Flash CS5: The Missing Manual

Flash CS5: The Missing Manual
Authors
Chris Grover
ISBN
1449380255
Published
25 May 2010
Purchase online
amazon.com

Unlock the power of Adobe Flash and bring stunning animations to life onscreen. It's easy with Flash CS5: The Missing Manual. You'll start creating animations in the first chapter, and learn to produce effective, well-planned visuals that get your message across. This entertaining edition includes a complete primer on animation, a guided tour of the program's tools, new illustrations, and lots of details on working with video.Every chapter in this book provides step-by-step Flash tutorials.

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  1. Editorial Reviews
  2. Customer Reviews

Customer Reviews

Midwest Book Review said
Chris Grover's FLASH CS5: THE MISSING MANUAL provides a powerful survey of using Flash in web design, covering animation basics, Flash tools, using templates and pieces of code, and more. Learn how to create rich, interactive animations with a fine survey of Flash's strengths!

Frank Stepanski said
With the lastest version of Flash (version CS5), there are lots of new features such as improved easing, animation, better 3D drawing, more templates, IK bones, etc.

This book is for beginners to Flash as well as existing Flash designers who want to update their skills to the lastest version of Flash CS5. The 'Missing Manual' books have always been great in my opinion and really teach readers the topics properly with excellent explanations no matter what the topic (CSS, JavaScript, etc.). This book is no different, the author Chris Grover does a great job in explaining the new features of Flash and the existing ones. There is also a great number of chapters on the basics of ActionScript 3.0 which covers topics such as syntax, events, objects, animation, etc.

The book goes through topics such as:

Chapter 1: Getting the basics
Chapter 2: Creating simple drawings
Chapter 3: Animate your art
Chapter 4: Organizing frames and layers
Chapter 5: Advanced drawing and coloring
Chapter 6: Formatting text
Chapter 7: Resuable flash: Symbols
Chapter 8: Advanced Tweens
Chapter 9: Animation and IK Bones
Chapter 10: Non-flash media files
Chapter 11: Sound and Video
Chapter 12-18: ActionScript 3.0

All the examples are easy to follow and fun as well. A great teaching tool!

Daniel McKinnon said
'Flash CS5: The Missing Manual' is another solid entry in the missing manual line of books but the decision to not have color within was a terrible one by the publishers. The thing that separates Flash from everything else lives in its name: FLASH. The thing that makes this technology great is the sex appeal and whiz bang that jumps out at you. To publish a book like this in black and white is a death blow in my opinion. The writing is great, the content is solid, but this isn't a C# or Java book folks. IT NEEDS COLOR!!

McKinnon Overview

01. Basics
02. Simple Drawings
03. Animation!
04. Frames & Layers
05. Advanced Drawing & Coloring
06. Working With Text
07. Symbols & Templates
08. Motion Editor Magic
09. Animation With IK Bones
10. Non-Flash Media Files
11. Sound & Video
12. ActionScript 3
13. Events
14. Display List
15. Timeline & Animation Control
16. Interactivity
17. Using And Animating Text
18. Drawing With ActionScript
19. Testing
20. Publishing
21. Adobe AIR

Folks this is a great book but I just can't give it *****. If you care about content only, you will be pleased, but if this book was being examined by a reader, they are likely going to pass by this one for the FLASHy book that jumps out more.

It's just simple marketing.

**** RECOMMENDED

Brett Merkey said
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Adobe products, all that I have encountered, set some sort of standard for abysmal documentation. In fact, a whole industry has arisen to instruct people in the basics of such software as Photoshop and Flash. Since people have complained about this for years, it is clear that adequate online and printed manuals are not a corporate priority for Adobe.

It is good that we have books such as this one from O'Reilly to ease the burden of learning the basics and finding out how to take advantage of new version features for those who have mastered the basics. I think most people reading this short review know what Flash is all about so I won't belabor the point by enumerating all the topics in these 700+ pages. The author has integrated images well into the flow of the text--although I think sometimes not having color takes a bit of life out of the action.

The content homes in on the skills and features related to the most implemented aspects of the software, such as timeline animation. This is the book's real value. The one negative, a small one, is that the book barely touches on the new trend we see with Flash: the construction of complete commercial applications with this technology. Even so, the last chapter (21) "Introducing Adobe AIR", is a very good introduction to this new trend.

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