Flash for Windows and Macintosh Review

Author: Katherine Ulrich

Having read Flash 4! Creative Web Animation before reading this one, the first thing I noticed was that this book gets moving a LOT sooner. The lengthy introductions and detailed descriptions are gone, replaced with concise tips and visual representations of the topics covered.

This book is also friendly to those using both Windows and Macintosh, and includes an equal number of screen captures taken from both platforms.

When you get a new toy, what's the first thing you want to do? You want to play with it, of course. Chances are you're reading this review because the manual and tutorials that came with Flash just aren't doing it for you. You want to play, but you also want to UNDERSTAND. This is the book for you.

It begins with an outline of how Flash works, which is necessary for you to familiarize yourself with the work environment. It quickly shows you how to create objects in Flash, and how to use numerous line and brush styles. It then moves to more complex objects, layers, groups, animations, buttons, sounds... Everything you need to know to get started now!

A large majority of people are visual learners: they have to see something in order to understand. This book is packed with screen captures, and all topics are represented visually. When potentially confusing words (such as "kerning" and "hex colors") are used, there are special sections devoted to explaining these terms. As well, you'll come across a useful " Tip" every now and then, which will help you to better understand Flash, and allow you to work more efficiently.

To the beginner, this book will leave few questions unanswered. The author has obviously taken great pains to ensure that everything is represented visually; in fact, you could probably learn Flash just as easy just by looking at the pictures!

Flash For Windows and Macintosh is an excellent book for those eager to understand Flash so they can get moving right away. However, it only lightly touches on some of Flash 4's new features, such as Actionscript and MP3 streaming audio. Highly recommended, but only for the beginner.

Level of skill this book appeals to:

Level of recommendation, based on other books reviewed: This book is very reasonably priced at Amazon.com, and I highly recommend this book to Flash Newbies and visual learners. For a lot of people, Flash is not an easy thing to tackle, but this book makes learning easy through visual example. However, If you're the "scientific" type and prefer in-depth descriptions, you may benefit more from reading Flash 4! Creative Web Animation.