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Macromedia Flash MX: The Complete Reference (Paperback)

by Brian Underdahl (Author) "The Internet has certainly been a driving force in changing life for millions of people all around the world..." (more)
Key Phrases: published movie file, movie clip instance, child movie clip, Toon Boom Studio, Movie Clip Control, Publish Settings (more...)

3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (30 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Brian Underdahl’s Complete Reference for Macromedia Flash MX serves as a solid cornerstone for the library of new Flash designers. Covering every aspect of building interactive Flash projects from a beginner’s perspective, this handy tome is an ideal reference guide for the interactive designer starting his Flash journey.

Underdahl wastes little time getting the reader up and animating with Flash MX and things start to really happen in the "Adding Animation" section of his book. He opens with a short description of Flash’s approach to animation, then quickly launches into a short set of tutorials. Before the end, you’ll be moving, rotating, scaling and tweening objects all over the screen. The largest part of this seven-part volume is all about efficiency. Tool-by-tool descriptions fill up the first chapter in this section, but the author falls short here by not including the keyboard shortcuts for each tool when they’re described. His descriptions and examples, though, are clear, and most are matched with screenshots demonstrating the tool at hand.

Graphics and sound are thoroughly covered, especially importing and optimizing sounds, and using them efficiently within a Flash movie. This is critical, since the misuse of sound files can inflate the size of a Flash movie, as well as impact performance. ActionScript, the underlying programming engine that drives Flash interactivity, is presented clearly in a non-programmer manner. Flash is a unique application that bridges the gap between an animation tool and a programming environment, and lucky is the artist who can plant his feet on both shores. The enclosed CD contains project files and art elements for every chapter, as well as demo versions of Canvas 8 and the Windows versions of ToonBoom Studio and Swift 3D. The CD does not, however, have a searchable PDF version of the book with color pictures. This omission is exacerbated by the lack of color pages, making any discussion of color palettes or color schemes (chapter 6) somewhat theoretical.

Complaints aside, this "Complete Reference" for Flash MX serves as a solid reference book, and should be seriously considered for any novice Flash designer looking for an encyclopedic tome on Flash MX. --Mike Caputo

Product Description
Get comprehensive coverage of the all new features and expanded functionality of the latest version of Flash. This authoritative guide can show you how to use Flash with confidence to create stunning and compact navigation interfaces, plus long-form animation, and other effects on the Web. For users at every level, this soup-to-nuts resource is essential reading.

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Product Details

Paperback: 808 pages
Publisher: Osborne/McGraw-Hill; Bk&CD-Rom edition (March 8, 2002)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0072134860
ISBN-13: 978-0072134872
Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 2 inches
Shipping Weight: 3.3 pounds

Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (30 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,397,684 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Inside This Book (learn more)

First Sentence:
The Internet has certainly been a driving force in changing life for millions of people all around the world. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
published movie file, movie clip instance, child movie clip, soundbuftime property, highquality property, scene planning mode, parent movie clip, deprecated statements, button symbol instance, xmouse property, droptarget property, same motion guide, totalframes property, movie clip symbol instance, event handler block, bitwise unsigned right shift, loadvariables action, scrolling text banner, large bitmap image, clip symbol instances, movie project file, xscale property, panel toolbox, color sample box, motion tween

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Toon Boom Studio, Movie Clip Control, Publish Settings, The Complete Reference, Color Mixer, Internet Explorer, Create New Symbol, Paint Bucket, Layer Name Layer, Netscape Navigator, Insert Layer, Create Motion Tween, Bandwidth Profiler, Ink Bottle, Debugging Permitted, Document Properties, Free Transform, Movie Explorer, Test Scene, Adobe Illustrator, Audio Stream, Bitmap Properties, Brush Mode, Fill Transform, Magic Wand

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Citations (learn more)

4 books cite this book:

Dreamweaver MX: The Complete Reference by Ray West on page 254
Dreamweaver MX 2004: The Complete Reference, Second Edition (Osborne Complete Reference Series) by Ray West on page 311
Macromedia Flash MX 2004: A Beginner's Guide by Brian Underdahl in Back Cover
ColdFusion MX: The Complete Reference by Jeffry Houser on page 527

Books on Related Topics (learn more)

Macromedia Flash MX 2004 for Dummies by Ellen Finkelstein

Discusses:

Macromedia Studio MX Bible by Joyce J. Evans

Discusses:

Flash MX Bible by Robert Reinhardt

Discusses:

Flash MX 2004 by James L. Mohler

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Customer Reviews

30 Reviews

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(7)

Average Customer Review

3.3 out of 5 stars (30 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This book is a stain on the launch of Flash MX, April 11, 2002

By	Roy Sansom (Detroit MI) - See all my reviews

Osborn, who published this sad book, should be ashamed of themselves. It's almost as if they're trying to give Flash MX a bad name. Interesting that their 'Complete Reference' series doesn't have a volume on Flash 5. Weird eh? It's almost as if that's what they contracted the author to write in the first place? And then at the last minute they just stuck MX on the cover instead of 5?

I've been a Flash designer for 3 years and was looking forward to the MX release. I ordered this book at the same time as the software and could hardly believe it when I sat down with them. The book seems to be at least 2 years out of date and referring to a different product altogether. It says MX on the cover but simply ignores the new release.

Flash MX is a sophisticated new product and each one of the new features could benefit from some deep, exploratory coverage. This book covers none of them. It's a shallow walk-through of generic Flash functionality that could have been written about Flash 5 or even 4 for that matter. ActionScript, for example, which is the engine at the heart of Flash has been powerfully improved and elaborated in the MX release, and yet it hardly gets a mention at all in over 800 pages.

This book will tell you next to nothing about Flash MX.

Avoid it.

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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Macromedia Flash MX: The Complete Reference, Tops, April 4, 2002

By	Macy Tate (San Francisco) - See all my reviews

I am a professional web designer, and I have been using Flash since version 4. In version 5, the program made some great strides, but MX is the bomb. I bought this book because I always need a comprehensive reference for the desk, and I am happy to say that this book fits the bill. It could be bigger, but sometimes, books can be too big, which is also a problem. The author is very thoughtful and organized, and his explanations are crystal.

If I had to make some recommendations, I'd say that the next version should have more high-end information. There needs to be more information on dynamic application design and components. I am a big fan of the bonus chapter on Toon Boom Studio, but the Canvas 8 coverage can go. No serious web designers use Canvas.

Why 5-stars? Well, the author gets an A for effort, a B for thorough coverage, an A for clear explanations, and an A for knowing his stuff.

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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Reference on Macromedia Flash MX, March 22, 2002

By	Robert Petland (Des Moines, Iowa) - See all my reviews

When I bought this book, I was looking for an excellent reference, which would help me navigate Flash MX. I have been working with the book for a couple of days, and I am confident that I made the right decision. The author's explanations are clear and concise, and he explains everything, paying special attention to the important details. The Part on ActionScript is thorough and includes great information on the new components in Flash MX. In short, if you are interested in a soup-to-nuts book that walks you through the program's features, this is the book for you.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Boring and makes you feel like you read but didn't learn
I got my hands on this book and at first I was so excited because this was one of the first Flash MX 2004 books on the shelves so I just bought it immediately. Read more

Published on October 25, 2004 by Absense of Form

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Flash MX 2004 Book for both Beginners and Advanced
The first thing I liked about this book were the notes and tips in each chapter. Someone could just read the notes and tips and get some pretty good applicable tips on Flash MX... Read more

Published on March 2, 2004 by Mary L. Mcdonald

2.0 out of 5 stars For basic edition of Flash MX 2004 ONLY
This book does not attempt to cover the full edition of Flash MX 2004. If you have the professional version of Flash DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK! Read more

Published on December 31, 2003 by amazon14109

5.0 out of 5 stars An absolutely GREAT reference book - a TX user
I have quite a collection of Brian Underdahl's books and I have always found his writing style to be easy to understand, accurate, and entertaining. Read more

Published on November 26, 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars Award Winner!
"Macromedia Flash MX: The Complete Reference" was awarded the Referenceware Excellence Award 2003 for the best book in the Graphic Design and Multimedia category at the... Read more

Published on April 21, 2003 by Brian

5.0 out of 5 stars Great to grep Flash
Currently I am half of the way reading this book. This is a great book to understand flash as a beginner. Read more

Published on March 25, 2003 by Mahmudul Khan

4.0 out of 5 stars The Best Book for intermediate and advanced designers/progra
I love this book! I have an A.A.S in computer Science with an Emphasis on Web design and programming and found this book extremely easy to understand and use. Read more

Published on October 2, 2002

1.0 out of 5 stars The worst I've seen in a long time
This has no examples of Action Script that are useful. I continually pick it up and give it another chance, but time and time again I find frustration. Read more

Published on September 13, 2002 by Larry Click

1.0 out of 5 stars Not Very Good At All
This book is really quite poor. Using this book to learn Flash MX would be like learning to write a novel by reading the dictionary. Read more

Published on August 17, 2002 by Tobias D Crichton

3.0 out of 5 stars So So, Not Bad, Not Great
I picked this book up because I'm very excited about mastering Flash. I have about a dozen flash books as of now, including several references. Read more

Published on July 31, 2002 by designproximity

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