Showing posts with label flash. Show all posts
Showing posts with label flash. Show all posts

ActionScript 3.0 Game Programming University Review

ActionScript 3.0 Game Programming University
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ActionScript 3.0 Game Programming University ReviewLets face it. There are a lot of Actionscript game books out there. This one is good because 1) It is entertaining and readable & 2) It's the first game book I have found that works for the new actionscript 3.0.
The code itself isn't exactly as object oriented as I would like, but thats true of all the other game books out there too. It does have enough object oriented content to show some amazingly different, and simple methods for making game characters, detecting collisions, and managing objects that are possible with actionscript 3.0. I value this book as a 'how to upgrade' from 2.0 to 3.0.
The games themselves are pretty good and there is a nice variety of game styles to appeal to a wide audience.For a basic game programming book, it omits or glosses over a few important topics such as caching vector objects as bitmaps, pseudo 3-D and optimization in general.
All in all, I suggest this book if you are upgrading skills to actionscript 3.0 or want to write flash games. If you get this book, I also recommend Foundation Actionscript 3.0 Animation: Making Things Move! to round out your collection.ActionScript 3.0 Game Programming University OverviewGary Rosenzweig's ActionScript 3.0 Game Programming Universityshows you how to use ActionScript, the programming language behind Flash CS3 Professional. The lessons teach you all the basics of ActionScript programming through game examples, but the code can be easily adapted to non-game-oriented projects, such asweb training and advertising. Written by a real-world Flash developer, this book presents you with the source code of 16 complete games and lays the foundation for you to create your own games.Gary also provides a companion website - flashgameu.com, which contains files, updates, new content, Gary's blog and much more.

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Essential ActionScript 3.0 (Essential) Review

Essential ActionScript 3.0 (Essential)
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Essential ActionScript 3.0 (Essential) ReviewThis review is more of a 'heads-up' for any beginners considering this book. There are many reviews here telling about the book's contents, so I am going to talk about the level of the book instead.
I think it is important to state that this book is in NO WAY aimed or intended for beginners. None of the books in this series are, for that matter. Being fair, and I think this information is important for people even though a bit off topic: O'Reilly RARELY makes beginner level books. What they do make is insanely useful technical books which will tell you more than you probably ever wanted to know about a subject. But they are done, IMHO, very well. Still, when looking at books to buy I think it is important to keep this in mind, particularly if you are a beginner in any topic. Especially because most programming books are rather spendy.
When I bought Moock's first book, I had been using AS for a couple years (starting from Flash 4) and was still a beginner. However, I could manage my way through the very limited scripting options. When Flash 5 opened up the AS language to a full-blown environment, I was excited to get his book. Once it arrived, I was completely overwhelmed and immediately put it away. For about a year. During that time, I found other materials and boned up on my AS, THEN revisited the book. I found it much more useful.
When AS 2 came out, I thought the same thing. Ah-ha! I already know AS, so his book will get me up to speed. Wrong. The stuff which was pretty much lifted from the previous AS 1 book made sense, but I could not grasp what he was saying about the updates and new features in AS 2. Again, I put the book away for a year, found other resources to familiarize myself with, and revisited the book. I was surprised at the wealth of information I learned, but I learned it AFTER reading numerous other sources.
Leading to this book, I completely expect the same. I am buying it because I KNOW it will be a tome well worth the price based on my looking through it at local book sellers. No one, at least that I have read, has the depth of understanding of AS Moock does. He, IMHO, really understands the what and how. And he will tell you EVERYTHING about it. He does not, sadly, possess the 'layman language' to make this a beginner book. It barely makes sense to those well immersed in the topic. BUT, once you get to the level that you can absorb what he is saying, you catapult your Flash skills and usage.
For beginners, definitely start elsewhere. Books by Phillip Kerman or Joey Lott are marvelous entry level books. Both authors have a superior knowledge of Flash AS, but the also possess the ability to talk about it conversationally. A huge help in anyone's learning of a new subject. Flash AS is a huge uphill battle, but one which rewards richly for those who travel the path. I would just hate to have someone not try because they do not understand a book reportedly aimed at developers with 'no prior programming knowledge.'Essential ActionScript 3.0 (Essential) OverviewActionScript 3.0 is a huge upgrade to Flash's programming language. The enhancements to ActionScript's performance, feature set, ease of use, cleanliness, and sophistication are considerable. Essential ActionScript 3.0 focuses on the core language and object-oriented programming, along with the Flash Player API. Essential ActionScript has become the #1 resource for the Flash and ActionScript development community, and the reason is the author, Colin Moock. Many people even refer to it simply as "The Colin Moock book."And for good reason: No one is better at turning ActionScript inside out, learning its nuances and capabilities, and then explaining everything in such an accessible way. Colin Moock is not just a talented programmer and technologist; he's also a gifted teacher.Essential ActionScript 3.0 is a radically overhauled update to Essential ActionScript 2.0. True to its roots, the book once again focuses on the core language and object-oriented programming, but also adds a deep look at the centerpiece of Flash Player's new API: display programming. Enjoy hundreds of brand new pages covering exciting new language features, such as the DOM-based event architecture, E4X, and namespaces--all brimming with real-world sample code.The ActionScript 3.0 revolution is here, and Essential ActionScript 3.0's steady hand is waiting to guide you through it.

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ActionScript 3.0 Cookbook: Solutions for Flash Platform and Flex Application Developers Review

ActionScript 3.0 Cookbook: Solutions for Flash Platform and Flex Application Developers
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ActionScript 3.0 Cookbook: Solutions for Flash Platform and Flex Application Developers ReviewThis book was exactly what I was looking for: a reference-style book to quickly look up how to do something specific with ActionScript 3. It is for generally experienced developers that already know what they want to do and just need to see how it's done in with AS3 in the classic cookbook style.
There is no coverage of Flex or Flex Builder (perfect!). This is also not a tutorial book so you may need to look elsewhere if that is what you need.ActionScript 3.0 Cookbook: Solutions for Flash Platform and Flex Application Developers Overview
Well before Ajax and Microsoft's Windows Presentation Foundation hit the scene, Macromedia offered the first method for building web pages with the responsiveness and functionality of desktop programs with its Flash-based "Rich Internet Applications". Now, new owner Adobe is taking Flash and its powerful capabilities beyond the Web and making it a full-fledged development environment.

Rather than focus on theory, the ActionScript 3.0 Cookbook concentrates on the practical application of ActionScript, with more than 300 solutions you can use to solve a wide range of common coding dilemmas. You'll find recipes that show you how to:

Detect the user's Flash Player version or their operating system
Build custom classes
Format dates and currency types
Work with strings
Build user interface components
Work with audio and video
Make remote procedure calls using Flash Remoting and web services
Load, send, and search XML data
And much, much more ...

Each code recipe presents the Problem, Solution, and Discussion of how you can use it in other ways or personalize it for your own needs, and why it works. You can quickly locate the recipe that most closely matches your situation and get the solution without reading the whole book to understand the underlying code. Solutions progress from short recipes for small problems to more complex scripts for thornier riddles, and the discussions offer a deeper analysis for resolving similar issues in the future, along with possible design choices and ramifications. You'll even learn how to link modular ActionScript pieces together to create rock-solid solutions for Flex 2 and Flash applications.

When you're not sure how ActionScript 3.0 works or how to approach a specific programming dilemma, you can simply pick up the book, flip to the relevant recipe(s), and quickly find the solution you're looking for.

Adobe Developer Library is a co-publishing partnership between O'Reilly Media and Adobe Systems, Inc. and is designed to produce the number one information resources for developers who use Adobe technologies. Created in 2006, the Adobe Developer Library is the official source for comprehensive learning solutions to help developers create expressive and interactive web applications that can reach virtually anyone on any platform. With top-notch books and innovative online resources covering the latest in rich Internet application development, the Adobe Developer Library offers expert training and in-depth resources, straight from the source.


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ActionScript 3.0 Design Patterns: Object Oriented Programming Techniques (Adobe Developer Library) Review

ActionScript 3.0 Design Patterns: Object Oriented Programming Techniques (Adobe Developer Library)
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ActionScript 3.0 Design Patterns: Object Oriented Programming Techniques (Adobe Developer Library) ReviewMy biggest complaint with this book is that the authors basically just took the design patterns found in Java and C++ and re-implemented them to run under ActionScript 3 (AS3). The list is comprehensive, but it's clear that the authors don't "think in AS3".
In several core ways, AS3 is very different than Java and even more so with respect to C++. For instance, the event model is baked into the language and asynchronous programming is a different style. Also, XML and XPath are native constructs in ActionScript 3, not libraries like they are in other languages. These differences (among others) imply that some of the original Gang of Four (GoF) and Java patterns manifest themselves differently and some patterns don't apply at all. There are a few places in the book where the authors use the built-in events infrastructure and few other native features, but it's clear that they don't think in AS3. It seems like they think in Java.
For instance, the observer pattern is one of the core GoF and HeadFirst patterns. However, the native event capability in AS3 serves the same purpose. Rather than show you how/why to use the native event capability, this book happily shows you an AS3 translation of the GoF/HeadFirst observer pattern and never tells you to use the built-in event capability instead. In contrast, the Joey Lott and Danny Patterson book from Adobe Press, does not have a section on the observer pattern, but there is a chapter on "WORKING WITH EVENTS".
The above problem would be enough for me to recommend that you not buy this book but it gets worse. This book is not even great at teaching you how to think in design patterns. To be fair, neither is the original GoF design patterns book nor is the Lott/Patterson book. The best book for this purpose is the HeadFirst book. Its examples are Java but, the HeadFirst book walks you through application evolution which really makes the case for why the patterns are useful. The HeadFirst book also includes exercises and discussion as well as a quirky style that really make the concepts sink in so you learn to recognize when to use each pattern.
If you are an AS3 programmer who is already familiar with design patterns, just get the Lott/Patterson book. If you are new to design patterns, get the HeadFirst book AND the Lott/Patterson book.ActionScript 3.0 Design Patterns: Object Oriented Programming Techniques (Adobe Developer Library) Overview
Now that ActionScript is reengineered from top to bottom as a true object-oriented programming (OOP) language, reusable design patterns are an ideal way to solve common problems in Flash and Flex applications. If you're an experienced Flash or Flex developer ready to tackle sophisticated programming techniques with ActionScript 3.0, this hands-on introduction to design patterns is the book you need.ActionScript 3.0 Design Patterns takes you step by step through the process, first by explaining how design patterns provide a clear road map for structuring code that actually makes OOP languages easier to learn and use. You then learn about various types of design patterns and construct small abstract examples before trying your hand at building full-fledged working applications outlined in the book. Topics in ActionScript 3.0 Design Patterns include:

Key features of ActionScript 3.0 and why it became an OOP language
OOP characteristics, such as classes, abstraction, inheritance, and polymorphism
The benefits of using design patterns
Creational patterns, including Factory and Singleton patterns
Structural patterns, including Decorator, Adapter, and Composite patterns
Behavioral patterns, including Command, Observer, Strategy, and State patterns
Multiple design patterns, including Model-View-Controller and Symmetric Proxy designs
During the course of the book, you'll work with examples of increasing complexity, such as an e-business application with service options that users can select, an interface for selecting a class of products and individual products in each class, an action game application, a video record and playback application, and many more. Whether you're coming to Flash and Flex from Java or C++, or have experience with ActionScript 2.0, ActionScript 3.0 Design Patterns will have you constructing truly elegant solutions for your Flash and Flex applications in no time.

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ActionScript 3.0 for Adobe Flash CS3 Professional Hands-On Training Review

ActionScript 3.0 for Adobe Flash CS3 Professional Hands-On Training
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ActionScript 3.0 for Adobe Flash CS3 Professional Hands-On Training ReviewKnowing nothing about Actionscript and having pitifully little programming experience, I turned to this book as a first step in learning Actionscript. It is very much part of the "Type this, click that" teaching method, which is great for getting your feet wet. You read through and do the exercises and stuff happens on the screen. The author includes some detail about Actionscript, but he doesn't discuss anything in depth. I found myself wanting more information in just about every exercise.
For example, the book includes an exercise for making a sort of word game. The program has arrays of names, verbs, and nouns. The interface also has inputs for adding words to the arrays. When the player presses the "generate" button, the program is supposed to fill in the blanks with words from the lists. Unfortunately, I found that the program frequently fails to generate a word, leaving a hole in the sentence. I know that can be fixed; but if I want to fix it, I have to do research and fix it myself. The book goes no further.
Along the same line, most of the exercises are empty exercises. The author frequently ends sections with instructions to close the exercise windows without saving the work. Larger projects are not followed from start to finish, either. Everything is broken into bite-sized pieces and pre-digested.
I've never used Lynda products before. While I did get something out of the book, I wouldn't really recommend it because it's not rigorous enough to truly learn Actionscript programming. It's just an introduction. I suppose that's the idea. To get the full education, you have to buy more products and do more exercises. I will look elsewhere for more information and give this book three stars.
ActionScript 3.0 for Adobe Flash CS3 Professional Hands-On Training OverviewWhen Flash Player 9 released in June 2006, it introduced the new scripting language, ActionScript 3, which has already taken hold in the Adobe Flex application development community. In its latest release, Flash CS3 incorporates this new and much improved upon language into its development environment, giving Flash authors more flexibility than ever before. Now, they just need to learn how to use it and get started quickly. For the first time, the Flash experts at Lynda.com have poured their training expertise into this exciting book release. ActionScript 3 in Adobe Flash CS3 Professional Hands-On Training teaches readers all they need to know to get up and running with ActionScript 3 in Flash. It covers all the essentials and new features, including the brand new ActionScript debugger that allows users to step through a wide variety of properties in their code at runtime, with greater flexibility and feedback. Readers will also learn modern Web design and workflow techniques for developing their projects successfully with Flash using ActionScript 3. Accompanied by a CD-ROM loaded with classroom-proven exercises and QuickTime training videos, this book ensures readers will master the key features of ActionScript 3 in no time. Now that Flash is an integral part of the Adobe Creative Suite 3 Web Premium, Web Standard, and Design Premium packages, there is an even greater need for the clear, step-by-step approach this book offers.

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Developing Android Applications with Flex 4.5 Review

Developing Android Applications with Flex 4.5
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Developing Android Applications with Flex 4.5 ReviewI am the curious minded and for me, looking to play with the Android SDK has been on my to-do-list for a while. I did review an Android book by O'Reilly a few weeks back, but it was through the use of Java and the Android SDK officially. As a Flex developer by background, I have been eagerly awaiting this book,Developing Android Applications with Flex 4.5 by Rich Tretola, as it gives me the chance to experiment with Flash Builder 4.5 and creating Android applications with the more familiar Flex.
This book is quite concise, in fact lets you get rolling right away, which is great, considering the amount of concise and centralised information for Flex Mobile 4.5 is hard to come by, they are mostly scattered, and yeah we are still in the infancy of building Flex mobile apps. Nevertheless, this book gives you great gusto starting with the first chapter which gets you starter, then progresses to how to lay out the application, working with various UI controls, then getting hooked into the physical attributes of the phone, such as GPS, Accelerometer and Camera Roll, and concluding with how to publish the app finally.
I enjoyed this book, it's a concise reference and I hope there will be more development in the Flex sphere, to allow this to be a genuine stream of Android development. I actually hope there is an iOS version of this book, using Flex, which would be a great complement. But otherwise, this book get's my tick of approval, really great, enjoyable to read and for the busy man that I am, finished it in a day! Wohah.Developing Android Applications with Flex 4.5 Overview
Ready to put your ActionScript 3 skills to work on mobile apps? This hands-on book walks you through the process of creating an Adobe AIR application from start to finish, using the Flex 4.5 framework. Move quickly from a basic Hello World application to complex interactions with Android APIs, and get complete code examples for working with Android device components—GPS, camera, gallery, accelerometer, multitouch display, and OS interactions. No matter how much Flex experience you have, this book is the ideal resource.

Use Flash Builder 4.5 to create and debug a Flex Mobile project
Choose a layout option to determine which files Flash Builder auto-generates
Select permissions that control which devices can install your app from the Android Market
Explore APIs that enable your app to interact with specific Android OS features
Learn how to read and write text files, browse the file system for media files, and create and write to an SQLite database
Use the URLRequest class to open your app in the browser, place calls, and create emails and text messages
Load web and video content into your app with StageWebView
Publish your app to an Android installer file with Flash Builder


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PHP 5 / MySQL Programming for the Absolute Beginner Review

PHP 5 / MySQL Programming for the Absolute Beginner
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PHP 5 / MySQL Programming for the Absolute Beginner ReviewI've been reading this book to learn PHP and it is undoubtedly the best book for beginners you're going to find. I've been trying to learn PHP since version 3 (yea, finally there is a book that I can understand). If you're new to programming, and new to PHP, do not listen to people who say 'oh, just go to www.php.net'
The online help manual for PHP is not geared towards beginners. It's geared towards the type of people who simply have to read the rules of a programming language and then can go and program with it effectively. Basically, it's for people who know what they're doing. They have the programming mind already. I am not that type of person and many people who are new to programming are not like that.
Andy Harris' book teaches you PHP, but you will have to have a solid foundation in HTML/CSS (which I have) and it says that in the book. The only errors I've noticed in the book so far are HTML and they're nothing major. If you know HTML you'll be able to see them right off the bat and correct them for yourself (it's not like the book is $50 or something, it's just a minor inconvenience you'll only encounter maybe two or three times in the entire 12 chapter book). Also, the examples in the book are sometimes different from the ones on the CD (which implies that the CD is much more up to date than the book). Those are usually only minor changes to the code.
In any case, while reading this book everything is explained and introduced in a way that is easy for me to understand. I think the way he introduces concepts is great. He doesn't simply say 'these are the rules and let me explain them' like the other books. No, he gradually works you up to them, preparing your mind. I find that this is more effective and this is a beginning programmer talking, after years of trying to find a good book. The one thing that I think is great is that this book uses examples that are relevant to what you will be programming. Too many times (back when PHP 3 and 4 came out) have I read those books that use boring examples that I'll never use (like some math formula for example). Instead, the examples in this book are challenging, yet fun and practical, and he goes over every part of the code so that you understand what each part is doing. Sometimes the examples are really big, but this isn't a problem. Even if there is an area where his explaining doesn't do it for me, if I simply go over everything in my mind and break things down on a piece of paper I'm able to understand. The only reason I'm able to understand is because the concepts have been introduced in a way that I can know what's going on. The only issue is then figuring out what a large example is doing and that's something you have to figure out for yourself. I haven't run into a problem I haven't been able to figure out so far.
This book is shaping my mind into a programmer's mind. I can now see the planning involved in each program and I'm finally starting to see the method. It's a lot more effective than other books that simply give you the syntax, explain it, and then give you a problem to do without giving you relevant examples on how to use what you just learning and shaping your mind so that you'll know when each tool is effective, when you'll need to use it, and how they work in different situations. I now know the reason why I couldn't get through those books. I knew the rules, but my mind didn't know how to think like a programmer. All those so-called beginner books don't teach you that at all. Andy Haris' book does. I feel like I can go on to other programming languages now because I finally read a book that taught me the method.
PHP5/MySQL Programming for the Absolute Beginner is not the PHP5 bible but it explains PHP5 enough so that by the time you're done you'll be able to do what you want and get out there and learn more without being intimidated. If you're a beginner to PHP5, don't waste your time with other books that won't introduce you to the mechanics of programming. Get this book!PHP 5 / MySQL Programming for the Absolute Beginner OverviewThis book is an introduction to programming with a specific focus on programming web servers with the PHP programming language. Much of the original content from the first edition (1931841322) will be retained, while also including updates relating to the upcoming PHP 5.0 release. Following the same format as the popular first edition, this book provides easy-to-follow instruction. Readers will use the concepts presented in the book to create games using PHP and MySQL. As each concept is put to the test, readers will acquire programming skills that will easily transition to real-world projects. A true beginner's guide, this book enables readers to acquire programming skills that they will be able to use in the next language that they tackle.

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Learning Flex 3: Getting Up to Speed with Rich Internet Applications (Adobe Developer Library) Review

Learning Flex 3: Getting Up to Speed with Rich Internet Applications (Adobe Developer Library)
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Learning Flex 3: Getting Up to Speed with Rich Internet Applications (Adobe Developer Library) ReviewThe first thing that stood out is that it's in color! I love color, especially for technical material it adds a whole extra dimension to the medium and another vehicle by which to communicate. Obviously in code listings it makes the code easier to visually digest and mentally break down what you're seeing, and with screen caps color is so much more appealing.
The dimension of the book is wider that normal, which gives the book an extra wide gutter that the publisher is able to leverage. And leverage they do by making use of it for an assortment of side bars, notes, tips, and blurbs.
So aside from the aesthetics, content of course is the key. The book is aimed at beginners who don't necessarily have any sort of programming background - so the audience that this book would appeal to includes anyone interested in learning more about Flex and if it's the right fit for them; as a quick read (only 304 pages) you can blast through this book in a short amount of time.
Who might those people be? Developers wanting to test the waters with Flex because they had heard good things about it, Flash or Web media designers thinking about getting into the development side of things with Flex, and management level folks looking to explore new opportunities and want to get a barometer reading on what it would take to get into Flex, etc...
The writing style is fairly casual, and you feel like the author is talking to you (as opposed to the feeling of a manual). I think the author does a pretty good job at keeping things high level with enough meat to make the reader feel they're actually being productive as they work through the examples.
So I'd recommend this book to someone who wants to get their feet wet with Flex - someone who may not be fully committed to Flex at this point in time and doesn't want to invest a ton of time yet.
* Difficulty Level: Beginner
* Range of topics: Moderate
* Depth of topics: Light
* Development experience needed: None
* Reading Speed: Fast
* Writing Style: CasualLearning Flex 3: Getting Up to Speed with Rich Internet Applications (Adobe Developer Library) Overview
How soon can you learn Adobe Flex 3? With this book's unique hands-on approach, you will be able to tinker with examples right away, and create your own Rich Internet Applications with Flex within the first few chapters. As you progress, you learn how to build a layout, add interactivity, work with data, and deploy your applications to either the Web or the desktop.Learning Flex 3 offers step-by-step instructions that are clear and concise, along with tips and tricks that author Alaric Cole has gathered after years of using Flex and teaching it to fellow developers at Yahoo! You'll understand how Flex works, how to use the MXML markup language and work with ActionScript, how to deploy RIAs to the desktop using Adobe AIR, and much more. Whether you're a beginner, or an experienced web developer coming to Flex from another platform, Learning Flex 3 is the ideal way to learn how to:

Set up your environment with FlexBuilder and Eclipse
Create a new Flex project
Use the different design views in Flex
Write code with MXML
Lay out your Flex application
Embed images and graphics
Build a user interface
Add interactivity with ActionScript
Handle user input
Move, display, and collect data
Add custom components with MXML
Add sound effects, filters, and transitions
Style your applications with CSS, skins, and themes
Deploy applications to the Web, or to the desktop using Adobe AIR

Also included are brief explanations of objects, classes, components, properties, methods, types, and other Flex attributes. You will find that Learning Flex 3 is not only the most complete tutorial for Flex, it's also the quickest way to get going with the latest version of this powerful framework.


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Flash 8: Projects for Learning Animation and Interactivity (O'Reilly Digital Studio) Review

Flash 8: Projects for Learning Animation and Interactivity (O'Reilly Digital Studio)
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Flash 8: Projects for Learning Animation and Interactivity (O'Reilly Digital Studio) ReviewThis book is a unique one on Flash 8 because it tears down the wall between artistic design books and technical manuals and succeeds at being both. It starts out simple by showing you how to draw elementary figures. It then moves on to customizing your properties and automating your workflow so that you can design quickly. Next, animation is presented along with all of the techniques you will need to be efficient plus how to perform various effects. This book is particularly good at showing the reader how to import sound, graphics, and video, and how to use scripting via AppleScript to control it all. The lessons are done via unique and creative projects. By the end of the book you won't be an expert on Flash, design techniques, or AppleScript, but you will be pretty good at putting the 3 together to perform interesting tasks in Flash and doing so efficiently. A good companion book to this one is "Flash 8: The Missing Manual". It explains all of the technical nuts and bolts of Flash that there is not room to accommodate in this book. I notice that Amazon does not show the table of contents, so I do that next:
1. Getting Started, Right Out of the Box
Drawing Your First Box 1
Coloring Fills and Strokes 7
Merging and Stacking Shapes 16
Creating Reusable Graphics 22
2. Creating Quickly: Customizing Your Workspace
Designing Your Own Panel Layout 27
Customizing Movie Properties 32
Aligning Objects on the Stage 33
Behind Every Good Symbol Is a Good Editor 37
Automate Your Workflow 39
3. Your First Animation 45
Layers and the Timeline 46
Keyframes and Tweening 50
Preparing Text for Animation 52
Staggering Animation 57
Alpha Effect 58
Motion Effects 58
Your First Script 63
Publishing Your Movie 65
4. Buttons and Interactivity
Buttons as Symbols 69
Scripting Your Button 73
Components and Behaviors 79
Navigation 83
More Fun with Buttons 90
vi Contents
5. Working with Graphics
Importing Pixels 95
Working with Pixels 101
Importing Vectors 106
Using Scenes 109
Working with the Library 110
6. Movie Clips and Interactivity
Drawing a Cartoon Character 115
Controlling the Character with ActionScript 128
More Movie Clip Control 131
7. More Animation Techniques
Morphing with Shape Tweens 135
Frame-by-Frame Animation 139
Using Masks 143
Timeline Versus ActionScript Animation 155
8. Using Sound
Importing Sounds 161
Controlling External Sounds 169
Scripting Your Own Sound Control 172
9. Using Video
Importing Video 181
Controlling External Videos 184
Scripting Your Own Video Control 190
10. Compositing and Bitmap Effects
Runtime Bitmap Caching 197
Bitmap Filter Effects 199
Blend Modes 210
11. Working with Text
Text Types 217
Using Fonts 221
Loading and Styling Text 223
FlashType 230
12. Loading Assets on the Fly
Using ActionScript to Modularize Content 235
Preloading 240
13. e-Learning with Flash
Creating a Quiz: Getting Started with Templates 249
Sending Results with a Form 254
Saving and Retrieving Local Data 260
14. Flash for CD-ROM and Handhelds
Flash on CD-ROM 271
Flash on the Run 277
vii Contents
15. Think Outside the Box
Exporting to Video 291
The Drawing API 299
Extending Flash 303
The Rest Is Up to You 311
A. Tips and Resources
IndexFlash 8: Projects for Learning Animation and Interactivity (O'Reilly Digital Studio) Overview
Macromedia Flash is fast becoming the Web's most widely used platform for creating rich media with animation and motion graphics, but mastering Flash isn't easy. Most entry-level books teach through simple examples that concentrate on either animation or scripting, but rarely both together. To get the most from Flash 8, you not only need to be proficient in programming/interface design, you need the creativity for story telling and the artistic insights to design fluid animation.

Flash 8: Projects for Learning Animation and Interactivity teaches Flash design rather than simply Flash itself. With a standalone series of walkthroughs and tutorials for Flash beginners coming from a graphics field, this book teaches Flash in the context of real-world projects. Rather than learn a Flash tool for the sake of it, you learn which areas of Flash are important, and which are less used, simply by seeing how typical content is actually created. And rather than a text-heavy approach, this graphically rich book leads you through hands-on examples by illustration.

Each project in the book starts with goals and broad sketches before moving to design and scripting. This helps you understand design intent-the why of the process-rather than just learning the interfaces and the how of it all. Along the way, you'll create Flash content that includes traditional animation techniques (as seen in full-length animated features), and ActionScript-based interactive animation, such as custom web site interface designs. You also learn how to combine both traditional animation techniques and ActionScript to create feature-rich Flash assets from the ground up.

Co-authored by educational developers with years of experience creating compelling content, interfaces, and applications, Flash 8: Projects for Learning Animation and Interactivity offers a content-driven approach that is also inspiration-driven.You learn because you're accomplishing something tangible, not because you think you need to know how a tool works.

If you want to understand how various features of Flash come together to create a final end design, this book provides you with both the insight and the know-how.


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CiragoTV Mini USB Media Player Review

CiragoTV Mini USB Media Player
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
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CiragoTV Mini USB Media Player ReviewI just love this device. I also have the Sansa TakeTV that I purchased 2 years ago but I'm giving that away as soon as I find someone to give it to. The CiragoTV Mini is a lot more convenient to use and offers so many features the Sansa doesn't have. With the Sansa you had only the main unit to store video on. Although the dock had a USB port on it, you couldn't plug just any USB storage device into it and play video from there. With the Cirago you have so many storage/media options. Also, it plays not only video but pictures and music as well. It also costs much less than the Sansa. It isn't housed in metal like the Sansa but the build quality is solid.
Performance: This device played everything it said it would play. No glitches at all. Video quality was amazing. My only problem is when I try changing TV types or resolutions it seems to switch to PAL mode. I still need to figure that one out.
Media Support: I only gave it 4 stars for Media Support because it doesn't recognize SDHC cards. Regular SD cards work fine. So if you're thinking of buying a large capacity SDHC card to put video, pictures, or music on, make sure you get one that comes with one of those SDHC readers so you can use the SDHC card through the reader. What's great about the CiragoTV is that you can use any USB storage device - hard drives, flash drives, SD cards, and even card readers that take any of the other memory cards not directly supported on the device.
User Interface: For video playback the remote only has previous and next file buttons. No fast forward or rewind buttons. To ffw or rew the video you need to press an options button then select a button from the on-screen interface. They could've used the left and right buttons since those buttons are not used for anything while playing video. On the other hand, I had a folder with DVD files and while playing around with the device I went into the Files option and when I went into the folder containing the DVD files I found a "Play DVD" option added to the folder. (Its not really there but the device adds that option when it knows the folder contains DVD files.) I clicked that and I was amazed to find the device supported the DVD menus, scene selection, etc. The Next and Prev buttons on the remote now worked with the DVD chapters. Amazing! Now I can copy my DVD collection onto a portable hard drive and have most of my DVD collection with me wherever I go. Parents, I would get this device, put all your kids' DVDs on a hard drive, find a power adapter that plugs into a car lighter socket, then plug the device's AV out into your van's AV input and they'll have enough video to keep them occupied on a cross country road trip! I'll do some research and find a car power supply for this.
Package Contents: The kit includes everything you need (CiragoTV Mini, Manual, power supply, remote with battery, AV cable) but I wish they'd included an HDMI cable since those don't cost much these days. A 3-foot cable would do.
So if you're looking for a solid, portable, versatile media player for home or to take around with you, you can't go wrong with the CiragoTV Mini.CiragoTV Mini USB Media Player OverviewThe CiragoTV Mini is a compact and portable device that bridges the gap between your digital media and your TV. Simply connect your CiragoTV Mini to your TV, plug in a USB storage device or memory card and instantly enjoy your photos, videos and music on your TV from the comfort of your living room. The CiragoTV Mini's compact size and plug and play simplicity allow you to move it easily from room to room, or take it with you when you travel. Bring your digital media to life with the CiragoTV Mini.

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