Flash(tm) 5 Virtual Classroom (Paperback)

by Doug Sahlin (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
The topic of Flash 5 is enough to sell this book, the premier title in Osborne's new "Virtual Classroom" series. Content-wise, it is much like other introductory books on the ueber-popular Web animation software, offering solid instruction on manipulating objects and importing images, for example. What makes this stand out from its competitors (see Computer Media, LJ 3/1/01) is the accompanying CD-ROM that offers ten lessons in streaming video. Users will need a fairly good machine to run the tutorial and stay in sync with the audio. Libraries needing supplementary Flash 5 guides should purchase Sahlin's guide. (Library Journal )

Product Description
In Flash 5 Virtual Classroom, text and multimedia combine to create the ultimate learning experience. This large-format, illustrated guide presents instructional material in an easy-to-follow style--and the CD-ROM features the author speaking directly to you. Using a combination of moving screenshots, animation, and audiovisual presentations, he'll teach you how to use Flash 5 in no time!

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Product Details

• Paperback: 296 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies (January 12, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0072131152
• ISBN-13: 978-0072131154
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,006,416 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Video makes learning a lot easier, January 26, 2001

By A Customer

I generally find it slow and tedious to read computer books. I get bogged down in trying to follow all the instructions and make them match up with the screen pictures. This book comes with a CD that plays video on your computer. Doug Sahlin, the author, tells you how to do things in Flash, and demonstrates them with moving screen shots. It's like watching over the shoulder of an expert. I am picking Flash up much faster than I ever would have and I hope that more computer books come with great videos like this one.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Flash Book I have seen, July 13, 2001

By	sara choe (Princeton, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews

As a Flash fanatic, I own 5 "Bible" to "Reference" Flash books: most of them thick and heavy. I wanted to learn and master Flash as quickly as possible without going to or pay its classes hundreds to thousands of $. So, I didn't (don't) have time nor patience reading through some loquacious-professor-speaking nor I'll-entertain-you w/ nonsensical stuffs.

This is my favorite tutorial/quick reference book in that the contents are clear and concise to the point with pertinent illustrations. The CD-rom is as equally excellent. It is a stream video lessons that are practical and applicable to your sites. I wish I had owned this book as my first Flash book. It would have saved me so much time and money. I look forward to reading more of his books.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fun, clear, concise, with some goofy comedy relief!, April 23, 2001

By	emagee (Silicon Valley, CA) - See all my reviews

I just completed the virtual classroom CD accompanying Doug Sahlin's Flash 5 book. I must say that it was an enjoyable way to spend a few hours. I teach graphics glasses and am always interested in seeing other teaching methodologies for classroom, distance, and self-paced learning environments.

This book could be used in any of those arenas. The author displays a thorough knowledge of the subject in a clear and concise fashion both in the video and the book chapters. The book is laid out in a clean and organized style and although I would recommend this book for beginner/beginners, I added a few new tips to my collection. I enjoyed the video presentations, although I had some sputtering of sound and sound/lip sync problems with the real player.

Tonight I viewed the video again from another computer wondering if the voice over might accomplish the same thing without the video of the instructor as it's really the content in the main window that is important and well presented. However, you can see that the author is a clown and having a good time creating this project for us, and the element of a real teacher can ad that touch of humanity missing in our on-line virtual existance! I value the ability to have my program of flash running simultaneously with the video so I could pause the video and do the lessons.

I have used flash to produce a few company demos and consinder myself an intermediate user. I get stuck on the actionscripting and this book touches on actionscripting enough so one could advance to a book like Foundation Actionscripting with a basic understanding of this robust flash feature.

I recommend this book to flash beginners and anyone who hasn't launched their flash program in a while and wants a good clean organized review.