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The best way to learn how to use any new software is by having a good teacher, face to face. But then again, everything I ever learned that was worth the learning was done alone, and painfully.
I don’t recommend it. That is why I was so pleased to see the latest book in the inimitable Lynda Weinman’s Hands-On Training series appear. I have been reading Lynda Weinman’s design tutorials and buying her books almost, it seems, from the beginning of the web onwards. I have never been disappointed.
The Hands-On Training series is based on the courses taught at Weinman’s private web design college in Ojai, California. As the courses offered there have become broader in scope, growing well beyond standard HTML, so have the books, training tapes, CDs and DVDs multiplied. And the teaching staff has increased accordingly.
Flash 5 | H•O•T Hands-On Training was therefore written by two of Weinman’s top teachers, based on real course content. Its structure is a product of Weinman’s long experience as a teacher before and during the web’s existence. Her central tenets are that people learn best by doing, and that the best design books must teach through a progressive learning process.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It is perfect for anyone new to Flash. And it is extraordinarily good for everyone who is forced to learn on their own, which is far too many of us still.
I guarantee that as you progress through its sequence of exercises you will feel almost as if you are sitting in the classroom with the personal guidance of two very able teachers—Kymberlee Weil and Garo Green. Their excellent QuickTime movies, on the CD, will simply enhance that impression.
The Book:
- Title: Flash 5 | H•O•T Hands-On Training
- Authors: Kymberlee Weil, Garo Green, Lynda Weinman (supervisor)
- Publisher: lynda.com/New Riders
- Publication Year: 2001
- Pages: 740
- Illustrations: Monochrome
- CD: Mac and Windows
- ISBN: 0201731347
- Rating: 5
The Chapters:
- Background Information
- The Flash Interface
- Using the Color Tools
- Using the Drawing Tools
- Animation Basics
- Shape Tweening
- Symbols & Instances
- Motion Tweening
- Bitmaps
- Buttons
- Movie Clips
- ActionScripting Basics
- Working with Text
- Sound
- Publishing
- Deconstruction
- Integration
- Appendix A: Troubleshooting FAQ
- Appendix B: Flash Resources
- Appendix C: Technical Support
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