Special Edition Using Macromedia Flash 5 (with CD-ROM) [Paperback]

Darrel Plant (Author), Robert Cleveland (Author), PETER SYLVESTER (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 17, 2001 | ISBN-10: 0789724448 | ISBN-13: 978-0789724441

Special Edition Using Macromedia Flash 5 provides the in-depth answers to your Flash questions. This book explains how to maximize the potential of Flash for creating more advanced animation and interactivity on Web sites, as well as building user interfaces and full-screen Web pages. Real-world tips and tricks will make the book applicable to everyday tasks, and changes to Flash 5 will be highlighted for easy notice. Your singular resource whether you're designing for fun or for profit!

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Special Edition Using Macromedia Flash 5 provides the in-depth answers to your Flash questions. This book explains how to maximize the potential of Flash for creating more advanced animation and interactivity on Web sites, as well as building user interfaces and full-screen Web pages. Real-world tips and tricks will make the book applicable to everyday tasks, and changes to Flash 5 will be highlighted for easy notice. Your singular resource whether you're designing for fun or for profit!

About the Author

Darrel Plant is the publisher and owner of Moshofsky/Plant Creative Services, a multi-media development company in Portland, Oregon. This is his fourth book covering Macromedia products.

Darrel is the Technical Editor of Director Online, a free site for information on Director, Flash, and other Macromedia products (http://www.director-online.com).

Darrel lives in inner Portland with his wife, Barbara Moshofsky, and a cat named Jackie Chan. He's a voracious reader and has a bad habit of wasting time writing letters to the editors of various publications. Web site: http://www.moshplant.com/ E-mail: [e-mail]

Robert B. Cleveland spent seven years writing for publications in the automotive industry before trading in his pen and leveraging an IT background to begin developing on the Web. Since then, his work with ICON Technology Group and ICON Multimedia Group has required almost a schizophrenic development process in both graphic design and programming. The results have been cutting-edge Web-based solutions that integrate visual technologies such as Flash and Shockwave with powerful back-end data and programmed utilities.

ICON Technology Group and ICON Multimedia Group develop a full spectrum of innovative solutions for corporate customers¿from media development online and offline to large, ASP-style software solutions operating over the Web. Visit them online at http://www.iconideas.com and http://www.robcleveland.com or e-mail Rob at [e-mail].

Product Details

• Paperback: 800 pages
• Publisher: Que (May 17, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789724448
• ISBN-13: 978-0789724441
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,760,106 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent for those needing an ActionScript Reference Guide, February 27, 2002

By 

Fred Bals "Dreamtime podcast" (Merrimack, NH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Special Edition Using Macromedia Flash 5 (with CD-ROM) (Paperback)

Unlike some other reviewers, I was very satisfied with the quality of this book, but I bought it specifically for the sections (Chapters 14-30, literally half the book) written by Darrel Plant, which focuses on ActionScript.

I've been a fan of Darrel's since his "Lingo Programmer's Reference", possibly the best reference book on programming in Director ever written (and happily soon to be updated in a new title, "Lingo Line By Line"), and my advice to anyone wanting to move from Lingo to ActionScript (or simply to learn how to program in Flash) is to buy this book. As usual, one chapter alone ("Understanding the FSCommand System") saved me hours of work and frustration, clearly explaining how to communicate between different movies or between the movie and browser environments.

They're are probably better Flash overview and animation guides for the beginner. But this is the best ActionScript reference available today.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Can't use this book, July 4, 2001

By 

kalyson (Sacramento, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Special Edition Using Macromedia Flash 5 (with CD-ROM) (Paperback)

I was in the section on tweening (which I've never done before), and I followed the author's instructions exactly, step by step. And, much to my dismay, the animation didn't work. I looked up the same subject in the Flash documentation and found that the author had failed to mention that I had to make a symbol out of the object to be tweened. IT WILL NOT WORK OTHERWISE! A simple but NECESSARY step was left out of this book's explanation. This book was expensive, too. What good is it if the book is well-written but leaves out critical information?
I'd recommend instead the best book that I've found on this subject which was "Foundation Flash 5" by by Sham Bhangal, et al.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars basics book, June 25, 2001

By 

T. Szerlong (Normal, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Special Edition Using Macromedia Flash 5 (with CD-ROM) (Paperback)

I found this book very disapointing for many reasons. It seems 200 pages short and does not cover anything special. it is 500 pages of wordy instruction. Peach Pits flash 5 easy quick start and pro guides are much smaller and have so much more material covered. The que special edition books usually have really inovative projects. I am sorry to say that this one is just not up to par