Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Caught by surprise!, October 2, 2002
Lets face it, if you do any programming at all, you know how the cost of reference material can add up. So I take book purchases very seriously almost fanatically and try to research like crazy before I make a purchase.I was on the fence about this book and it took me a while before I decided to get Inside Flash MX. I'm not sorry I did. It's quite different than the majority of the other books I have concerning Flash. It goes into topics that a lot of other books don't delve into. The Drawing API for one, printing in Flash, using Named anchors, scriptable masks, Flash Remoting, and some App. Development to name a few. Some Component stuff also. This is not the book to buy to learn Actionscript. Its really not the book to learn the basics of Flash either. The book really focuses on the more "hidden" or less traveled aspects of the program. It's certainly well written and organized well. It will really help round out your flash reference library. Sometimes I am even surprised myself at how often I use it. It's neither advanced or beginner _level. I give it a 3 1/2 really because it just is.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Inside Flash MX works for the Intermediate to advanced user., September 12, 2002
It has to be said that there are some good points and some bad points to this new Fig Leaf production. Fortunately, the good out-weighs the bad enough for it to qualify as useful addition to my book shelf. I think perhaps it might be a good idea to get the bad points out of the way first purely because this book warrants more praise than scorn.Inside Flash MX is not a book for a `newbie' who is deciding that it might be "cool to start making some cool animations!". Prior knowledge of Flash is essential before this book comes into it's own. This perhaps is not entirely Fig Leaf's fault as Flash MX is a step above the previous versions and not to be taken too lightly by beginners. There seems to be perhaps a slight mix up in content with the sudden introduction of action-scripting half way through the book where content like Animation and Masking come thereafter. A quick run through, with a slightly easier-on-the-brain reference at the start, to subjects such as how to hyperlink buttons etc., might introduce some of the basic important concepts. Having said all that ... the Fig crew have surpassed themselves with a very nicely rounded explanation of the new aspects of MX. Inside Flash MX very graciously describes new aspects such as the Movie Explorer, Enveloping, a library symbol Use-counter, Auto-symboling, the new interface in general, individual file/folder layering and Action Panel changes. The book also gives precise instruction on video integration into Flash which perhaps is one of the more appealing aspects of MX. One of the best features of this book is the detailed introduction and yet ease of understanding of Object-Oriented design through PHP, Java, XML and others. There is an interesting section on Components and also Server-side applications. Perhaps this is why I would be more inclined to say that this book is aimed at the more advanced intermediate user. For the Intermediate user, the book is the next step in learning of Flash technology and in many ways the evolution of the Flash Bible. Other than the level of knowledge needed to understand parts of this book I would give it a definite recommendation for the slightly more advanced user. Good job Jody!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Substantive, Holistic Reference, September 17, 2002
The Fig Leaf Software group has taken an active leadership role in the Flash community for years, pushing the boundaries of what is possible-and then sharing that knowledge with the public at-large, through training, conferences, distribution lists, and more. It is not surprising that Inside Flash MX, a 900-page tome to be released under their auspices is both at the cutting edge of Flash best practices and is also surprising accessible to the non-specialist reader. This book is very well written.As Flash has grown from a simple animation tool to an all-purpose, interactive, database-ready tool, books about it have been stretched in every direction. When you go to write a Flash book, you need to make some decisions; Jody Keating & co made some good decisions. The book provides solid coverage of Flash drawing, animating, masking, and sound techniques, but the book does not wallow in it. Instead, the book moves into the topics that many readers really need (and want) to know about: ActionScript, components, interface building, interactivity, and database interaction. A Flash movie has to look good, but it also has to do something. The book succeeds because it assumes that you won't be satisfied making simplistic animations and formatting text. Even before the ActionScript-intensive chapters begin, the book brings up relevant scripting techniques, showing that designing and scripting are integrated processes in Flash. Too many books (and designers) treat Flash as if it were a schizophrenic program-a design half for artsy types and a code editor for hardcore programmers. But good Flash development has for years been about the marriage of design and code. The needs of each impact the other too much to be handled in isolation. This is one of the few Flash books that understands that scripting is not intrinsically advanced, that some simple scripts are perfectly appropriate for beginners and indeed that they are an excellent introduction to the "hard" side of Flash. One way that the book makes the content comprehensible to those intimidated by code (or other advanced techniques) is through the ample use of tutorials. The CD is packed with exercise files and sample FLAs, and each chapter has one or more tutorials that let you roll up your sleeves and build sophisticated Flash movies. What I liked best about the tutorials is that some of them were ambitious; these are not 4-step tutorials that illustrate an isolated point. They are professional exercises that give you a working glimpse of how it all comes together. Before closing, I'd also like to point out that the book includes a quick ActionScript reference in an appendix. Flash MX does not come with a printed ActionScript manual, so this quick reference is quite helpful. If you are serious about learning how to create professional Flash movies and interactions, you should consider Inside Flash MX, which blends the reference and tutorial styles to optimize learning and mastery.
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