Macromedia Studio MX Bible (Paperback)

by Joyce J. Evans (Author), Donna Casey (Author), Ron Rockwell (Author), Charles Mohnike (Author) "Macromedia Studio MX is an integrated suite of development tools for building professional Web sites and rich Internet applications..." (more)
Key Phrases: habitat alert site, btn learn, reworks folder, Macromedia Fireworks, Macromedia Dreamweaver, Macromedia Flash (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
* Provides everything Web designers need to build cutting-edge applications with Macromedia's new tool suite, which includes Dreamweaver MX, Flash MX, ColdFusion MX, Fireworks MX, and Freehand
* Covers building data-enabled sites with Dreamweaver MX, creating Flash MX animations, working with ActionScript, creating Web graphics and animations with Fireworks MX, building interactive ColdFusion MX applications, integrating Flash and ColdFusion, and drawing vector art with Freehand
* Major changes in the Macromedia MX tool suite mean even veteran developers and programmers are looking for the updates this book provides
* CD-ROM includes trial versions of the software, extensions, sample databases, images and applications

From the Back Cover
"If you are a developer using Macromedia MX technology, this is THE book to own."
—Brad Halstead, author of Dreamweaver MX Magic

If Macromedia Studio MX can do it, you can do it too . . .

If you want to develop Web sites that stop traffic on the Internet, this definitive guide to Macromedia Studio MX is essential. Aided by expert tutorials from some of the nation’s top Macromedia developers, Web design guru Joyce Evans gives you an in-depth course in each application – Freehand MX, Flash MX, Dreamweaver MX, Fireworks MX, and ColdFusion MX – plus tutorials and detailed instructions for integrating their capabilities. Whether you’re creating static HTML pages or interactive Flash animations and data-driven Web applications, this book will become your constant companion.

Inside, you’ll find complete coverage of Macromedia Studio MX

• Use Fireworks MX to create and optimize images
• Create Web and vector graphics with Freehand MX
• Construct interactive ColdFusion MX applications and integrate ColdFusion with Flash MX
• Animate sites using Flash and work with ActionScript and Flash Remoting MX
• Develop data-enabled sites with Dreamweaver MX
• Understand how ColdFusion’s programming language works behind the scenes in an application
• Integrate Flash movies and multimedia objects into Dreamweaver MX
• Apply client-side scripting and code, and use tables, snippets, and cascading style sheets

Bonus CD-ROM

• Author-created tutorials and movies
• Trial versions of Alien Skin Software’s Eye Candy 4000, Splat! and Image Doctor
• Extensions, sample databases, images, and applications

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Product Details

• Paperback: 1176 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (February 3, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764525239
• ISBN-13: 978-0764525230
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,032,679 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Fails to deliver on its ambitions, May 29, 2003

By	John Harpur (Trim, Meath, IRELAND) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Samuel Johnson remarked once that learning in Scotland was like bread in a siege town. Everyone got some but none got enough to make a meal. His quip could equally apply to this book. It touches on everything, but doesn't cover anything in sufficient depth. In fact I would tend to view the book as really centered around bringing Fireworks and Freehand into play (contra Illustrator and Photoshop). Freehand and Fireworks get 200 pages each, while Flash gets 90 pages. Dreamweaver gets just under 300 pages, and the surface of many features is revealed. However, there isn't a lot of depth throughout and elaborate examples are avoided. The rest of the book is focused on Cold Fusion (which was not of interest to me).

My personal recommendation is to look at specific books for specific components. Compendium type books, often suggest more than they can deliver.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Resource, April 17, 2003

By	Samuel Heber (San Francisco) - See all my reviews

The only way possible not to find value in this wonderful book is if you already know all the applications. If that's the case then why would you buy it.

Each section was almost a book in itself. You have to be an expert illustrator not to learn a ton of stuff in FreeHand from making vector images to making SWF movies and all kinds of special effects. I learned how to use FreeHand in my workflow with the other apps. For instance how to make my logos and print material in FreeHand so that I only have to design it once for both print and the Web.

Fireworks is another one. I've used Dreamweaver a lot but was unfamiliar with Fireworks. WOW, what a powerful program. I learned how to make all kinds of images, text effects but most importantly several ways to export those images and designs to use in Dreamweaver.

Dreamweaver includes basics but moves quickly into more intermediate topics. I learned how to connect to a database and got a good foundation on using CSS along with a lot of the other features.

In the Flash section I got a quick tour of the interface and was quickly making my first simple animation. But I also learned how to add sound. Most of the techniques including some ActionScript were done by making portions of a web site. I make a banner and several E-cards.

ColdFusion was over my head there was too much code involved but the portion I liked was that Flash Remoting was covered. The e-card made in Flash were used in an interface that connected to ColdFusion to deliver the e-cards to send.

To sum it up I enjoyed the book tremendously, learned a ton and now will go back and delve into more of the areas that I am weakest on. I got a great feel for how the applications work together in a real world project that was made. Oh, I almost forgot to mention--there are extra tutorials and movies the authors provided on the CD to expand the value of this book even more!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Definitely not show-and-tell, December 29, 2003

By	P. Coats (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book spends most of its time providing definitions of words and terms and little of its time providing demonstrations of concepts. What tutorials and exercises there are do NOT always work as seamlessly as the author would seem to suggest. In fact, some instructions don't work at all -- leaving the reader to figure out the inner workings of an application by trial and error. If you'd like to have a book that TELLS you what everything means but doesn't SHOW or tell you how to accomplish it, this is the one for you.