Foundation Flash 5 Review

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Authors: Sham Bhangal, Amanda Farr, and Patrick Rey
625 Pages

I'll have to admit: at first, I was pretty annoyed with Foundation Flash 5.

For a book that states its intention is to get people working and playing with Flash 5 right away, it certainly does take its time getting started. Though the long-winded opening introduction contains a lot of useful information on the difference between raster and vector images, I found its explanations lacked the illustrated depth of the comparatively concise Flash 5! Creative Web Animation.

A few pages later, when I thought the chatting was over and that it might actually get down to business, the "quick" animation tutorial was interrupted by..

..more chat.

It took me a bit of reading to realize that this book is so long (weighing in at over 600 pages) because it's packed with the kind of information most Flash designers would take for granted, such as what the differences between FLA and SWF files are. Before I finished reading the book, I came to the realization that it was by far the best Flash book for beginners I'd ever encountered.

For all the times I said other books were thorough and detailed, I'll have to take it back-- none go into more depth than Foundation Flash 5. Everything this book does, it does very well and with explanations anyone who's afraid of Flash will feel comfortable with.

Books like the Idiot's Guide and Visual QuickStart Guide give easy-to-understand explanations, and Flash 5 in 24 Hours goes one step further by structuring its information more like a textbook than a manual. Foundation Flash 5 pushes this concept further by including "Case Study" sections which show you, step-by-step, all there is to know about making Flash sites from scratch. Rather than ordering an assortment of "how to do this" and "how to do that" lessons like the other books do, this one's laid out to show you everything from interface design to navigation concepts to content loading and the all-important matter of file size.

Though most beginner books take a mere step or two up the mountain of Actionscript a Flash designer will have to learn in order to be successful, this book's Actionscript sections help you "earn your wings as an 'Intermediate' Flash user." Going beyond merely adding Stop and Play actions to frames and buttons, Foundation Flash 5 will show you how to animate objects purely through Actionscript and even how to create a card-flipping memory game (I'm sure you've seen one before) in Flash. Most importantly, its introduction to the world of scripting will have you thinking like a true programming expert and outlines the exact steps you'll need to take in order to accomplish any task.

Lastly, "High Level Site Design" and "Futurescape" are two chapters that give a boost to the already powerful content of this book. They discuss the basic principles of good design, with regards to site structure, navigation, style, and content. One of this book's authors even shares a few dissections of his past Flash projects, covering both the right-brained creative thought process that's involved in making personal/experimentation sites, and the left-brained approach to applying proper planning to sites for clients. In addition, there are a few tips given to those who wish to pursue Flash/graphic/web design as a career.

As I mentioned before, this book is very, very chatty. Judging by the number of extra tidbits of information this book includes, it's obvious that Foundation Flash 5 was written by highly-qualified authors who really know what they're talking about. The downside of all this is that a beginner who's starting from zero may have trouble keeping it all in. Knowing what information is important enough to read and what's extraneous may be difficult to for a newbie to decide.

In addition, the lack of a packaged CD means purchasers of this book will have to download as much as 44 megs of source files to help them along their way.
**Note to the authors: you may wish to include a CD in the next edition of this book, as they serve to do a great deal more than simply hold source files. Refer to my review of Flash 5! Creative Web Animation.

Never used Flash in your life? Have just a little experience? Have a lot of experience and don't seem to be getting anywhere? Get this book! Do it! Click here now!

Level of skill this book appeals to:

Level of recommendation, based on other books reviewed: There isn't another book I can recommend more strongly, folks: Foundation Flash 5 is the best Flash book I've read yet. It's absolutely PACKED with detailed and useful information, is very reasonably priced, and is guaranteed to give you a ton of bang for your buck!