Rating: 
Summary: Falls just short...
Review: In some matters I have to agree with the previous reviewers; there is quite a bit of technique covered in this book, and it is valuable as a tutorial that gets you working with the extensive feature set of Flash MX. But I don't think they had actually done many of the tutorials; the chapters that deal with sending and receiving data from a server suffer because the companion web site, which is supposed to support these lessons, does not work. In theory, that website will have a PHP server ready to respond to the lesson materials. Instead, there is one static file that simulates a simple data query (it returns the complete data set), but the lesson queries which require passing parameters to the data engine simply fail. At first I thought it was a problem with errors in the code I typed in as I followed the tutorial, but in fact the 'completed' lessons on the CD fail identically. So... I would have given 5 stars but the book doesn't really keep it's promise to the reader to provide the ability to complete the lessons. I have tried to contact the author and the publisher (PeachPit Press, not Macromedia) but have had no reponses. Perhaps it only deserves 3 stars...
Rating: 
Summary: Average Beginner Book
Review: Overall, not a bad beginner's book. Being a Flash beginner myself with a decent programming background, I found some of the examples lacking in explanation. Many of the examples that source data from the flashtfs.com website do not fully work yet, and some of the screen shots that assist with the examples are not accurate, which leads to more frustration than anything. Like the other Training from the Source books I have been through, the format is solid with starting, intermediate and completed files for each chapter on the CD. I am now moving on to the ActionScripting Advanced book by Derek Franklin and Jobe Makar...
Rating: 
Summary: Hurried Flash
Review: This book covers some essential points and provides an adequate overview of Flash. It fails, however, to explain much about basic Action Script interactivity. There is another book by the same publishing company that does go into more detail; however, this one fails to adequately cover the basics. For example, in less than 3-4 pages, the author covers functions, movie clip scripts, arrays, variables, etc., etc. Now that is what I call a world wind tour! I don't think anyone who is new to Flash will understand what is going on. You can tell the author was in a hurry to publish this book. There are some inconsistencies in the references to screen capture images and the more than usual typos. The other weakness in the publication is the boring example web page. Unlike "Flash 5: Training from the Source by the same author, this one is not very creative to look at or work with. The book could be better if it was given more loving care and the author had taken the time to make the book interesting. If you want an overview of Flash MX, save your $40+ and just do the tutorials in the technical manual. They are more interesting and explain Flash MX basics very well.
Rating: 
Summary: Great introduction to Flash!
Review: This book was a lifesaver! I was asked to make a pretty basic Flash web site for work. The problem was that I knew absolutely no Flash. One of my friends told me to check this book out, so I did. The steps were so easy to follow, and the explanations told me exactly why I should do each step, which was very helpful in the beginning. The way the book is set up, I could simply read the steps and skip the explanations once I got the hang of things, but if I became confused or lost, the explanations helped immensely. The explanations also provided considerable insight into additional features related to a particular step. The author explained some pretty complex topics in a way that even a beginner like me could understand, and now that I'm done I feel like I could really tackle some more projects on my own. Everything was well-written, so far as I could tell. I loved that I was able to go through the process of building an entire web site in this book. I have reused many of the things that I did while reading in my project for work. If I could give more stars to this book, I would!
Rating:
Summary: A good book for People Who Never Even Seen Flash.
Review: This book was very useful but it on ly though me a couple new things. Half of the book is useless cuz it only shows what action scripting is, it doesn't explane how u can use it. It just gives u one project to do and it mainly tells u how to design a web site, and doesn't teah u how to make a movie.
If you want to lean flash just to make ur own movies or games then don't buy this book, if u want to learn how to make a 2cent site the this is the perfect book for you. This is a great stepping stone into the world of flash, that describes every little thing as if it was talking to a 2 year old, it doesn't teach you one thing about how to make a movie or a game. You should get something more advanced. This is just a first step, and a wast of 32 bucks.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Step-by-Step Flash Book!
Review: This is the best step-by-step book I have ever own! All the instructions come with picture of how your flash page should look like at any given point. So, you will know if you do it right every time. No confusion or misunderstanding or guessing games needed when reading this book. I created a whole new website just using flash when I finished reading this book. I strongly recommand this book for anyone who are interesting in learning flash. Let the magic flows on your web sites... :)
Rating: 
Summary: This book needs more explanation
Review: Trying to cover too many things with little explaining.
This book has been very frustating for me to learn from, especially when you go into actionscript... And it does not provide any errata online.
Rating:
Summary: Almost Useless
Review: You'd think that because this book carried the Macromedia logo, it would be a very good start for a beginner in Flash MX. I was so wrong! OK, so the book came with CD_ROM containing all the files for the project. But the overall feeling I got while working through it was that it's like one of those getting-your-feet-wet kind of tutorial where you get to work on the software without understanding what you're doing, knowing that you'll get the bulk of the explanation next. Well, the much needed explanations never came in this book! In here, the whole book seems to be a long, drawn-out get-your-feet-wet exercise! There is such a scarcity of explanation and crucial answers to questions and points of confusion for a Flash beginner! While it's fine to work on a project (in this book a web site) it would be very helpful if you get to try your hand on simpler matters first. And most of all, it would really help if the author pointed out the idiosyncrasies of Flash MX of which there are many and caution users. The book didn't do these at all. I bought it three months ago and since then struggled with its lack of guidance until I just gave up on it lately. [...]P>Don't get carried away by the Macromedia Logo in Ms Rey's book. [...].
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