Sams Teach Yourself Adobe Livemotion 2 in 24 Hours

by Molly E. Holzschlag

LiveMotion is Adobe's premiere Web graphics and animation design tool. It allows designers to work with vector and raster graphics in an easy-to-use environment, with an interface that is designed to be both intuitive and familiar to those who use other Adobe products. A new version of LiveMotion is expected to be released in the first quarter of 2002. It includes powerful new scripting capabilities, using the industry standard, JavaScript. And...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0672323125
• ISBN13: 9780672323126
• Release Date: May 2002
• Publisher: Addison Wesley Publishing Company
• Length: 480 Pages
• Weight: 1.67 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 7.4" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Great reference book!

I was already somewhat familiar with LiveMotion thanks to a couple of the tutorials that come with the software. So I use this book as a quick reference. I look in the index for what I need, and I jump straight to that section. The book is writen clearly and all examples are easy to follow. She walks you step by step through the process necessary to achieve the desired effect. All in simple no nonsense instructions. And so far all the tutorials have worked, which is more than I can say for other "how to" guides.I'm very happy with my purchase and I hope you will be too.

Pretty good book

This book is geared toward beginners of LiveMotion. Fair warning: if you already know how to use LiveMotion and are looking for advanced books about LiveMotion techniques and tricks, this book will disappoint you. If you've used other Adobe products before, the first few chapters are a piece of cake. The author did a good job of explaining various features of LiveMotion, such as the toolbox and grouping objects, how to combine objects, and modify their properties. The short, non-techical style of the book makes it easier for newbies to master the program's basic features. A detailed "To Do" section after the explanation of a particular feature helps to enforce what you've read. The LiveMotion Timeline is also covered (although it may be confusing if you're absolutely new to animation, but you'll eventually find out how easy it is to use LiveMotion's animation capabilities. After you've understood how to use the program, then it's up to your creativity and talent to push LiveMotion to the limit.

A totally "user friendly" introduction for the beginner.

Sams Teach Yourself Adobe LiveMotion in 24 Hours carefully teaches the reader how to use Adobe's new Flash competitor to create animated graphics for their Web sites. The first few chapters of the book lay the groundwork for understanding how LiveMotion works, and then move on to the creation of simple animations. By the end of the book the reader will be able to create entire Web sites in LiveMotion or export to the Web for a multimedia presentation. A totally "user friendly" approach, Sams Teach Yourself Adobe LiveMotion in 24 Hours is a very highly recommended four hunudred page instructional guide for Beginner to Intermediate level students.

Wonderful Introduction from a First-Class Teacher

This is the second book I've bought by the same author (the first was Mastering Adobe GoLive 4), and I was not disappointed. I think some of the reviewers here forget what it was like to just start out with the complex tools from Adobe, and have no patience for a tutorial that assumes nothing about the reader's experience. This book was wonderful. The author is an experienced teacher who has found just the right blend of instruction and hand-holding, without ever talking down to all the novice readers (like me!) out there who are most likely to benefit from this book. True, LiveMotion is probably targeted to users of other Adobe products, but this book doesn't hold you to that. Instead, it provides an elementary tour of the product's many features, and shows you how, why, and when to use each one. Best yet, this tutorial is not only clear, but a pleasure to read. Computer books, expecially books about graphics programs, all too often lose the sense of adventure and fun that should accompany experimenting with the program. This book remembers that, and the resulting approach invites the reader to continue reading all the way to the end.LiveMotion, like most Adobe products, is far too sophisticated to learn every nuance in 24 hours -- the real aims of this book are to introduce the application, point out what it can do and how, encourage the reader to experiment and, if necessary and/or desireable, find a more advanced text for further study. On all levels, this book succeeds.I eagerly await the next book(s) from Ms. Holzschlag. Thanks!

Another great reference from Molly!

This is the second book by Ms. Holzschlag that I've purchased. The first was Mastering Adobe GoLive 4.0, which is one of the best computer reference books I've ever read. I'm happy to report that Molly has done it again!This time following a very different format, Molly's style nevertheless shines through. The writing is clear, intelligent, and permeated with a sense of fun and exploration. As a newbie to web design, I've been intimidated for months by Flash. When I heard that Adobe was coming out with LiveMotion, I thought, "Finally! Another alternative!"Well, that's right, but as Molly reminds us throughout this book, LiveMotion is far more than just an alternative to Flash. Like Fireworks, LiveMotion can be used to draw and manipulate images, to develop intricate web designs for export, and, of course, to create glorious web-optimized animations. LiveMotion also features tight integration with other mission critical Adobe web apps, like Photoshop 5.5 and GoLive.I usually read 2-3 computer books a month, and I often buy books about programs I am interested in, but do not yet own. I use the books to learn as much as I can about the program's features and ease-of-use, and a well-written book can sell me on a program. My two tests for rating computer books are: (1) can I sit down and read it from cover-to-cover, without falling asleep and without having to be in front of a computer to follow along?; and (2) when I'm through reading, is the program a "must-have" addition to my software wish list? On both counts, this book rates five stars.Thanks again, Molly, for being as good and thoughtful a writer as you are a teacher!