Books for/about - Macromedia

Sams Teach Yourself Macromedia Flash 8 in 24 Hours (Sams Teach Yourself in 24 Hours)

Publisher: Sams
Authors: Phillip Kerman

ISBN: 0672327546
List Price: $29.99
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Avg Cusomer Rating: 5
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Summary: Excellent text
As a 13-yr-old, homeschooled beginner in Flash, I enjoyed this book very much because of its clarity. I learned a lot of things that other authors didn't say anything about. If you are thinking of buying Flash 8 by Phillip Kerman I highly recommend it. It's a great book for beginners and experts alike. If you're looking for a book about Actionscript though, this is not the one. Yes, it covers the fundamentals of Actionscript, but it teaches you mostly about animating, drawing, layers, the library of Flash, etc.. Sams Publishing is also a great company, and you should not have any doubt about purchasing a book published by them. My rating for "Sams Teach Your Self Flash 8 in Twenty-Four Hours by Phillip Kerman" is too low: I wish there was something higher than five stars.

Summary: Ya gotta love it
I'm a techie not a programmer by trade and I wanted to spice up my company web site, so what the hey lets get some flash on it, <G>..........
I waded thru a couple of other books and didn't feel I was getting a handle on the technology, After the first 2 chapters of Phillips book I felt that on was on the right track. I like to learn thru concrete examples and this book excels at that. You work thru progressively more difficult tasks and in the process gain a solid understanding of the technology. Very nicely done and I recommend this book highly.

Summary: I've been a professional programmer for over 30 years, and I loved it
I probably have a different background than most readers of this book, because I'm a professional web developer. However, on-line banking doesn't require Flash, so I had never developed with it. But now I want to write some web games, and this book gave me all of the groundwork I needed to start working in Flash.

The learning curve for Flash's design tools was the toughest part for me, and the start of this book covers it perfectly. I understood the timeline, layers, keyframes, and all the rest through his clear explanations. The Flash interface is definitely unique, so the explanations made a lot of things clear that otherwise would not have been.

The programming side of Flash seems to give many people trouble, but that was the easiest for me. Either way, his chapters about Actionscript are clear, simple but not simple-minded, and paced properly.

On top of all that, he answers his e-mail promptly.

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Macromedia Flash Professional 8 Hands-On Training (Hands-on Training (H.O.T))

Publisher: Peachpit Press
Authors: James Gonzalez

ISBN: 0321293886
List Price: $44.99
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Avg Cusomer Rating: 5
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Summary: Great for a beginner like me...
I had thumbed through several Flash 8 books in the local bookstore before deciding on this one. What drew me to it was that the examples progress from the basics into an end-result project. You can eliminate chapters if need be with no bearing on the final project as the necessary example files are provided on the disc for each chapter.

I'm new to Flash with no experience with any prior version. My intentions were to learn to a point where I am comfortable creating animations (somewhat satisfied by the time I reached chapter 6) as well as interactive web pages (which I haven't yet gotten to in the book).

I would highly recommend this book for anyone trying to learning Flash for the first time on version 8. It might even serve as a good refresher for those with experience on prior versions and whom are looking to keep up to date on version 8.

Summary: A good way to get a strong Flash foundation
A good way to get a good foundation in Flash

Although it took me a while to work through the examples in the book, I was happy with the results. In the end I was able to do most of the nifty animation "eye candy" I wanted to do. I also had a decent idea of what to do get going in ActionScript.

I wouldn't give this book any awards, but it is a good way to start your Flash.

Summary: A good introduction
I almost gave this book 3 stars, but realized that it was just 3 based on my flawed expectations for the book. I had been looking for a good introduction to flash with an eye towards the capabilites of actionscript. Sadly, the action script section of the book was very short and very basic - really just giving you the basics of using the wizard to perform rudimentary tasks. But, the book never professed to offer any great actionscript insights, so, there's that.

As an introduction this book is very good, especially for the beginner. This offers step by step on how to do perform many of the tasks in flash. At times, I think, it's a little too basic, but that may just be me (for example every time they ask you to hit return they say Press Enter (for windows) or Return (for mac) throughout the whole book). But it doesn't really take away from the book.

Everything is very clearly presented, tools are explained, I was impressed that they made very pointed use of keyboard shortcuts. They gave screen shots and images to illustrate most steps which is very helpful in a book like this. The book covers the basics, using the drawing tools, tweening, buttons, movies, importing various media including video.

Each chapter begins with a half page overview, then another page or three of deeper coverage and then several step by step exercises. Most of these are very focused exercises, relying on the provided cd's different pre-made projects to start you off at a point where you can focus on the task at hand. Strewn throughout the exercises are tips and more explanatory text when a subject warrants a half page or page more of description.

I found the book good at presenting a top level view of flash. I suspect that it will not be a book that I go back to frequently as the organization by project doesn't lend itself to convenient referencing. But that's a trade off, great books for reference are very rarely good introductory books. So overall, I'm pretty satisfied that this book achieved what it set out to do.

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	Macromedia Dreamweaver 8: Training from the Source Publisher: Macromedia Press Authors: Khristine Annwn Page
ISBN: 0321336267 List Price: $44.99 Amazon Price: $28.34 Usually ships in 24 hours Buy this book from amazon.com or from amazon.co.uk	Avg Cusomer Rating: 5 Reviews: Summary: Great walk-through I recently picked up a copy of Dreamweaver 8 as a possible alternative for my current development environment. I can be a bit old fashioned and am much more experienced using emacs rather than any other tool for developing websites. Having zero experience with Dreamweaver or other similar tools I decided I needed a good reference to help me jump in, and this book has served that function well. The writing is clear and generally concise, the information is easy to follow and has done a good job of helping me jump in to this new world. Summary:

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Macromedia Dreamweaver 8 Hands-On Training

Publisher: Peachpit Press
Authors: Daniel Short Garo Green

ISBN: 0321293894
List Price: $44.99
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Avg Cusomer Rating: 4
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Summary: Effective, but needs a little tweaking....
Dreamweaver is a deceptively simple-appearing program, but is incredibly powerful and complex "under the hood". Thus, future users will need exceptionally well-prepared materials to learn it well.

This book is an excellent start, with numerous tutorials and videos, but the reader will definitely need additional materials.

Lynda.com is quite well resepected for its tutorials, and rightly so, though I personally find them rather dry (in comparison with the Total Training series). Author Daniel Short, while undeniably a talented, skilled and capable instructor, has a voice that could be bottled and sold as a prescription-strength sedative.

The book is an ideal supplement to the Lynda.com series, and could even be considered critical to adequately grasping Dreamweaver, but the section on CSS falls seriously short in conveying understanding to the neophyte.

I do recommend this book (even highly), but hope that Mr. Short and Lynda.com can address these shortcomings.

Summary: Great book for starters
Before I picked up this book, I had no experience with dreamweaver whatsoever, and basic html skills (I can read html and know what it is.

When flipping through the pages, I noticed that the pictures were in color! Not only that, the layout of the lessons made it easy and fun to read! This book taught me the basics with dreamweaver (how to make forms, website, and etc. efficiently)

The only thing I "bad" about this book is that it is a short read; I bought it 2 days ago and I am almost finished, but its probably because the book is layed-out so well or most of it was easy to me.

I would definately recommend it to anyone with no experience in dreamweaver.

Summary: Can follow lessons, can't work independently
OK, so I'm half-way through Chapter 15 and this book frustrates me. I'm on a Mac, so that offsets the instructions by one jog. It doesn't help, either, when Mac instructions are given incorrectly, or not given at all.

Most of my software learning has been from books, not classes. This is my first experience of being able to follow exercises, but then not being able to work on my own. There is no sense of where to begin to build a practice site. For my style of learning, it is not helpful to be shown one way to do something, then to be told, "Don't do it that way. Here's a better way."

I'll work the lessons through to the end even though the time spent feels partially wasted. Then, I'll try another book.

I would not recommend this book to others.

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Essentials of Macromedia Captivate: Skills and Drills Workbook

Publisher: IconLogic, Inc.
Authors: Kevin A. Siegel

ISBN: 1932733035
List Price: $35.00
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Avg Cusomer Rating: 5
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Summary: Terrific Tool, Terrific Support
We purchased Kevin's workbook for our team to help us through the learning curve for a new tool in our group. Wow! Kevin's book really delivered and we were creating near finished product movies and company branded templates in a fews days. Kevin has also been very responsive and incredibly helpful via e-mail inquiries.

Summary: The most user friendly Captivate workbook I have come across!
I recently held a Captivate training class for coworkers and used this skills and drills workbook. We all commented on it being so user friendly. In fact, I think most of the folks in the class could have gone through the workbook at their own pace and still come out with a good working knowledge of how to use Captivate. Being a Captivate user for over 2 years, I even learned some new stuff. The class took 2 days to go through everything and this is being generous considering I had a classroom full of trainers. If you are planning to use this in a classroom setting, make sure everyone completes a project on their own before giving them their certificate. I usually give folks at most a month to complete their project. As a prerequisite and to save time, recommend that modules 1 and 2 are read before attending class.

Summary: Excellent Workshop in a Book
I needed to really get to know Captivate and I did not have a lot of time. I purchased this book and went through the lessons over my Christmas break. I really liked the way the author built one lesson upon another. He kept the examples simple so that as a user I could concentrate on the software product and how it worked. The enclosed CD has everything needed (except the software itself) to complete the course. By the time I finished, I felt very confident about using the software and I have used it since for a number of projects. This is one of the best set of "lessons in a book" I have ever used.

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	Macromedia Flash�8 Bible (Bible) Publisher: Wiley Authors: Robert Reinhardt Snow Dowd
ISBN: 0471746762 List Price: $44.99 Amazon Price: $28.34 Usually ships in 24 hours Buy this book from amazon.com or from amazon.co.uk	Avg Cusomer Rating: 5 Reviews: Summary: Extremely thorough, understandable, and well-written I am a Computer Science student and purchased this book to learn Flash for use with a project. I am very pleased-I think the book has very thorough descriptions and examples, and also offers great advice about design issues and other important considerations when developing a project. I would highly recommend this book for someone who is new to Flash. As someone with technical background, it was very easy to follow and understand, and also offered insights that I do not get from my classes. I believe even those with limited development experience will find the book very informative, since it does not assume that the readers have prior knowledge about the topics in the book. Great book, highly recommended! Summary: Ok I have not seen the other Flash Bible Books so therefore gave it a 4 star rating. Also i am a tad dissapointed, the book itself has a lot of info (which the first few chapters is basic stuff) but it also seems that this may be the same content as the other Flash Bible books. It does go over some of the new Flash 8 features like the filters, however i was hoping the book would contain the new "BitmapData" and bitmap caching but it did not. Also maybe go over the timeline effects even if it is simple to understand. Had these features been included it would have been 5 stars. Summary: The examples alone inspire ideas. I honestly cannot believe how much information this book has on Flash 8. I mean, when you get your book, just looking at it you can see how much information it has. This book answered all of my questions concerning flash 8, and inspired many new ideas just from the examples in the book. If you want to spend money to make money, this book is definitely where you should start. Summary:

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	The Web Collection, Revealed: Macromedia Dreamweaver 8, Flash 8, and Fireworks 8, Deluxe Education Edition (Revealed) Publisher: Course Technology Authors: James E. Shuman Sherry Bishop Barbara M. Waxer
ISBN: 1418843075 List Price: $62.95 Amazon Price: $62.95 Usually ships in 1 to 3 weeks Buy this book from amazon.com or from amazon.co.uk	Avg Cusomer Rating: Reviews: Summary:

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Macromedia ColdFusion MX 7 Web Application Construction Kit (Web Application Construction Kit)

Publisher: Macromedia Press
Authors: Ben Forta Raymond Camden Leon Chalnick Angela C. Buraglia

ISBN: 0321223675
List Price: $54.99
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Avg Cusomer Rating: 5
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Summary: BEN FORTA IS AMAZING
This man is amazing. I can feel his passion for ColdFusion when I read the book. I also have his Teach Yourself SQL in 10 Minutes and it's the same way. I have a library of technical books, mostly software and programming language books but I don't have any that are as easy to understand and as fun to follow as the Forta books. Lastly, I love reading classical literature as well. Some of my favorites are Dante's Inferno and Milton's Paradise Lost (Tom Sawyer, Edgar Allen Poe, Dostoevsky...). I rank this ColdFusion book as one of the best pieces of literature that I've ever read. That's how good it is to me.

Summary: GREAT
This is the first book that I bought to start learning Cold Fusion(along with the Advanced Development), and it is by far one of the easiest books to read and make use of. Everything is written clearly, great explanations, great code samples each with tons of comments. Must read for any soon to be or already a CF developer.

Summary: The first time I ever enjoyed writing a data-driven site.
I have been designing web sites for over ten years, but working with data-base driven sites has always been a major pain in the butt. Not until I stumbled onto this program and this book. WOW - Should cover my feelings on this topic. Talk about simple and POWERFUL. Imagine this - instead of writing over 200 lines of HTML, writing 40 lines of Coldfusion, operating an entire site from one page and from a 170 pages down to 9 (no joke). If you're using MS Access or MySQL, it makes no difference, instant and simple. In less then a week I had the site up and running - bug free. Finding a proper hosting company that runs Coldfusion is somewhat of a pain, but it is completely worth it. If you have never made a data-driven site before, this will make the experience extremely pleasant and if you have written many, this will make you wish you knew about this before.

The book is as easy to read as the software is as easy to use.

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