From Book News, Inc.
Appropriate for beginners, this guide walks through the Flash MX interface and shows how to create static graphics, add animation and effects, and integrate sound and video files with Flash. The second half of the book discusses exporting Flash presentations to the SWF file format for use on a web page, and introduces the basic elements of ActionScript syntax for controlling movie clip objects, dynamic data, and dynamic movie elements. The CD-ROM contains lesson files and a trial version of Flash MX 2004.Copyright © 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR


Book Description
* The bestselling guide to Macromedia Flash, the leading tool for creating animation and building interactive, multimedia Web sites, now fully updated and revised to cover the new release
* Covers everything readers need to know to master the newest version, including workarounds for hidden bugs and unpublished tricks and techniques not likely to appear in other books
* Packed with expert tutorials from the world's leading Flash gurus, with more coverage on using Flash with other applications than any other book
* Coauthor Robert Reinhardt is one of a handful of top stars in the Flash developer community and a regular speaker at FlashForward, the Macromedia User's Conference, WebTEK, Macromedia's traveling user seminars, and major universities


Book Info
Guide shows how to enhance Web sites, handheld applications, broadcast productions, or presentations with Flash technology. Learn how to explore techniques for integrating Flash with other applications, and empower your Flash creations with the versatility of ActionScript programming. Softcover.


From the Back Cover
If Flash MX 2004 can do it, you can do it too...

If you’re developing Web applications, CD-ROMs, kiosks, PDA and cell phone applications, installations, broadcast graphics, or corporate presentations, Flash MX 2004 is an indispensable tool. It’s an image and sound editor, an animation machine, and a scripting engine, all rolled into one. This comprehensive guide is the one book that takes you from novice to Flash expert, then serves as the reference manual you will rely on long after you attain Flash proficiency.

Inside, you’ll find complete coverage of Flash MX 2004 Understand the Flash MX 2004 framework and its new command feature Learn how to plan your project using the new site/project management features Use the new launch preferences, project settings, and Help option Design and plan animation, considering the physics of motion and techniques for creating personality and atmosphere through movement Animate characters and export your animations to CD-ROM or DVD Import and e dit video in Flash MX 2004, and integrate sound and vector art files Integrate Flash content with Web pages and use the Flash Player and Projector Explore Flash programming with ActionScript, XML, and HTML, and even create a Flash game Expand Flash with vector graphics, raster graphics, and Dreamweaver® MX 2004

Bonus CD-ROM includes Trial versions of Macromedia Flash Communication Server MX, Flash MX Professional 2004, and Flash Remoting MX Source Flash project files with original artwork and ActionScript for the examples and lessons in the book Demo version of Swift 3D® from Electric Rain


About the Author
After discovering Macromedia Flash while working on an art project combining film, photography, animation and audio, Robert soon realized there was a need for more comprehensive documentation of its capabilities. In 1998, not many people had even heard of Flash and publishers were wary of the limited market, but IDG Books Worldwide, Inc. (now Wiley Publishing, Inc.) committed to doing the Flash 4 Bible. The rest, as they say, is history. After studying and working together for five years in Toronto, Robert Reinhardt and Snow Dowd established a multimedia consulting and design company in Los Angeles in 1999, called [the MAKERS] (www.theMakers.com). In addition to work for entertainment companies, [the MAKERS] has done work for independent artists and nonprofit organizations.

Robert Reinhardt—With a degree in photographic arts, Robert takes a holistic approach to computer applications for the creation of compelling multimedia. Since January 2000, in addition to design and content creation through [the MAKERS], Robert has worked with the Content Project (www.contentproject.com) in Santa Monica, California. As a Director of Multimedia Applications, Robert has led various assignments including multimedia data analysis applications for Nielsen’s Media and Entertainment division and creating interactive advertising for Warner Bros. films Dreamcatcher, Kangaroo Jack, The Matrix: Reloaded, and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.
Robert continues to teach and write about Flash. In addition to this book, he is the coauthor of the Flash MX 2004 ActionScript Bible (Wiley), as well as Macromedia MX: Building Rich Internet Applications (Macromedia Press). He has developed and taught Flash workshops for education centers in California, including Lynda.com and Art Center College of Design, as well as doing on-site training and seminars for clients in the United States and Canada. Robert has been a regular featured speaker at the FlashForward, FlashintheCan, and SIGGRAPH conferences.

Snow Dowd—Snow initially collaborated with Robert Reinhardt on multimedia, film, and photography-based installation projects while earning a BFA in Image Arts at Ryerson University. During this time, she was also the production manager for Design Archive, one of Canada’s preeminent architectural photography studios (www.designarchive.com). Working with renowned photographers and an exacting international client base of architects and designers helped her gain a deeper appreciation for architecture and industrial design. She also learned to love color printing, but the novelty of darkroom chemicals quickly faded. Fortunately, multimedia design offered a rewarding alternative to the health hazards of traditional photography.
Now fully immersed in digital production, Snow is able to synthesize her background in visual arts and communication theory with an ever-expanding software toolkit. Focusing on content architecture and interface design, Snow strives to make print and Web projects that are beautiful, functional and memorable. A recent challenge was designing a Flash interface for a project to deliver legal information to remote Navajo and Hopi communities. The content is available in three languages, online as well as through touch-screen kiosks hosted in the offices of DNA People’s Legal Services, a nonprofit legal services organization.

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
The authors of Macromedia Flash MX 2004 Bible don￯﾿ﾽt miss a trick. Everything￯﾿ﾽs in here, from the absolute fundamentals to ActionScript -- and way beyond. Planning, workflow, animation, media files, interactivity, programming, publishing, troubleshooting: you name it, it￯﾿ﾽs covered.

Lead author Robert Reinhardt speaks at Macromedia￯﾿ﾽs own user conferences. Along with Snow Dowd, he￯﾿ﾽs packed this book full of tricks you won￯﾿ﾽt find elsewhere. And if it￯﾿ﾽs new in Flash MX 2004, you know it￯﾿ﾽs here: from the integrated Actions panel to the brand-new interface components.

You￯﾿ﾽll also appreciate the book￯﾿ﾽs comprehensive coverage of using existing graphics and integrating with Dreamweaver and Director. Oh, did we mention: two start-to-finish case studies. Bill Camarda

Bill Camarda is a consultant, writer, and web/multimedia content developer. His 15 books include Special Edition Using Word 2003 and Upgrading & Fixing Networks for Dummies, Second Edition.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

If you're developing Web applications, CD-ROMs, kiosks, PDA and cell phone applications, installations, broadcast graphics, or corporate presentations, Flash MX 2004 is an indispensable tool. It's an image and sound editor, an animation machine, and a scripting engine, all rolled into one. This comprehensive guide is the one book that takes you from novice to Flash expert, then serves as the reference manual you will rely on long after you attain Flash proficiency.

SYNOPSIS