Macromedia Flash MX 2004 for Dummies (Paperback)

~ (Author), Gurdy Leete (Author) "In this chapter, you find out what Flash is all about, what the screen looks like, and how to use Help..." (more)
Key Phrases: inspector title bar, collapse arrow, property inspector, Movie Explorer, Total Flash-o-Rama, Macromedia Flash (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Macromedia Flash MX 2004 For Dummies guides beginning animators through the basics of creating their first Flash animations. Authors Ellen Finkelstein and Gurdy Leete, both experienced Flash professionals and trainers, help users create basic figures, add text and layers, incorporate user actions, edit and add sound, and publish the final results. Macromedia Flash MX 2004 For Dummies comes with a CD that includes all the examples used in the book, sample animations from other Flash users, and a trial version of the product itself.

From the Back Cover

Give your Web site flash the fun and easy way®

Create and animate graphics and text, add music, punch up buttons, and more

It’s not a bad Web site, but it could use a little pizzazz, right? Maybe some interactive stuff? This handy guide will show you how! In a flash, you’ll be creating great graphics, magnificent movies, and amazing animations that lead visitors through your site with buttons, pop-up menus, other navigation aids, and more.

Discover how to:

• Create and upload Flash files
• Use shapes, symbols, and strokes
• Add text, layers, and sound
• Make your animations interactive
• Build slide presentations

All this on the bonus CD-ROM

• Trial versions of Macromedia Flash MX 2004, Dreamweaver MX 2004, and Fireworks MX 2004
• Macromedia Flash files and instructions for 25 great Flash techniques
• Author-created shapes and images you can use in your own Flash movies

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Product Details

• Paperback: 408 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies (October 13, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 076454358X
• ISBN-13: 978-0764543586
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #628,306 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect introduction and reference for Flash, December 5, 2003

By	Eddie Caplan (Midwest USA) - See all my reviews

Finkelstein and Leete have written the perfect introduction and reference for Flash.

I recently started using Flash because one of my clients' legacy websites had a couple of Flash animations that needed to be updated. I stumbled around with Macromedia's documentation and a couple of online websites, but somehow Flash kept doing things I didn't expect.

Finally, I found this book and read it cover to cover. "Oh, of course!" I kept saying as I read. "There's a neat technique for layering. That's how to reduce the file size. That's how to make it run faster. That's how to get the sound to synchronize with the motion." On and on. Macromedia should just ship this book with their software. Plus the book comes with a CD-ROM packed with useful stuff.

My client is thrilled with my new versions of his Flash animations.

I want to especially commend the authors on Chapters 12 and 13, "Putting it all together" and "Publishing your Flash files." This is where I found that information that showed me how to put out a clean professional final product.

I've gotten so into Flash that I rewrote a complete interactive game in Flash. It used to be in Java, was 500,000 bytes (not to mention the 2Mb Java library), and only seemed to run correctly on a handful of machines. In Flash, the whole thing is under 100,000 bytes and runs EVERYWHERE no problem.

I couldn't have done that rewrite without this book.

When you're done reading this book, I also recommend "50 Fast Flash MX Techniques" by the same authors, to take your animations to "WOW!"

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous for those starting out, December 22, 2003

By A Customer

Before reading this book, I had never used Flash and had only created websites by writting my own HTML. After reading the first few chapters, I was able to create my first movie! This book is definitley for beginners like me and is a great book to get you up and running. I would certainly recommend it for those starting out.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars OK, but feels like a copy/paste from old book/flash version., April 20, 2004

By	Scott Jibben (Coon Rapids, MN USA) - See all my reviews

This book is pretty good but has some flaws.

1. Although I haven't read the previous Dummies book for Flash MX (non-2004) by these authors, I get the feeling that the book inherits much of its content from it. Some of the features mentioned in the book just don't seem to exist in my copy of Flash MX 2004 Pro, like the common sound library. I purchased & downloaded my copy of Flash from Macromedia, so perhaps I didn't get the sounds because of that. Next time, I'll definitely get the CD...

2. The examples from the CD are old and most of them give the warning to save in Flash MX 2004 when you close them, that is, they are from previous versions of Flash. The first example even uses an image file that I had to load & export using a graphics program to correct the transparency of the image. That said, the examples are not horrible, but most are contributions from others and not designed/developed by the authors.

3. There are some worthless chapters and appendixes like some of the top 10 chapters and how to install Flash appendix. Considering how sites come & go on the Internet I'm surprised space was used to list the authors top 10 favorite Flash sites. It's only a couple of pages, but might fit better on the authors web site where updates can be more current.

Overall, about 90% of the book will be relevant but there may be other books that are more focused on the MX 2004 version of Flash. If you don't know anything about Flash, you'll come away knowing how to do a lot of the basic stuff after reading this book.