

There is no purpose to buying this overpriced and obtuse book. The content can all be found on the web, and there is little real substance as far as action scripting goes. Many of my programmer friends think that Flash actionscripting is just a "pretend" language for designers who don't want to bother with learning a real language. I see many designers who are perfectly willing to learn and excited about actionscript's capabilities, yet are unable to find any good reference in order to learn it well- not just to create boring tricks, but to really implement strong web solutions. With this in mind, the examples in the book are not robust, they give only a sparse amout of info for you to try to figure out what they had done, with no practical value except perhaps recreation of their designs. Again, I expected more from the book as a useful REFERENCE, not as a display of design ideas. While some of the designers mentioned do some truly amazing Flash work, it really would have benefited their status and security to produce a tome equally great. Well, I guess some designers just aren't secure enough.

Being a person who is both academically trained as a programmer and an illustrator this book was a breath of fresh air. Most Flash books out there now are aimed at two groups beginners and designers. This book shows us how flash is truly a right-left brain technology through not only its tutorials but also through the explanations of the thought processes that go into this right-left brain thinking when applied to Flash. Many here complain that these designers talk too much about their thoughts, and inspirations. But guess what, designers feed on this information and so to be more complete technology people should as well. And as for designers who complain that its to complicated I ask that you not question the book because it is to advanced for you, but instead look to it as a path towards expanding on your abilities. I hope others in the publishing industry use this book as an example of how to empower web developers and make us more understanding of both programming and design.