Macromedia Flash 5 Design: From Concept to Creation W/CD [With CDROM]

This is my 5th Flash book I have bought and I would honestly have to say that this one is my favorite. Most of the Flash books I have purchased touch on MANY things about Flash, but never really go into detail about ANY of them. This book is the exception. Not only does it go into great detail in every chapter, the images are for great reference material. Also the biggest plus, for me anyway, is that you don't have to start at the beginning of the book to get to the end. Each chapter/tutorial is one of its own. You can jump from chapter to chapter and not miss anything.Highly recommended to ALL FLASH USERS -- Beginners to Advanced.Melonie

As a multimedia instructor I bought this book because I will be teaching a course in Flash design at a community college this summer. EPIC covers a wide range of Flash 5 applications in depth. Although the book begins with an overview of Flash, it quickly moves onto applications that range from basic to complex. The graphics are the strongest part of the book and each chapter is filled with wonderful eye candy. It is exactly what I needed as a resource for my class. My favorite chapter was "Creating a Random Screensaver" which takes you through the process of building a Flash screensaver that features a cool skydiver character bouncing around the monitor. Although he chapter does not cover the graphical elements of the screensaver, it does teach you how to work with a movie clip and simple action script code. Other chapters I enjoyed were "Skeleton Dancer (inserting movie clips with movie clips) and Chapter 18 - Magi-Paint (creating an electronic color book). I can give this book my strongest recommendation to other Flash instructors who need a book they can use for an intermediate course. For students of Flash (in school or working on their own to learn the program), it's a book that will quickly become dog eared and a favorite reference source.

I'm a Flash novice and searched the Internet looking for a good introductory book. I found Flash 5 Design from concept to creation, and it sounded like the kind of book I needed, so I checked it out at local bookstore. Its organization, layout, use of examples, and appropriate level of detail immediately impressed me. Computer books are all too expensive, but that is the price of admission if you want good information, so I reached for the plastic and I'm glad I made the investment. I really got into it over a long weekend, and I was thrilled! I found a chapter that had an application that seemed like it would be fund to build and I jumped right in. The directions were easy to follow, and not only was I able to duplicate the application, but understood the technical concepts in the end. For someone whose background is in graphic arts this is quite an accomplishment!

Unlike the previous reviews, I find this book very informational and extremely helpful. Not only does it help the beginner understand the basics of Flash, but caters to the intermediate Flash users as well. I have bought ALOT of Flash 3 and Flash 4 books in the past and this books stands out above all of the rest. I find that the use of this book with other Flash books will build a complete arsenal of information.What is lacking in most Flash books is the ability to understand what drives this version of Flash, CODE. Epic has done a great job detailing the information so that even a novice can understand how to use it.I give two thumbs up for this book and look forward to seeing more of their books.

Across the Web, it is easy to find cool Flash animations. Unfortunately, it's not easy to find out how the developers created the applications. This book shows some of the coolest apps I have seen in some time. Then, it walks you step-by-step through each application's source code. I learned more about Flash by reviewing the book's first five chapters than I have learned in five other Flash books. This is a must have book for serious designers.