Rating: 
Summary: Showcase, yes; Tutorial, No
Review: This book presents some beautiful applications of the Flash product. However, you will not be able to duplicate their results based on the brief explanations of how they were accomplished, unless you are quite advanced yourself. More than half of the fla source files are not included on the CD-ROM, only the final swf product.
Rating: 
Summary: Couldn't wait for it to be released and not disappointed!
Review: This book shows how various innovative web designers receive their inspirations and demonstrates through tutorials how it was done. Bright pictures, great explainations; I am a big "fan" of Eric Jordan and the first time I saw 2advanced.com, I was blown away. I also have created my own Flash site (not as great as Eric's) but from his inspirations, I have done a pretty fairly good job. Reading what he wrote and learning how it was done was worth the weight of this book! I must have every Flash book in the market and can truely say this is one to have!
Rating: 
Summary: ideas vs how to
Review: This book to me is unique in the way that it has some how-to sections (advanced) but it talks with the artists directly and gives perspective and ideas that you just dont get with a regular how to book. If you are looking for a 'learn flash this way' book, dont buy this. There are plenty of other books that will teach you only how to use the program. But, if you are looking for new perspective and ideas artistically using flash as the tool it is, then this book is for you.
Rating:
Summary: Good Book, Best For Advanced Users
Review: This is a great book but I would recommend it for the person with a little more background in Flash than the average developer. Incredible insight from some of the top developers in the world, including their feelings on design, their inspiration(s) and "how-tos."
Rating: 
Summary: Not the right book for anyone
Review: This is not for the beginners, and as an advanced actionscripter myself, I gained nothing. Maybe the intermediate will learn a few things or two about duplicating movies and if-else statements, but not much more. You will know how to recreate some tired and highly copied visual effects though, something you could of grabbed from the many flash resources online, and for free. But of course, knowing and understanding is two very different things. Actionscripting is a powerful language; if you don't understand at the basic level what certain commands do, you are going to have to be happy grabbing other people's scripts and editing them to your liking, which won't take you far at all. Plus flash is a heck of a lot more than just eye candy. So the basic point is, don't think of this book as a tutorial.
Rating:
Summary: Good inspiration but lack of content
Review: This kind of book doesn't come along very often, a great source of inspiration, i agree with other users. It offers an insight into the minds of the designers involved, it also teaches some neat special effects i probably wouldn't have thought of. But it really lacks in content, looking at the size/weight and the hefty price tag. Thats the only bad thing i guess. 12 chapters stuffed into a 3 cm thick book, each chapter running over certain special effects used in the respective websites. Clear and colourful explanations and illustrations, but again, there's not enough for the price we pay. Maybe the high price coz we're supposed to be buying great secrets from designers, released to the public =)
Rating:
Summary: Nice Flash showcase that can be found on the web
Review: When I first saw this book I was hoping for a good reference book on some of the more advanced Flash topics, like the various scripting languages and ODBC connectivity. Lets face it there are no truly advanced Flash books available. All Flash books assume you know little more than rudimentary tweening skills. This book does expect you to know more than just your tweens, which is good. Many of the topics in this book can't be found in any other books. The designers even do a decent job showing you how to re-create their designs (although little concept and reasoning is applied to their actions). The problem with the book is the tutorials are specific to the design created. This is probably the same reason advanced Flash books are not published. There are no generalized tutorials. If you are lucky enough to pull pieces from the designs and use them within your own , great. As far as the designs themselves, they are inspiring, but you can view them on the web for free. By going to the designers web sites you can view their protfolios and see their work. Of course, they won't provide the tutorials. This is a nice book to get ideas from, I just wish it had more instruction and reference material.
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