Long the industry standard for creating high-impact interactive Web sites, Macromedia Flash has just gotten a whole lot better--faster, easier, even more powerful--with the release of Flash MX. Whether you're a Flash pro looking to get up to speed quickly on this latest release or a novice eager to tap the power of MX for the first time, the task-based visual approach of this Visual QuickStart Guide is just what you need to make the most out of Flash MX.

In this volume, veteran journalist and author Katherine Ulrich covers it all--from the basics of vector animation to sophisticated interaction and transition effects--in the clear, concise prose readers have come to expect from this popular series. Beginners will want to devour the volume from cover to cover, while more experienced Flash users will be able to easily find just what they need, including complete coverage of all of the program's new features: a revamped interface, enhanced integration with Macromedia ColdFusion, dual authoring modes for designers and developers, and more. Loaded with tips and visual aids to reinforce the text, Macromedia Flash MX for Windows and Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide will be your constant companion as you use Flash MX to take your Web pages to the next level.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 13 Ratings

Great for beginers!! - 2006-03-19
Reviewer Rating:
This books really make learning Flash EASY!! If you are new to Flash and you want to start making movies right away, you have to get this book!!!

Macromedia Flash MX for Windows and Macintosh (Visual QuickStart Guide) by Katherine Ulrich - 2005-09-02
Reviewer Rating:
This book is very big on details and I feel I'm learning more about Flash than other books I've used.

Basic information, poor organization, useless index - 2005-01-19
Reviewer Rating:
This book is a descent resource of basic information; that is, if you can find it. That's the most frustrating thing about this book is that it suffers from poor organization and a horrible index that follows it's own inexplicable logic.

E-mail links? No listing in the index. Same for such basic terms as: pop-up windows, navigation, browser windows, publishing, windows, importing, and printing. It was easier and less frustrating to flip through the entire book than to try to figure out the logic of the index.

If you chance on some information that you may need, put a placeholder or a stickynote there immediately; you may never find it again.

Preschool? - 2004-11-24
Reviewer Rating:
This 'Visual Quickstart guide' by Katherine Ulrich is really useless and was obviously written for beginners. If you have programming experience and are looking into using flash, I highly recommend that you DO NOT buy this book. The whole books basically teaches motion tweening and using basic drawing tools. It doesnt teach the power of flash or even teach you how to use the built in flash components either. If you want to learn how to make a cat dancing from one side of the stage to the other, than this book is great. If you want to learn how to build rich flash programs, then buy something else. Lets just put it this way: Chapter 14, page 533 finally introduces importing graphics and chapter 13 talks about Authoring Utilities.

Full of errors and lies - terrible!!! - 2004-11-07
Reviewer Rating:
I would give this book MINUS 5 stars if I could. Look, if you're writing a book about any sort of computer code (unforgiving stuff that doesn't work right if you get a character wrong), I think you have a responsibility to proofread the *@#*! thing. This book doesn't appear to have been proofread or had a technical editor give it more than a cursory glance. It's full of errors that will stop you cold. I've spent countless hours going over the same pages over and over again, trying to guess where the author's mistakes are. What a waste of time. Also, the instructions are written in incredibly unprecise language (terms like "frame", "keyframe" and "blank keyframe" are often used interchangeably - hey, brilliant writer, it makes a difference!), requiring you to guess what the writer really means.

Oh, they also lie: the book claims to have a supporting website with artwork files you can download, yet none exists - go look, there is none (I really could care less about downloading the files, but I was hoping to find a list of corrections for the many errors in the text - and found no ebsite where they claim one exists). I think this is just plain dishonest. Shame on them.

There's no way to contact the author to clarify/correct her errors, either (maybe she didn't want to get reamed by angry people who bought the book sending her email?).

Yeah, I'm mad I wasted 25 bucks on this piece of junk. I recommend you don't make the same mistake I did - instead I suggest you buy a book that the author actually proofread - 'cause this one clearly didn't bother with such trivial matters as getting details right.

This is a really terrible, terrible book, completely irresponsible. It would be a wonderful way to waste many, many hours of your time.
Feh!

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