Macromedia Flash MX 2004: Training from the Source

by Jen DeHaan

Using a series of hands-on projects to provide a firm foundation in various aspects of Flash MX 2004 use ranging from graphics, animation, video, and text to Action Script fundamentals and dynamic... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0321213424
• ISBN13: 9780321213426
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: Macromedia Press
• Length: 459 Pages
• Weight: 2.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 8.0" x 10.0"

Customer Reviews

Excellent Resource!

This is a great book for the beginning to intermediate Flash user. I found this to be one of the best Flash basics books I have read. The topics and projects are targeted at someone who has no Flash expierence. The tech bookstore project demonstrated throughout this book was well selected. It is a project that would be a practical 'real world' example. All aspects of this project are covered - from creating the initial graphics, to using ActionScript to make it all work. Beyond the Flash basics of creating graphics, understanding the timeline and skills that are common to most Flash books, this book goes a step further. It demonstrates how to use audio and video in Flash, basics of ActionScript, using the built in Flash components - and my favorite - incoporating dynamic data. The CD-ROM that is included with the book contains all the files needed to complete and/or follow along with all of the projects in the book. If you are a teacher looking for a book to use in teaching Flash, I highly recommend this one. It is well organized and would be ideal for the classroom setting. In summary, I was very pleased with the organization, content and quality of this book.

Not for the bright eyed beginner.

This was my second book in the Training From the Source series. Although not much of a confidence builder at first, this book turned out to be worth the month it took me to get through all the information and exercises (mostly on my weekends). It goes over the different aspects and program capabilities in an on-the-job-training approach. There were times when I got a bit frustrated but it only lasted until a couple pages later where things would for the most part tie in. Beyond the general tutorials and function definitions, the author did a really good job of providing examples and gave some pretty good ideas on how to continue with Flash into my own websites, which is rare. Flash is a complex program I think, and this book did a great job of taking it apart and putting it back together in a stylish website with movie clips, video and sound.

Well written training for Flash MX 2004 authoring

This is one of the best training books I have ever used. The book is targeted at someone with no Flash authoring experience, who wants to learn the most current version of Flash, MX 2004 and the Flash 7 Player. The author picked a sample project which she uses to illustate a wide variety of Flash authoring techniques. ... In addition to teaching the basic technique, the author also explains how to organize and name the parts of the document. The CD ROM has the lesson document in all it's versions, so that you can jump into the lesson sequence at any point.The author understands how to teach. The planning and organization of this book really stands out - you will learn a wide variety of Flash techniques in reasonable amount of time.

helped a lot

I liked this book because it really put together the most useful things a person needs to know starting out building a site in a way I could understand it. I didn't expect this much, so I was pleasantly surprised in it. You don't learn how to build a weak site that only has a menu, some buttons and a bit of text, pictures or whatever, but you actually have streaming video, loading data, forms, and all that stuff - and it's even understandable. So I really think this book would be good for a lot of people because using it I got my own site up in only two weeks.

Easy to follow

This book seems like a great fit into my learning curve. I really like how easy it is to follow along with and tells me exactly what to do. I'm using regular Flash MX, so I'm happy that I can use the book without upgrading like the other couple books I bought. I hate not being able to follow along and get all confused just to find out I have the wrong Flash or something. I'm only about 3/4 way through the book, but I am very happy with how things are working out. You start out by learning the easy things like graphics, simple animation and so forth and progress through to easy ActionScript, do some things with it and now I'm going through the harder ActionScript. That is intuitive to me, which compels me to write the review. This book is perfect for me starting out with Flash for the first time because I was just plain confused trying to find online tutorials that never spelled it out clearly, and the other books I have that are pretty confusing to try and find what you need. Good work! I finally feel like I'm learning something.