Steps for Online Store

This book is short, remedial, and useless. I found one intermediate level tutorial (scrolling text boxes). Even for a beginer book, there just isn’t enough information. Visual Quickstart Flash 5 is much better, and better still is the entire Friends of Ed series, starting with Foundation Flash. The only thing worse then this book are the jokes told by the “professor” in the virtual classroom.
Rating: 1 / 5

I thought this book and accompanying CD were a bit simplistic. Mr. Sahlin should do away with the “props” he uses as examples on the video – I felt this was “dumming down” just a bit too much. And, Mr. Sahlin may know Flash, but in this day and age, he should consider hiring professional “talent” for the video. At times, I found his pronouncition of words a bit hard to understand. The content of the book and CD was ok and followed logical teaching patterns, however, given this method of teaching Flash, just the minimum basics could be presented. There is just so much more to Flash. Also, the CD ran fine on my PC but after installing to the letter on my Mac – had some big time problems.
Rating: 3 / 5

This book was a serious disappointment. You would think a book about Flash would USE Macromedia flash for the tutorial CD – just like the tutorials that come with flash do in the help files. NO, instead you get a RIDICULOUS Real-video presentation with the poor author babbling uncomfortably in the corner of the screen, completely out-of-sync with what is going on in the Real-Media movie of the flash interface (not an actual flash interface!). Also, the book is slow, tedious, and under-informative too. Every simple action lists a dozen steps describing the micro-actions that make up the step. It’s almost like describing a mouse-click like this:
1. Raise hand
2. Extend hand toward mouse
3. Rest hand on mouse
4. Extend index finger forward
5. Apply pressure with the same index finger upon the left button of the mouse, being careful not to affect the right button. Do not move the wheel on the mouse, should you have one. (Some mice have wheels on them to allow for vertical scrolling in a window from anywhere on the screen).
6. Depress the button.
7. Pay attention for an audible “clicking” sound.
8. Release the button.

I don’t intend to be mean – the author seems like a nice person, but I expect to get what I paid for – and I didn’t. Maybe the editors need to get their act together or something.
Big thumb down.
Rating: 1 / 5

Okay, as far as flash books goes this is just like all the rest. Giving you your basic info on Flash 5. No big deal. Whats totally missing with this book is the companion CD has some lessons, but there more like very quick explanations of how to create certain elements in flash. The explanations are to quick to follow and at the same time the CD comes with know .fla files for you to follow along in flash while you view the movies. This would have been great to see as an addition is the actuall files so that you could try out what the heck this guy is talking about. Another thing I have problems with is this guy just does not impress me with his teaching act. He’s just to goofy. For some reason I just could not wrap myself around his personality.. Get someone who has a presence. Someone you can say this guys for real… Hire an actor or something… Id have to say this is just another quick release book and the virtual classroom aspect is not up to par…. If you can get the book for … its worth it I guess for a first time book, but if youve already bought a few flash books and your looking for something with some guts and very finely tuned tutorials to follow along and really get what there saying, this is not the book….. Bubba
Rating: 2 / 5

Although I’d not used Flash before, I have used many graphics apps before, and have been using a computer for some time. Perhaps this has soemthing to do with why I came away from this bok feeling insulted.

The book provides no concrete samples or projects, gives no real sense of accomplishment, and yet manages to take up 300 pages. How is this? By tediously overexplaining things and going into absurd detail over things that frankly, should already be second nature to anyone intending to create with Flash. An example – taking an entire page to explain and instruct on contextual menus. That’s right, an entire page to explain that if you click your right mouse button, you will get a list of options particular to whatever you are clicking on.

The videos on the CD are equally as tedious, with the author speaking at a snail’s pace, never really accomplishing much of interest.

If you are completely new to graphic applications and generally adverse to / afraid of poking around an interface without hand-holding, this book may be useful. At the same time, if that describes you, do you really want to be jumping into Flash in the first place?

I found this book immensely frusterating and very dissapointing. Next time, I will buy a book that comes reccomended, rather than the one that was in the 30% off Bargain Bin.
Rating: 1 / 5