Customer Reviews

Foundation Flash MX

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is a VERY GOOD BOOK for those needing solid grounding in Macromedia Flash MX. It's so good that buying this one book replaces all the other books on the shelf to get solid grounding with how to use Flash. The language is easy to understand, without jargon that clogs your brain and tire you out before they get to the point.

If you're like me, you probably suffer from attention deficit disorder that is the trademark of the digital generation. Things come at you so fast, technologies popping up at you at speed of thought, and before you know it a new version of the software that promises miracles is out.

You will learn all you need to build a website in Flash MX and have a new career waiting for you, if you're any talented in aesthetic design, but there is a catch; If and only if you are patient enough to sit through the entire thing. It took me months to get to Chapter 11, and that's not even the end yet. The first 6 chapters went through easily, but then I always have stamina problems going through really thick, technical books. I probably have about 6 more chapters to go, and although it has taken me this long and will take a bit more of my time, I found some Flash MX books a waste of my money.

I have about 10 books on Flash MX in various forms, and this one is by far the best investment. Most books out there are robbing you in broad daylight, giving you a shaky foundation with so much jargon that it confuses you. Don't bother with the other beginner's books and buy this one instead. It will give you real skills, a real case study, and even some real-world Flash MX web development extras.

I used this book as a classroom manual and was exceptionally pleased with it. The pace was exactly right. The project approach helped the students master a bit at a time. The only complaint was that the Case Study could be confusing at times, but the book is basically error free. I would recommend this book to the person who needs a step-by-step, tutorial-oriented approach done right. Thanks to Friends of Ed for a job well done.

The reasons that the other reviewers found as cause for complaint about this book are the very qualities that I needed: Bite-sized lessons and lots of explanation. These are the things that were missing in my other Flash MX tutorial book (Flash MX Training from the source) that got me really stumped!

I don't mind this humble approach at all. I didn't expect Foundation Flash MX to take me to the details of Action Script or other technical stuff or turn me into a guru like some of your guys. (In my dreams!) That would be work enough for other books and very propitious events like the next ice Age. Just like in baseball, I just needed to swing my bat, hit the ball right, get on the first base and be ready for the next run. Exactly what Foundation Flash MX does for me.

I recommend this book to those who are learning on their own and can't seem to come to grips with the software.

The foundation books feel like my sons preschool class. Very fluffy, project oriented reading, but useless as a reference. Just get to the point and show me how to do it! There's a balance between example and reference that make tutorial books valuable, this book and other "Foundation" or "Friends of Ed" books I've bought or looked at weigh in too heavy on the example side and the "how do I do this" part is mucked up in the mire of examples.

If you have NO flash experience what so ever, then this might (might) be for you, but if you've decided to finally get to learning the details of flash and start getting something out of it, then perhaps the Flash MX Bible would be a better choice, that was my choice and I'm much happier with it. My choice for ActionScript is Macromedias' Advanced Flash MX Actionscripting. It's not really advanced, but it is very clear and gets to the point.

I'm the kind of learner that can't stand reading dictionaries, I get bored instantly without trying things out myself. However, the learn in '24 hours' type of tutorial book doesn't go into enough detail for me to completely understand the material. This book combines the two; Foundation Flash MX gives you an in-depth look at the basic concepts with the latest version of Flash while walking you through some great tutorials. And as an added bonus a lot of the reading makes you laugh at times.

After having completed this book I feel that I can create entire websites in Flash, in fact the book walks you through your own website from start to finish with it's incredibley helpful 'case study'.

The momentum never stops, I'm already into the Foundation Actionscript For Flash MX and can't wait to keep getting better!

This book is decent, but could use a little improving. It's assumed that you have the software to work with as you read so for students, this might be an issue. It's a great beginner book, but I found myself getting confused because there were steps missing, or assumed, and not enough detail given for a person to complete some of the tasks. In other areas, the book over explained simple things. Blah Blah Blah!

The explanations in the book were great, and a bit better than the included Flash Tutorial, thus the 2 stars. However, if you already know some of the basics, and want to leap to more depth, you can't. The book is 100% tutorial (barely better than the tutorial that comes in Flash MX itself, so why buy the book?).

In this book, you build a sample website from start to finish. Without the earlier tutorial sections completed, you have no files to use for the later sections. This makes the book useless. I also found some of the explanations a bit hard to follow in key places (ie., "click on all the content in the lower part of the window". WHICH window? The library window? The assets window? The main screen window? The paragraph before mentions all 3). If you are a rank beginner, this book is hard to use. If you are intermediate, you cannot use it. If it included a cd with advanced tutorial files ready (which Macromedia's included tutorial already does), or used task based tutorials, it would be more helpful. As it is, this book is useless to beginners or intermediate users, and contains nothing for advanced users.

This is the book I have used to get up to speed on Flash MX, and for the most part I have been really happy with it. If you like a structured walkthrough of the features of a product, with step-by-step exercises to cement an understanding of what you are learning, this book is for you. However, I must provide a couple of caveats:

- The authors are not always good at explaining what it is you are setting out to accomplish (in terms of learning objectives). I had a couple of experiences where 1/4 of the way in, I was asking myself "What am I supposed to be learning?", but by the time I hit the end of the example, I had an "Aha! That's what they're getting at!" revelation.

- The authors teach a practice of placing ActionScript code within movie clips and buttons, which is not conducive to OOP principles and re-use. The prevailing view amongst top ActionScript developers today is to pull the code out of instances of movie clips and buttons, to drive those objects from code in the main movie timeline. So there may be some habits to unlearn after using this book

Being completely new to Flash, this was my second introductory book (the 1st being the Training from the Source Book by Chrissy Rey). I would definitely recommend it. The authors provide much more explanation to not only the topic at hand but also their examples.

I'm a CS major whose desire to learn new tools is waning, so understand that I had apprehensions about picking up another tech book to sit on my shelf. Needless to say, after going through the entire book, I have found Foundation Flash MX to be...

A great, easy-to-read book, with step-by-step examples providing solid foundation for real projects using tool, sans ActionScript.

When reading through the book, I recommend skipping the ActionScript write up, in favor of going straight to Foundation ActionScript MX, which, incidentally, makes no assumtion that you've read Foundation Flash MX.

My only minor gripe is the lack of integration between the two closely related books.

Enjoy!