Description:
LiveMotion for Windows & Macintosh is an easy-to-read, liberally illustrated guide to learning and using Adobe's tool for creating animation for the Web. As with all Visual QuickStart guides from Peachpit Press, this book is geared toward the user who's new to the software that the book covers, and is designed from the ground up to get you up to speed as quickly as possible. Every feature of LiveMotion is covered (some better than others), from an introduction to the interface and all of its palettes to animation basics, creating and using objects, using layers, using text, creating rollovers, using behaviors that are linked to objects, and exporting your work for inclusion on a Web site. With the use of a simple two-column format, the tools, palettes, and features are explained in a balanced presentation that is half text and half illustration. Because animation is LiveMotion's forte, it gets more coverage than any other feature. Animation basics, using the timeline, working with keyframes, and adding sound are introduced in chapter 13, "Animation," while chapter 14, "More Animation," takes on advanced concepts, like animating layers, reshaping objects, animating text, using motion paths, and using rollovers. It would've been nice to see a larger section on using behaviors (chapter 15, "Behaviors," is only about 13 pages long), but that's a minor shortcoming in an otherwise valuable book. --Mike Caputo
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