Rating: 
Summary: YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS
Review: Before you plunk down a bunch of money to buy this book, you should know that all of the examples given use Flash 4 actionscript. Not a big deal, right? Well...it is. Flash 5 (the latest version) features a heavy re-write of the Actionscript code that powers all of your movies. In some cases, the syntax is completely different. If you know the differences between Flash 4 code and Flash 5, you should be able to easily understand what to do. If you don't, you'll be stuck learning code that is outdated. It's a shame they couldn't wait a little bit longer and publish this book with up-to-date actionscript. The examples and methods are good, but whenever they show the actionscript code that powers the movie, it's Flash 4. Don't use this book to learn actionscript. Get a book on Flash 5 actionscript instead. This book is good for inspiration and not much else.
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Summary: The way all design books should be written
Review: Being a person who is both academically trained as a programmer and an illustrator this book was a breath of fresh air. Most Flash books out there now are aimed at two groups beginners and designers. This book shows us how flash is truly a right-left brain technology through not only its tutorials but also through the explanations of the thought processes that go into this right-left brain thinking when applied to Flash. Many here complain that these designers talk too much about their thoughts, and inspirations. But guess what, designers feed on this information and so to be more complete technology people should as well. And as for designers who complain that its to complicated I ask that you not question the book because it is to advanced for you, but instead look to it as a path towards expanding on your abilities. I hope others in the publishing industry use this book as an example of how to empower web developers and make us more understanding of both programming and design.
Rating: 
Summary: Over-rated and narrow in scope...
Review: Buying this book will be the greatest faux pas one could make in any of their book-buying endeavors.Ok. Maybe that's stretching it a bit...but that's how I felt after getting this glorious, aesthetic roll of toilet paper..err...I mean book. First off, I already knew most of the techniques in the book to start with...the rest of which I found easily on the various flash resources available for FREE online. But that's not my real complaint. I always like to see other artist's designs, even if I know how to utilize the techniques used. It's the inspiration I was looking for; which was how the book was positioned--a sourcebook for design inspiration. Hogwash. Most of the crap that's in the book is a good example of how to copy design styles that have been recycled over and over and over again for the last several years. The book is very narrow in breadth and slightly predictable. Not much in the way cutting edge design. Please don't take this review as merely the rantings of a disgruntled curmudgeon that likes to complain...The truth is, alot of the material presented is very talented. It's just boring and overused in my opinion. Had the book been half it's price you might have squeezed a 3-star rating out of me instead of the somewhat extreme 1-star rating I give at the present.
Rating:
Summary: I've seen better
Review: Don't get me wrong this is a good book showcasing a few designers with some "good" flash sites. But saying these are the masters of Flash is a little misleading. Being in the business of creating websites I've seen a lot of Flash sites and have created a few of my own. I've seen a lot of good designs and I would definitely count a few of the individuals in this book Masters. But leaving out the designers means you don't have all the masters, or the best Masters of Flash. Better to call it "Very good Flash Designers". Otherwise for people with some knowledge of Flash and for people who want some design ideas, this is a good book.
Rating: 
Summary: Insight into Creative Design
Review: Have you ever went to a really awesome website and wondered how did they make that? Spend hours online, refreshing the main page while trying trying to duplicate it in Flash. Well this book helped me understand the technique behind some of the best websites online. My favorite part was the CD. The book alone is good if you're an advanced Flash designer, however the CD made it alot easy for a knuckle head like myself to understand.
Rating:
Summary: Insight into Creative Design
Review: Have you ever went to a really awesome website and wondered how did they make that? Spend hours online, refreshing the main page while trying trying to duplicate it in Flash. Well this book helped me understand the technique behind some of the best websites online. My favorite part was the CD. The book alone is good if you're an advanced Flash designer, however the CD made it alot easy for a knuckle head like myself to understand.
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Summary: decent book, but not for learning Flash 5 correctly...
Review: I agree with Water monkey. Don't get me wrong, this is a good book for getting design inspirations and ideas, but not for learning Flash 5 the right way. There's enough books on Flash about doing the basic to intermediate stuff, but what everyone wants is a good Actionscript book. This book is better than the Flash 4 Magic book (which has tons of scripts but no explainations), and it actually does try to explain the definition and reason behind the applied scripts. One major complaint I have is quite a few chapters have scripts showed in Flash 5(a good thing) action window, but its obvious the codes are converted over from Flash 4 format, not written in the efficient manner using the dot syntax format of Flash 5. SO IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A BOOK TO SHOW HOW TO CODE PROPERLY IN THE FLASH 5 WAY, THIS BOOK WILL DISAPPOINT YOU. The codes in this book still use the // and ../ or /: way of addressing, which is what Macromedia trying to phase out with version 5. Well, that's my two cents on this book, great for visual inspirations, not for learning advanced Flash 5 script properly.
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Summary: don't believe the hype
Review: I bought this book thinking that it would be a great reference to advanced action scripting. I am only sorry that I did not spend more time paging through its bulky and confusing pages in order to see what exactly I was buying. Back to the trenches- I say. There is no purpose to buying this overpriced and obtuse book. The content can all be found on the web, and there is little real substance as far as action scripting goes. Many of my programmer friends think that Flash actionscripting is just a "pretend" language for designers who don't want to bother with learning a real language. I see many designers who are perfectly willing to learn and excited about actionscript's capabilities, yet are unable to find any good reference in order to learn it well- not just to create boring tricks, but to really implement strong web solutions. With this in mind, the examples in the book are not robust, they give only a sparse amout of info for you to try to figure out what they had done, with no practical value except perhaps recreation of their designs. Again, I expected more from the book as a useful REFERENCE, not as a display of design ideas. While some of the designers mentioned do some truly amazing Flash work, it really would have benefited their status and security to produce a tome equally great. Well, I guess some designers just aren't secure enough.
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Summary: Great Read
Review: I really loved the book and the CD, well worth the money. I don't understand the Eric Jordan hype though
Rating:
Summary: Great Flash Book! Inspiring!
Review: I spend all day checking out sites, looking for inspiration and I think I've found it. The book brings in different designers and highlights certain aspects of their sites, which then explains the process step-by-step. I've been doing flash for about over a year now and have been waiting for a book just like this. These designers are the cream-of-the-crop. The book manages to go over several flash secrets without being repetitious. One thing, it is not a basic flash book. The book expects you to have the basics and some advanced actionscripting knowledge. If you know the basics this book is the next step.
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