Description:
It's a challenge to write a book for a wide audience without weakening its effectiveness for any one group. Flash 4 Bible rises to the challenge, providing a clear and thorough introduction to Flash 4 for beginners as well as a comprehensive guide to the application's more complex features, like ActionScripting, for intermediate and advanced users. No one gets shortchanged here. Although readers can reference the book in any order (the index makes troubleshooting very easy), each chapter can serve as an effective tutorial. The first third of the book maps the user interface and introduces the tools for creating animations and working with sounds. The chapter on ActionScripts is straightforward; as in the rest of the book, topics are subdivided into logical and easy-to-digest chunks. Charts help organize operators and properties. Since, for most Web developers, Flash is just one application among many in the workflow, the authors spend considerable time on real-life situations where it is used with Photoshop, QuickTime 4, or Director. The last chapters cover distributing the Flash movie, either within a Web page, as a QuickTime movie, or as a standalone. Along the way, sample files on the CD-ROM illustrate numerous tools and procedures while expert tutorials feature more detailed projects by leading Flash experts, such as "Sending a Form to an E-mail CGI Script." The uncluttered writing style of the book pairs well with the equally clear and well-captioned screen shots. Because Flash is a complicated application, the book's simple layout and non-jokey text tend to minimize reader confusion. The book even anticipates common questions in sidebar notes and tips. By focusing on teaching Flash 4 step by step, this manual may succeed where others have failed. And over 600 pages of small steps can take you pretty far. --Angelynn Grant Topics covered: A comprehensive manual to using Flash 4, including an introduction to the interface and tools, how to create graphics within Flash and how to import them, using sound, creating animations, using ActionScripts, working in tandem with other applications and distributing finished movies. CD-ROM includes sample files to illustrate points and accompany tutorials, as well as demo versions of Flash and other related applications.
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