The Complete Idiot's Guide to Flash 5

by David Karlins

Developing Skills in Writing familiarises KS3 students with test requirements and writing mark scheme. It develops students' writing skills, application of stylistic conventions and understanding of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0789724421
• ISBN13: 9780789724427
• Release Date: November 2000
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam
• Length: 350 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 7.3" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Great for Beginners

If you're just starting out with Flash, or even if you've been using it a while but haven't explored all its features, David Karlins' book will prove to be a useful addition to your library.The things I like best about this book are1. David has a friendly, uncomplicated way of explaining things, so it's all easy to "get."2. You really could be almost a technological idiot and still be able to use this book to do some fun animations with Flash, because every tool and animation technique is covered, and each item is broken up into bite-size bits.3. The Tips and Nitty Gritty Stuff is a good way of presenting useful key information that you can refer back to and refresh your memory as you need to.4. Flash is fun to work with anyway, and breaking it up the way David does here makes the technical aspects of animating in Flash so easy to digest, you'll be a Flash wizard in no time.Well, maybe not a wizard. This book doesn't cover much ActionScript, and that's where the real Flash wizards dwell. But as a way to giving you a solid foundation to all the ways you can have fun working with Flash, you could do a lot worse than to buy "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Macromedia Flash 5," and you'd probably have a lot less fun getting your basic Flash chops.

Perfect for Flash idiots (anyone unfamilier with Flash) ;o)

David Karlins actually sent me an e-mail because of my last review about this book (below this one). He was very concerned that it didn't meet my expectations and was willing to reimburse me for the book since I had unfairly expressed my utter disappointment in it.Well, the truth is, it does EXACTLY what it claims to do and at an unbeatable price. And the fact that the author is so sincerely interested in delivering a book that satisfies ALL it's readers just blows my mind!It DOES do an adequate (and sometimes superb) job of walking you through the basics of Flash and getting you familier and comfortable with its simpler features.And it does this in a humouristic fashion, unlike may of the technical textbooks we've all had to suffer through.Yes, I did review this as a major disappointment because of it's lack of 'complete' coverage, but really, this book does everything it promises to do in a comprehensive and simple way so even the BIGGEST idiots can learn to master Flash.I give it 5 stars for what it is: A beginners introduction to Flash 5.If you're beyond the beginners level (as I am) and on to intermediate, than this book's not really for you. Read my other review for some good recommendations.Finally I'd like to say: Kudos to David Karlins for having the humility and sincerity that most authors lack. He really cares about delivering his promises and raising the level of todays web through educating. Cheers!

No Depth, No Details, but a good introduction to Flash

A good book to introduce newbies to the new features of Flash 5, however, this book lacks detailed descriptions and further depth required to take the average user to the next level. I think this book has a great section on buttons and how to edit a line drawing, but it lacks descriptions on certain behaviors (such as looping). Another fault this has book is the lenghty sections on how to draw and edit lines, (text..etc.) with flash and how to use the new Bezier curves tool, most people use flash for its ability to animate and create motion for web publishing NOT for drawing. The author should have had a lenghty discussion on advanced animation techniques with the same attention they paid with the lines and text. For their intended audience, this is a good book for beginners, for advanced users (or quick learners) skip straight to Chapter 19 and read on.

Impressive, Beginning Book

I've been a Flash user since Flash 3, and every so often, like to look at learning a program from a beginners perspective. The Complete Idiots Guide delivers on everything it promises and more. I was really surprised. Is it going to tell you how to create a whole enterprise-level corporate web site with ActionScripting and the use of Generator? No. What it will do is teach you the fundementals and move you to a intermediate level in Flash 5. I'm not a fan of the little cartoons, but I understand their placement is more a model of the book series, so I am okay with them. Other than that.. great book for learning Flash or refreshing the fundamentals.