Customer Reviews

Teach Yourself VISUALLY Flash CS3 Professional (Teach Yourself VISUALLY (Tech))

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

 

 

Where to start? For openers, this line from the above product description is a lie:

"* Demonstrates what readers need to know about Flash to build animation sequences as well as more advanced features like using ActionScript to create an interactive Web experience"

Why? Allow me to spoil the ending for you by typing in the only reference to Actionscript in the book. Ready?

"Actions and Actionscript

Flash actions are built on a programming language called Actionscript. This scripting language allows you to write instructions that control a movie. If you know how to write scripting programming code, you can certainly write your own actions in Flash. However, you do not need to know a scripting language to create actions. Flash includes hundreds of prewritten scripts, or actions, you can assign."

I kid you not, that is the entire section on Actionscript, taken from the bottom left corner of page 238. To be fair to Amazon and the publisher (who puts out great books), the book itself does not boast Actionscript! It is a fabrication created by the person who put it here on Amazon-a place I trust less and less to describe books here accurately.

Sorry, but its the truth.

This book gets 2 stars because it is a good first glance at flash for someone who has never heard of, or seen, flash before.

'Teach Yourself VISUALLY Flash CS3 Professional' is a good guide with full color throughout its ~350 pages spread over 15 chapters. If you are looking to do BASIC Flash development this is a great resource to have by your side. If you are looking to do advanced Flash development with ActionScript this book isn't for you. AS is barely discussed and is just glossed over. Good for the beginners, not for people looking to become experts. You have been warned.

Still not a bad book though!!

**** RECOMMENDED

I found this book to be the perfect tool for starting out trying to learn the Flash program. It's simple, easy to understand, and straight to the point. I needed some help in a hurry, and didn't have time to wade through a bunch of text. If you're visually inclined, then this book may appeal to you. I'm not ready to start writing my own scripts in Flash yet, but that's best suited for another book anyway (gotta crawl before you walk).

This book is excellent for the intended audience. In fairness, there are not many books out there for the absolute flash neophyte; most assume some degree of familiarity with the program. This book does the job for those who are clueless about Flash, and takes them by the hand and visually brings them up to speed. For myself, this was exactly what I neded to get me moving...from this point, there are many books that can get me into ActionScript and more sophisticated interactions.

If you are intimidated by Flash and and are not ready for AS, or if you are in a work situation that requires you to do some basic Flash in a short time, this is the book for you.

I bought this book last year and have never used it. When I first bought it, I should have returned it. It is full of big type and big simple pictures. It has snipets of information almost indiscriminately placed throughout the book with discussion so brief they are almost useless. It reminds me of the depth of Powerpoint handouts from work. They are not hiding anything. Go back to the "Look Inside." The whole book is like that. If you buy it, sharpen your crayons.