Rating: 
Summary: Flash 5 Review
Review: I love the book, I got it hot off the press ( I had it on order since January!! )- and have been jumping around to look up items and reviewing from the beginning to pick up on all of the features. It is great! The only problem discovered so far was the lack of some of the sounds files used in one of the tutorials and here is a website ( www.theFlashBible.com ) where you should be able to find the files.
Rating:
Summary: Succeeds Where Others Have Failed
Review: I bought two Flash 5 books to get better acquainted with the Flash 5 software. I've owned the software for about 8 months now and really haven't touched really touched it. This is mainly due to my inability to follow tutorials that leave gaps, or are vague. With "Flash 5 Bible" I was able to not only follow the tutorials, but also understand and anticipate the design process better. While the book isn't revolutionary compared to others on the market, I found the author support, the text, and the usefulness of the book to be well above most books out there. So, if you are on the fence, so to speak, about getting this book. Get it; you won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: and on the fifth day...
Review: So Jon and Robert created this great creature of paper, and every living and especially moving thing with which the internet teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird animation to its kind. And the rest of us saw that it was good. And their publisher blessed them and said unto the book, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the distribution increase on the earth." And there was evening, and there was morning--the fifth version.Very excellent book, depth, depth, depth! A good read. A must have.
Rating: 
Summary: Rushed to the press?
Review: This book has a alot of detailed info but they must have been in a hurry to get it printed. It's got a ton of typos - missing words, extra words. It makes for a little extra work gleaning the information.
Rating:
Summary: Improved, but...
Review: Here's the thing. It's a little late for a mostly beginning oriented book. This book would have been great--2 months ago. Now it's a must return because I've already got a phone book to prop up my kids at the dinner table and at this point it's not good for much else.
Rating:
Summary: If you thought the Flash 4 Bible was good...
Review: ... the Flash 5 Bible will blow you away! Boasting 1300 pages (version 4 was in the 600 range) and 40 hands-on practical tutorials, a CD-ROM packed with examples, a supporting web site with an errata engine (www.theFlashBible.com) this book really has it all. This is not one of those computer books that covers the same stuff that was in the manual or teaches you how to draw rectangles with the Rectangle Tool. This is for real. Want to send data from Flash through ASP to a database? Want to use the free Generator extensions to automate development? How about a Flash-based hockey game? The Javascript Integration Kit that allows users to control Flash movies from Dreamweaver? It's all there in hands-on tutorials. If you are new to Flash, don't be alarmed. The Bible has the most comprehensive and accessible introduction you could want. From a 35-page hands-on quickstart tutorial that will have you making an interactive movie in no time, to 16 chapters on drawing, text, sound, animation, the Flash interface, and so on. And when you have graduated to intermediate Flash level, the book is waiting to take you higher. Start with the literally hundreds of pages on ActionScript, beginner through advanced, loaded with tutorials and examples, and then learn how to integrate Flash with a variety of other programs, from FreeHand and Fireworks to Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Painter, and Expression. This book is phenomenal. If you use Flash, whether you are just beginning or you are already a power user, the Bible has you covered. Jon and Rob: Bravo!
Rating:
Summary: I'm really excited about this book
Review: I just bought this book from Amazon's used book marketplace.
I got it really cheap and can't wait to start learning.
(I've used flash in the past but I'm a little rusty).
I've seen all the negative ratings. Surely, I'll be able to pick up some tricks from this book. I also have "Flash MX Savvy". Those two books should be enough for me to really get back up to speed with flash.
There is also a chapter on flash cartooning which covers lip syncing.
It won't hurt to know more about that.
Update 3/3/05 - I just learned how to create lip sync animations using flash. I'm on a roll now.
Rating: 
Summary: Sorry, to this reviewer, this is NOT a Five Star book
Review: Usually, if I cannot say something nice, I will not say anything. However, this book calls for an exception. I am a student looking for clear, concise reference backed by tutorials, even a little theory and history to round the educational value. Every dollar spent needs to return value for my money and my time invested in reading and learning. Simply put, any book must get me where I need to go quickly with very few sacrifices in learning depth of a program. Having read many, many Amazon.com reviews of four and five stars of this book, having spoken to another supporter of this book, and going to the local bookstore to see it before buying it, I assumed that I had carefully shopped for and found a great book that would carry me through all stages of learning Flash 5, from beginner to expert. I mean, after all, this book weighs nearly ten pounds, right? How can you go wrong buying a book comparable in size to "War and Peace"? The book has been disgustingly disappointing. The book contains tutorials, some theory and history, all of which visibly attracted me to purchase the book. Nearly 4 weeks were spent reading and learning with this book in front of the computer. During this time, I ended up drawing most of my own references to the interface right inside of the book covers as well as downloading and printing most of my important Flash reading from websites like "Flashkit.com". By the fourth week of self training, I totally abandoned the book due to it's lack of quick answers and author expertise. The authors seem to be somewhat familiar with the functions of this program, but spent most of their time dodging the very important (and broad) intermediate level learning. So, looking for a reference that would introduce ActionScript and more advanced animation features in a comprehensible manner, I settled on "Macromedia Flash 5 - Creative Web Animation" by Derek Franklin and Brooks Patton. This book really delivered. In only one week I had been able to reference and comprehend everything the "Bible" book had attempted and more. My final project, finished a couple of weeks later, consisted in part of what both these books were including in their advanced ActionScripting and animation chapters. I had gone from bouncing ball tutorials to advanced looping interactivity. Anyway, I hope the "Creative Web Animation" authors appreciate the shameless plug. They really deserve it. They kept ALL of it simple, which is really my biggest complaint about the "Bible" authors. Check this book out at the library. It does make some good points about other programs that can be used with Flash. Sort of niche market stuff. ...But if you're going to buy, shop around.
| 
