|
Sams Teach Yourself Macromedia Flash 8 in 24 Hours
|
| Price: |
15 new or used available from £3.37
Average customer review:
Product Description
Explore the depth and flexibility of Macromedia Flash 8 with Sams Teach Yourself Macromedia Flash 8 in 24 Hours. Fundamental topics are presented one-by-one in a series of 24 one-hour lessons that will help you master the basics of Flash. Author Phillip Kerman, an internationally-known Macromedia trainer and multimedia expert, offers you a clearly-written, well-organized introduction to Macromedia Flash 8 without becoming too overwhelming. You will cover such subjects as:
- Drawing and Painting Original Art
- Using Motion Tween to Animate
- Animatng Using Movie Clips
- Using Actions to Create Non-Linear Movies
- Optimizing a Flash Site
- Publishing a Creation
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #240595 in Books
- Published on: 2005-10-20
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Binding: Paperback
- 624 pages
Editorial Reviews
From the Back Cover
Explore the depth and flexibility of Macromedia Flash 8 with Sams Teach Yourself Macromedia Flash 8 in 24 Hours. Fundamental topics are presented one-by-one in a series of 24 one-hour lessons that will help you master the basics of Flash. Author Phillip Kerman, an internationally-known Macromedia trainer and multimedia expert, offers you a clearly-written, well-organized introduction to Macromedia Flash 8 without becoming too overwhelming. You will cover such subjects as:
- Drawing and Painting Original Art
- Using Motion Tween to Animate
- Animatng Using Movie Clips
- Using Actions to Create Non-Linear Movies
- Optimizing a Flash Site
- Publishing a Creation
About the Author
Philip Kerman is an internationally recognized expert on the use of the Web and multimedia for training and entertainment. He frequently presents at Macromedia User Conferences, contributes articles to Macromedia User Journal, and he has taught Flash and other Macromedia authoring tools in workshops around the world. In addition to showing others how to create multimedia, Kerman has had plenty of opportunities to get his hands dirty in programming. He programmed the all-Flash website www.m-three.com for Paris France Inc., which was included in both Communication Arts Interactive Design Annual and the British Design and Art Direction Annual.
Customer Reviews
This one deserves six stars
I have first used an older edition book a long time ago when Flash was on version 5. And it gave me a beautiful introduction to the subject. But then for a long time I have neglected Flash and forgotten most of the stuff I learned. So now when I wanted to get back to Flash I wanted to buy an up-to-date book. And for me the choice was obvious - It has to be this one. Philip Kerman is not only a Flash expert but also an excellent teacher. He is a master of the art of teaching I think. Learning Flash with his book is a pleasure. And throughout the book in addition to teaching how to do almost everything with Flash he also shares lots of little tips and tricks and expert advice. I also have one of Macomedia's own books (Flash tutorial) But nothing comes even close to this one.
Excellent step-by-step overview
Flash is a complex program with innumerable functions. Phillip Kerman breaks the program down into bite-size chunks and leads you through each one step by step. His explanations are concise and easy to understand and always followed immediately by practical exercises so that right from the outset you get your hands dirty creating things using the program. The absolute beginner will have a solid overview of the basic functions of Flash by the end of the book and be able to begin experimenting with a project. The book's well-organized structure and detailed index would also make it ideal as a reference tool for those who already have some knowledge of the program.
For the seriously committed
The book didn't get me through Flash 8 in 24hrs - but to be honest I didn't really expect it to. I think realistically you could work through it in a week, doing 2-3 "hourly" tutorials a day. I found that the book started off well, at a good pace, but certainly got much more difficult requiring a lot of concentration and effort. Some of the tasks I couldn't get to work as expected despite going over them time and again. This could be down to me or the explanations in the book, which occasionally seemed confusing. As the book progresses there is an assumption that you've remembered most preceding things - which isn't always the case. The tutorials on Action Scripting were the most difficult and lacked good explanations as to why you were typing in the code as requested. I felt a bit like a 'blind follower'. Maybe some basic book on Action Scripting at your side would help you on these pages, especially if your movies don't quite work out - you need to be able to troubleshoot the inevitable problems you encounter.
The sections on using the drawing and type tools are very good as it the background into fundamental animation skills - the book excels in these areas. Be prepared to stick at it and if necessary go over the tutorials several times. Flash is more difficult to learn than I expected and I know this book is really a taster of Flash.
Overall it's a good overview of the software and gets you up and running with most things. It's a jumping in point to the world of Flash 8. More screenshots would really improve the book.
At the start of the book I was a complete novice, by the end I was able to create simple Flash animations to embed into my websites and had an understanding of how to approach more complex tasks.
