Flash

I am having trouble understanding the good reviews. This is a paper mill book that is rushed to press to get it out there before the next version of Flash comes out.

It starts out slow, too slow, and then accelerates into oblivion, with information that could be useful, however isn't reinforced enough by the exercises or further explannation. If one is to learn independently, there needs to be many more exercises reinforcing less content.

There is a nice format and THAT has merrit, but due to the numerous errors (mostly omitting instruction steps) I have found this book to be detrimental to learning Flash.

Who wrote those reviews, anyway?

At firsth, I wasn't too impressed with this book, as I spent the first few chapters looking at Flash-designed websites and modifying pre-made files from the book's website. However, when I began doing the end-of-chapter excercises, I was forced to apply everything I had learned in the respective chapter. This way of teaching made this book a great Flash MX learning tool!

WOW, what a myraid of topics, and to meet all levels of skill. Rickard shares a visionary approach to Flash MX, Macromedia's newest version of the state-of-the-art web animation tool.

I mostly appreciate the examples and resources Rickard provided, and the step-by-step lessons are packed with real-life methods to learn from.

In addition, there is a lot of theory to base the content from, thank you.

This book is quite drab. It had decent concepts in mind. But animation books should be exciting, colourful, and full of interesting art. This black and white doozy was the opposite. This book put me to sleep. Not to mention the stuff in it looks like it was traced out of a Preston Blair book. If you dont know anything about flash or animation then step right up. You'll think this book is the Illusion of Life.

I have read a lot of books on animating cartoons using Flash, and this is one of the best, most informative books I have found on the subject. It isn't a Flash "tutorial only" book, like so many that have been written. What this wonderful book does,is to guide the novice animation producer, director, animator through the process. The authors really know there stuff as they are true professionals, not techno writers, but animators who make a living doing this type of work. Yes, it's black and white, and scarce on eye candy, but full of informational "meat" and "potatoes". If you want to make cartoon movies in Flash this is a "must have" text.

Without the benefit of experience, animation can be a hit-and-miss affair for even the most talented artists. This book goes a long way to show the CORRECT way to make a movie, not only for animation and not only for Flash, but these concepts could be applied to any film-making medium.

Finally got my copy in the mail today. I'm a full-time animator myself and I have great respect for the work of the authors Glenn and Kevin. This book is something I've been looking forward to for months now, and having flicked through it all day, I'm not a bit disappointed. Many laughs.. the occasional tear.. learned a [lot]. I'll be sure to mention you guys on Oscar night. I love my new book.

Friends of ED, well done on getting these guys on board. More from them please!!

Comedy, Drama, Action/Adventure, Romance, what defines a Hero. These are put into this series of stories about Wally West (aka The Flash). It also includes a look back at how Wally got his powers, and how the love of Linda Park keeps him going (quite litterally). Good for both fans of the Flash, and for fans of Mark Waid's work.

If superheroes are your bag, and you like them portrayed both with their classic "nobility" and a sense of the ninties, they don't get much better than this Flash story-arc. Rather than decontructing old heroes, Mark Waid seems singularly adept at modernizing them while still leaving that sense of wonder that we all (at least at one time)loved about comics. Don't expect to gain any great insights into life, and don't expect to see any revolution in comic book storytelling. This is what it is - a superhero comic at its finiest.

This stupendous graphic novel is a reprint, in a book form, of the FLASH #96-100 (1994-95). In the story Crisis in Time, Wally West, the Flash, was given a glimpse of a horrific future. And then, wandering back in time, he gets to see the events that made him the man he is. But, haunted by his knowledge of future events, Wally must train up Bart Allen (the Impulse, and Barry Allen's grandson), so that he can help him to change the future. But, even with the help of Jay Garrick (Flash I), Johnny Quick, Max Mercury and Jessie Quick, can Wally and Bart change the future, and save everything that Wally holds dear? Read this book to find out!

This is a great graphic novel - it is stupendous - I would go as far as to say that it is the best graphic novel that I have ever read, and I have read more than a few! The illustrations are very good, but short of what I have come to expect from recent graphic novels. BUT, what makes this book great is the story. Mark Waid succeeds in spinning a story that is very touching, and yet stuffed full of action and adventure. Plus, besides learning more of what makes Wally West tick, this book actually lets you in on the secret of what gives the speedsters their powers!

So, if you like the Flash, or just like a good superhero story, then you must get this book!

If you have zero knowledge in flash then this book is o.k fo you.I learned most with free online tutorials;I was expecting more on this item. And they mentioned ":Paperback: 250 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 2.78 x 9.62 x 7.36
Publisher: Prentice Hall PTR; ISBN: 0130944106; 1st edition (October 15, 2001)". But I haven't receive any of this book,received only 58 pages course work book that only to use for writing notes for each lecture. I am returning this item. I decided not to buy any books in online and any kind of cd trainig courses.

i had some familiarity with flash b4 purchasing this.. like what can be done with each panel, as well as knowing exactly which menu would contain a certain task option.

the strength of this cd-rom training is in the workflow experience you'll get. it may seem slightly complex at first, but eventually you'll learn to grasp the point.

the weakness of this cd is that despite the fact that i'm not a flash expert, during many of her executed sequences, even i knew she didn't seem to know what she was doing at times(a sign that when they made this quicktime video recording, it wasn't planned out or practiced). What I mean by this is that she sometimes confuses you as towards what she's trying to do b/c she at times goes in circles, leaving you wondering .. "why didn't she just do that?"

You can remedy this flaw by looking at the final product .FLA file(what you're ultimately trying to create) for each chapter b4 beginning each sub exercise. Then you won't be as confused.

let me add that this training cd will not help you master flash.
there's really no short cut. mastery can come only with practice and experience.... obviously you can't control time. you should also consider foundation flash 5 as the main learning material; this being the supplement.

i would have given this 4 stars, but considering that it's a good value, i gave it five. I mean, those LYNDA.COM cds are exorbitantly priced and not any better. And I won't mention the instructor's name, I found LEARNING ILLUSTRATOR 9 somewhat difficult to follow, b/c the dude had an accent... ^_^

This is the best training course, I own tons of Flash books and it is so hard to follow the reading. What a brillant idea to put a Flash course into a hands on CD. I signed up for a training course at my local comunity college and happened to stumble across this training cd before I started my class. Well I have to say I cancelled my class this Seminar is great for beginners and advanced Flash designers. Lynn does go through some parts of the material quickly but it is nice that you can pause and reverse. I recommend this Seminar for everyone.

Flash cards are great for me because I can go through them all and set aside the ones I have trouble with and do those over. The audio on the cd helped me to review in the car during rush hour. It's a great buy!

This book reads at a great pace, pointing out potential test items and has great end of chapter tests and reviews. Nice CD included filled with lots of MCSE quizzers and self test software.

I purchased these cards after I finished studying the Sybex NT Workstation 4.0 book, and they helped fill in all the gaps, and even helped me gain a greater understanding of the intricacies of Workstation. Also, my wife, who helped me study, learned enough that she is now able to do some of her own tech support on her work computer (an NT Workstation on a Netware domain). This set is definitely worth the cost.

I love to read straight through my books to learn everything I can, but I couldn't do it with this one. It is a very detailed reference book with everything you always wanted to know about forms, including every obscure thing you didn't care to know or that's no longer browser supported. It is incredibly dry to read, and the print is tiny. I had to keep jolting myself to stay with it, and could only read a bit at a time. There is absolutely nothing friendly about this book. It is a very detailed and complete reference book on forms, and that's its value. As a quick reference book, it succeeds. As a read-through, it fails.

A lot of useful and practical information, but the fonts are too small, and you will probably need a magnifier to read this book.

I've been trying to decide how to implement a data collection and information system based on a web interface for months. Since it's served in a Windows environment, the choices seemed endless...until I found this book. Probably the two most popular methods (before .NET *really* grabs hold) are presented side-by-side in a real-life application.

Before delving into the details of the two types, the authors review form contents/elements, give advice on form design, and cover briefly Flash forms for those users. The heart and soul is the comparison between Forms/ASP and PHP/MySQL. And, for completeness, the authors cover form validation (mostly client-side) and the basics of the future (as Microsoft sees it anyway), .NET framework.

The Pizza This order system (Forms/ASP) and online survey (PHP/MySQL) examples demonstrate how knowledgeable the authors are about "getting the job done...real time because its real work."

I highly recommend this book.

I found this particular resource very useful for my preparation for the CCNP and CCDP recertification particularly the CDROM exam generator however there appear to be some anomolies in this tool.

Some better editing of the material is needed. The switch and router simulators appear to have inconsistent CLI interfaces. (ie. some of the configuration exercises allow command line expansion, while others do not).

The subject reference material which is in PDF format is also a bit light on. Where the exam generator refers to these documents for answers to particular questions, the answers sometimes are not contained in the notes (eg. some CLI commands).

These flash cards are very informative, as were the CCNA flash cards.

My problem is that I wanted to study them on the train to and from work using my Sony Clie or Palm m515. When I loaded the software on my Clie Peg-NZ90 (Palm OS 5), it crashed hard. I had to call Sony Support to get it working again, and it just wouldn't run on my Palm m515 (Palm OS 4.1). I got the same fatal error of both devices -- a 'Fatal MemortMgr.c, Line: 3564, Null handel' error.

The content of the book is great, but the palm OS software obviously was not tested very well.

CCNP Flash Cards and more!
This self study tool is the best off the shelf product money can buy for preparing to pass the current CCNP exams. The two CCIE authors are very knowledgeable and thorough. This book includes flash cards, practice questions, and quick reference sheets for all 4 CCNP exams. The electronic versions of the flash cards have been ported to work with Windows, Palm, and Pocket PC devices. I like both the printed book format and electronic flash cards.
What I found helpful within this book is the information presented in an easy to use, digestible format. The flash card format is comprehensive and flows from topic to topic throughout each exam. This book offers very useful "Quick Reference Sheets" at the end of each exam section. Each exam section also includes questions and answers for reinforcement of key exam objectives in digestible sections. The book's CD includes PDF versions of all the quick reference sheets and copies of all printed flash cards! Most of the time, the author's words are clear and concise--the book's layout is comprehensive and flows from cover to cover.
This book is split into four sections; BSCI, BCMSN, CIT, and BCRAN. This allows you to prepare for each of the single exams in the final hours. You can also use both the printed flash cards and electronic version on a hand-held device for maximum efficiency and time spent. The authors' technical background and knowledge are impressive. They must have had a difficult time working within the constraints of a flash card format and limiting their answers for clarity and exam preparation. Each page of the book includes two flash cards on the front page and the answers on the back. The book is indexed and tabbed for easy reference when you need to focus on a particular exam's topics such as BGP or STP. The book weighs in at just over 800 pages. The electronic flash cards allow you to focus on a particular exam and topic or shuffle the cards randomly per exam.
I was only able to locate a few small inaccuracies in this book. The few errors I did find were not technical in nature and won't be noticed by most readers. They won't affect your preparation and can be easily documented with an errata reference on the publisher's web site. Refreshingly, this book focuses not only on preparing you to pass the CCNP exams but really helps you to understand the exam topics involved! This book's author and technical reviewers have what it takes to present the exam topics in an efficient format for any certification candidate.
For the self-study candidate on a limited budget who wants a last minute exam prep tool, these flash cards are invaluable. They are presented in a well readable format and even the book itself is portable enough for the train ride or discrete cram time. When you want to prepare to pass the new CCNP exams, these flash cards, practice questions, and quick reference sheets are a must have!

If you're looking for quick test prep, the flash cards are OK. If you are able to go beyond the cards and study the subject rather than just memorize the answers on the cards you should do fine. The sample test on the CD has problems. On my first time through the sample test I found no less than three answers that were absolutely incorrect. There are definitely better study packages available, and I found that I was best served by using several different test prep packages together.

These Flash Cards and accompanied CD were quite helpful in preparing to take the A+ exam. As long as you keep in mind that they are for test preparation and not for substituting an A+ book. They provided questions that paralleled those on the exams. They also tell you why the right answers are right and the wrong ones are wrong. In addition, many of the cards provide additional tips that are very useful. I highly recommend them as study aides.

I thought these were a big help in preparing for exam questions. I recommend using more than one study tool to see different vrsions of practice questions. These are great when you don't want to read, but want to do some quick studying.

I'm somewhat new to Flash, although I understand Flash well enough to design most things seen on the web, the actionscripting used in the book was far more advanced than I anticipated. I bought the book because I'm interested in better audio for my projects, but after reading about 1/2 the book, I'm going to have to put it away until I have a better understanding of actionscripting. I would not recomend this book to the beginner or even intermediate designer.

As with any book of this type, you buy it and hope that there's something you can glean from it that is useful.

This book, while far from a complete reference, has already provided me with some good tips on a current project. Flash and audio is partly the subject along with the programs that create or enhance audio such as Acid Pro and SoundForge, and how you use the results in Flash.

If you don't have any advanced audio applications, don't buy this book; you'll likely be disappointed because you'll have to rely on whatever demo versions of this software are available. But, if you are a multimedia professional and have one or more of these integral audio tools, you'll find some good information along with what you already knew -- and it's information that will prove valuable not only for Flash, but also Director and DV if you do that too.

I'm still waiting for the definitive "audio in multimedia" reference, but this will give me some stuff to work on and think about until I find it.

I love Flash, and I am an audio designer for over 20 years. It has baffled me how so many great Flash designers wow me visually and totally ingore the power of streaming audio in Flash. Brad Kozak has organized this information and hit the nail on the head of what it takes to make quality audio, covers the tools and techniques to do it right are allin this book. I bought it as a reference, but I suggest it be required reading for anyone designing Flash presentations for the web and CDroms. Silent movies didn't last very long in Hollywood and there is no reason Flash movies should remain silent or contain mindless music loops when audio that supports the visuals is so easy to deliver in Flash.

I bought the book hoping to learn some great techniques for making images in Photoshop, then exporting them for use in Flash. Instead I got a walkthrough of the mental processes of four artists asked to work on a central theme. It was interesting to see how they approached the project, and then implemented their vision, but "groundbreaking" or "new" technique was not to be found.

This book is more for "inspiration", something quickly made apparent by the artsy, but disjointed, layout. (While I like this approach for small leaflets or brochures, it made reading the long format book a chore.) Then again, even as a tool for jump-starting the imagination, the book could have been trimmed down in some areas, and fattened in others.

The remix section (where the artists look at one another's projects) was filled with useless chatter as opposed to examples of what they would have done with the same source material. That material is also denied to the reader, as no CD-Rom supplement is included. Some - any! - files for the reader to play with would have been a welcome addition. The screenshots of the work in progress were well done, but it neither makes this book unique, nor rescues it from poor content in other parts.

I really like the idea of the 4x4 series, but I found this book lacking in quality. If you'd like a design-oriented computer book for your collection, it *might* be worth checking out, but for instruction or technique, your book money is better spent elsewhere.

Plain and simple, this book is fun! The tutorials are helpful and the design concepts are unique. The artists are amazingly creative and informative. I believe this book was created to help give digital artists a push into a some sort of direction. If curious as to how and what other digital artist are doing, check this book out!

As a designer, I have only dabbled in Flash. I picked up this book because there were four tutorials in it that I thought would be helpful. I had seen the sites of the designers and was intrigued with their work- Hey, why not improve my Flash skills with a tutorial by people I have heard of? ...

The tutorials were extremely helpful and interesting. I found the authors insightful with admirable know-how for combining Flash and Photoshop. I found the details of their creative process inspiring, and the detailed technical process very educational.

Using the Friends of Ed website ... to reinforce what I was learning was fabulous. There I was able to explore options with the files the designers used to create their masterpieces.