Flash 4 Bible [Illustrated] (Paperback)

~ Robert Reinhardt (Author), Jon Warren Lentz (Author) "In this chapter, we describe all fourteen tools that appear in the Flash Drawing toolbar..." (more)
Key Phrases: modifier tray, text character spacing, compression menu, Shockwave Flash, Tell Target, After Effects (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

It's a challenge to write a book for a wide audience without weakening its effectiveness for any one group. Flash 4 Bible rises to the challenge, providing a clear and thorough introduction to Flash 4 for beginners as well as a comprehensive guide to the application's more complex features, like ActionScripting, for intermediate and advanced users. No one gets shortchanged here.

Although readers can reference the book in any order (the index makes troubleshooting very easy), each chapter can serve as an effective tutorial. The first third of the book maps the user interface and introduces the tools for creating animations and working with sounds. The chapter on ActionScripts is straightforward; as in the rest of the book, topics are subdivided into logical and easy-to-digest chunks. Charts help organize operators and properties.

Since, for most Web developers, Flash is just one application among many in the workflow, the authors spend considerable time on real-life situations where it is used with Photoshop, QuickTime 4, or Director. The last chapters cover distributing the Flash movie, either within a Web page, as a QuickTime movie, or as a standalone.

Along the way, sample files on the CD-ROM illustrate numerous tools and procedures while expert tutorials feature more detailed projects by leading Flash experts, such as "Sending a Form to an E-mail CGI Script." The uncluttered writing style of the book pairs well with the equally clear and well-captioned screen shots.

Because Flash is a complicated application, the book's simple layout and non-jokey text tend to minimize reader confusion. The book even anticipates common questions in sidebar notes and tips. By focusing on teaching Flash 4 step by step, this manual may succeed where others have failed. And over 600 pages of small steps can take you pretty far. --Angelynn Grant

Topics covered: A comprehensive manual to using Flash 4, including an introduction to the interface and tools, how to create graphics within Flash and how to import them, using sound, creating animations, using ActionScripts, working in tandem with other applications and distributing finished movies. CD-ROM includes sample files to illustrate points and accompany tutorials, as well as demo versions of Flash and other related applications.

Product Description

If Flash 4 can do it, you can do it too… Whether you're a Flash beginner or an old hand, this is the one guide you need to unleash the full potential of this state-of-the-art Web animation software. Packed with examples and illustrations — including eight pages in full color — as well as expert tutorials from animations pros, the Flash 4 Bible covers everything from creating graphics and building interactive effects to using Flash with other applications and deploying Flash animations on the Web. It's all you need to discover the secrets of great Flash animation — and take any Web site to the next level! Inside, you'll find complete coverage of Flash 4

• Create streaming animation and moving logos for any Web site
• Build pop-up menus and rollover buttons with ease
• Explore Flash drawing tools, animation controls, and file format support
• Use Flash with Dreamweaver, Photoshop, FreeHand, Illustrator, Premiere, and other design software
• Discover useful techniques such as in-betweening and onion-skinning
• Take advantage of JavaScript interactivity to make Flash movies
• Create standalone Flash projectors for floppy-disk distribution

Add-one, plug-ins, and more on CD-ROM

• Trial software, including Director 7, Dreamweaver 2, Fireworks 2, Flash 4, and Freehand 8
• Time-saving templates
• Examples from the book

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Product Details

• Paperback: 611 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; Illustrated. edition (February 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764533568
• ISBN-13: 978-0764533563
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.4 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (72 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,561,527 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

67 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Flash Bible--with a hole in the middle, June 14, 2000

By	Jeffrey Bardzell - See all my reviews

Reading through these reviews, you can clearly see a pattern of complaints. Having used the Flash 4 Bible for 6 weeks now in developing a multimedia online training course (in concert with several other Macromedia programs), I would like to respond to some of these complaints.

Complaint #1. There is not enough material on ActionScript. This is the great weakness of the book, and it is indeed crippling. If you want to learn about ActionScript, you will have to go to online tutorials at flashlite.com, webmonkey.com, flashplanet.com, flashaddict.com, or flashkit.com. This is especially frustrating because Macromedia's Flash User Guide is weak in this area, so there is considerable demand for some good documentation on ActionScript. Since the Bible series claims to "do it all," this volume definitely gets heat for this one.

Complaint #2: There is virtually no documentation on FS scripts. FS scripts were the predecessor of Flash ActionScript, and my understanding is that Macromedia implemented ActionScript in Flash 4 to make scripting interactivity easier than the complex FS Scripts. We could thus forgive the authors for not including much documentation on FS Script--but only if they had at least covered ActionScript with any credibility. Nonetheless, for most new Flash users, the lack of FS Script documentation probably doesn't matter as much as the lack of ActionScript documentation.

Complaint #3: The authors spend too much time discussing using Flash with other programs. This complaint I would have to disagree with. Flash, like PageMaker, Quark Xpress, Acrobat PDF, and any web authoring program (e.g., Dreamweaver), is a package that assembles content developed in other applications for final publication. That is, you will pull in drawings and storyboards from vector drawing programs (FreeHand, Illustrator), image editing programs (Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro), and word processors. I think it is both helpful and totally appropriate to have extensive documentation on working with these kinds of programs. And I think most people wouldn't mind this coverage so much were the book not lacking in precisely the area that we all hoped for the most: coverage of ActionScript.

I have spent time with perhaps 6 Flash 4 books, and sadly, this one is the most comprehensive and the most useful overall. All of them cover basic illustration and animation in great detail--but so does Macromedia's Flash User Guide. My Flash Bible has seen a lot of use--but so has my printer, as I have printed out several tutorials from the Flash sites listed above. Go ahead and buy it--but don't be surprised at the great hole in the middle.

55 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Among the best Flash books, February 21, 2000

By	Stephen Britton "www.sbritton.com" (Larchmont, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

I have got to admit that I learned more from J. Scott Hamlin's Flash 4 Magic, but this is a great book. Like Flash 4 Magic, this tomb doesn't spend lots of time telling how to make rectangles, but it does tell you how to active script and other things that you won't find in the Flash 4 manual.

If you're new to Flash, I suggest reading the Macromedia Flash manual that comes with the program to learn the basics and then read this book. And if you're already an advanced Flasher, I would buy Flash 4 Magic and if you want to buy another book, I would get this one. I have both books and use them constantly. You can't go wrong if you buy both.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars There are better Flash bibles..., September 25, 2000

By A Customer

Frankly, as someone who does nothing but Flash work and is now teaching it, I would not recommend this book. It's basically a more expensive and slightly better organized version of the manual that comes with Flash. In a few cases where I tried to apply the information given (using forms), the info was actually faulty or incomplete and led to frustration rather than enlightenment. And this is from someone who knows action script very very well! Essentially, there are two books that stand out for me. For folks who want to learn Flash design and animation basics - Hillman Curtis' Flash Web Design is the best. For those who wish to learn action script, nothing can beat Flash 4 Magic. Both have real world examples and source files to back them up.