Product Description: Flash is one of the most engaging and innovative, and versatile technologies available—allowing the creation of pretty much anything from simple slideshows, animated banners and icons and cartoons, to Rich Internet Applications, Interactive videos, and dynamic user interfaces for web sites, kiosks, or DVDs. The possibilities are endless, except that now, it just got better. In 2007, Adobe released Flash CS3, which boasts a whole host of new features, including fully customizable workspace, full ActionScript 3.0 support, a PSD importer, a tween-to-code animation converter, and much more. And this book is all you'll need to learn Flash CS3 from the ground up, or learn about all these new features, if you already have previous Flash experience—Flash experts Tom Green and David Stiller take you step-by-step through all facets of Flash CS3, with the emphasis firmly on good design techniques that you use in your own projects. You can discover more about this book, download source code, and even view video tutorials at the book's companion site: www.foundationflashcs3.com.
Learn Flash design from the ground up, or just get to grips with the new features, with a series of step by step tutorials.
Provides an easy introduction to ActionScript 3.0 coding, but the focus is mainly kept on design.
Learn from the expertswritten by renowned Flash designers Tom Green and David Stiller.
What youll learn
The ins and outs of the Flash CS3 interface
How to use all of Flash CS3's essential features, such as text, graphics, and animation
How to use video and sound effectively in Flash
The basics of ActionScript 3.0
Building Flash user interfaces rapidly using components.
How to populate a Flash movie with dynamic data such as XML.
The Basics of creating Flash Lite applications (Flash for mobile devices)
Using Cascading Style Sheets with Flash
Optimizing and publishing your Flash movies
Who is this book for?
This book is for both beginners who want a solid grounding in Flash CS3, and designers with previous Flash experience, who want to get up to speed with the new features.
Summary of Contents
Chapter 1: Learning the Flash CS3 Professional
Chapter 2: Graphics in Flash CS3
Chapter 3: Symbols and Libraries
Chapter 4: ActionScript Basics
Chapter 5: Audio in Flash CS3
Chapter 6 Text in Flash CS3
Chapter 7: Animation in Flash CS3
Chapter 8: Video in Flash
Chapter 9: Using the Flash UI Components to Build Interfaces
Hard to read and hard to follow ^ If I ever opened this book in a bookstore, I will never buy this book home. The font they use in the book is san serif and size is small. It is a lot of work just by reading the words itself. and too many things they pointed it, and then move on... It's like you only surf the surface and not dive in. Anyway, I was very disappointed in this book and odd high review for this book. I think I will never buy any book from this series...
Book is ok but watch for defective copies that are missing pages ^ I ordered this book at the end of September, 2008. I didn't get too far into the book, with work taking me in another direction. Now I'm back in Flash CS3 and needed the book again. I have discovered that I am missing a whole chunk of pages - 429 through 476. I have contacted the seller, StageCoach Books, and Amazon.com. Nobody will man up and resolve the problem for me. I have paid $28.00 including shipping for a DEFECTIVE COPY. StageCoach hasn't answered me at all - AbeBooks is the one that answered my email. They say to contact Amazon. Amazon says its too late for a claim. Great experience in passsing the buck. So, just wanted to warn others, when you order from StageCoach Books, please check the book right away - they seem to buy rejects and sell them as good products, and I don't care how long a time has passed - they should send me a replacement but won't. BE WARNED!
Other than that, the book seems ok but there are many times, when doing the exercises, that the ActionScript just doesn't work as it should. I've had to repeat exercises 3 or 4 times before it works. Could be me, maybe I'm entering the script wrong. It does have to be entered precisely. Not a bad book. I was a beginner when I got it. Seems that you will need a few other books and a lot of practice. Flash is not a simple application to learn. But, anything worth learning takes a lot of work on your part. I would have liked the book more if it had some color - its all black and white and does get a bit boring. As designers, we tend to respond more to color. This book is lacking in that area. For $21 + S&H, I would have expected a more polished production.
Gobbly Goo ^ I've tried several Flash Books for beginners, and this is not it. Most designers are visual learners. This book is not for a visual learner. I labored diligently through the first few chapters. I was more confused then when I began. I wish I had not spent the money on this totally useless book.
Book ^ I was very impressed overall with this product. It had an affordable price and came in really nice condition. Thanks!
I'm just glad I can stay awake now ^ I did okay through the first couple chapters, despite the inconsistent file structure and parts of the tutorials already completed upon opening the exercise files. I am a Graphic Designer and have been for over 10 years. I am also a College Instructor for Adobe Illustrator. This book is boring. Really, really boring. Once I got over the excitement of learning something new, I was wondering if it would ever be over. Probably 3 chapters in. This will be a great source for reference, but in the end, I don't really feel like I did anything. I did learn a lot, but I'm sure there are other books out there that are much better as learning aids.
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