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Macromedia Flash: Super Samurai
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by Eric Dolecki, Mike Grundvig, Klaus Hougesen, and Allan Kennedy
Sales Rank: 1065098
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$0.38
At Amazon
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Paperback: 424 pages
Publisher: Pearson Education; Pap/Cdr edition November 16, 2001
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0201771446
ISBN-13: 978-0201771442
Product Dimensions:
9 x 7 x 0.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
Product Review
Macromedia Flash: Super Samurai doesn't cater to new users of Macromedia's Web animation tool, so if you are just learning to wield Flash, skip this book. However, if the weight of Flash in your hands feels balanced and comfortable, perhaps it is time to learn how to make the blade sing like the rushing wind, making effort invisible.
Parallels to swords and samurai aside, Flash Super Samurai compiles the experience of 12 gifted Flash designers. Much more than a book on Flash animation, it shows the reader how to create interactive elements, how to create 3-D Flash elements, how to use XML and Flash together, discusses the intricacies and pitfalls of adding sound and how to make sound work for you, and much more.
Nine chapters and three appendices detail tricks and techniques for adding physics simulations to Flash animation (think bouncing billiard balls), programming sound, using XML and Flash together, using JavaScript and Flash together, and dynamic Flash pages created on the fly based on user input. Each chapter is well illustrated and heavily coded, and the accompanying CD-ROM includes all the necessary project files.
The way of the samurai is one of intense concentration and the constant search for wisdom, a description that fits the contributors to this rich, dense book for advanced Flash developers. Filled with ActionScripts and Flash animation that goes far beyond basic tweening, this book is invaluable for those looking to make the most of Flash as a tool for animation as well as for interactive site development. --Mike Caputo
From Library Journal
Guides to using Flash abound (see Computer Media, LJ 1/02 and LJ 5/1/01), but these two do an exceptional job of highlighting more advanced techniques and helping developers push the boundaries of the software's capabilities. Helping intermediate Flash users learn by example, ActionScript focuses entirely on using Flash's built-in scripting language from a designer's perspective. All exercises and source code are located on a companion web site. For advanced developers, Samurai assumes a solid foundation in ActionScript, as well as additional web languages. Its useful features include "showcase" projects (available on the companion CD-ROM), which demonstrate covered techniques. Topics include 3-D, dynamic Flash, and integrating Flash with XML and JavaScript. Larger libraries should consider both where advanced design titles circulate.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Customer Reviews & Comments
If you are an intermediate to advanced programmer in ActionScript and you are looking for a resource that provides basic recipes for for a lot of the "cool" things being done in Flash, then I would say this is a good buy. Some of the chapter are not very useful, but the 3D and audio sections are indispensable. My chief complain is that some of the sections (like Component Architecture) discuss a single approach, but do not conisder alternative methods.
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Macromedia Flash: Super Samurai
Available from Amazon
Price: $0.38
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