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Flash 8 Essentials
by Glen Rhodes, Todd Yard, Tink (aka Stephen Downs), Craig Swann, Matt Voerman, Paul Barnes-Hoggett
Paperback: 424 pages
Publisher: friends of ED (December 19, 2005); ISBN: 1590595327
FlashGoddess Review:
For those with Flash experience, this is a great book for getting you up to speed with the new features of Flash 8.
Glen Rhodes and Craig Swann go into great detail explaining blending modes and filters. It was interesting how they applied the filters, cast drop shadows and create bevelled edges by using ActionScript. Glen and Craig also wrote a chapter on video improvements. They discuss the alpha channel support, FLV component with skinning options, embedded cue points, more robust video importing options, and more. All very exciting! Later on in the book they do a chapter which introduces the ExternalInterface class. Being a designer I wondered what the heck that was. Basically, what it does is allows Flash to communicate with host applications written in Java, C#, etc. They give a couple of examples using HTML and JavaScript to get you started.
Todd Yard talks about drawing and graphic improvements. Included are Object Drawing mode, filling shapes with bitmaps, enhancements to gradients and more. In another chapter Todd shows some cool examples of getting creative with filters, masks and animation. His tileable patterns with pattern fills were pretty neat.
Matt Voerman examines the text field improvements, and also wrote the opening chapter which summarizes all of the new Flash 8 features.
Speed improvements including bitmap caching are explained by Chris Mills.
An excellent chapter by Paul Barnes-Hoggett explores the new BitmapData API.
And finally, Stephen Downs (aka Tink) presents some wonderful Flash 8 examples. His pixel transition example was rather stunning.
This is just my quick evaluation of the book but I guarantee you won't be disappointed in seeing some of the possibilities of this latest version of Flash!
Another bonus, all of the source files can be downloaded from the friends of Ed website. Flash 8 Essentials takes an in-depth look at the new features and is “essential” for any Flash professional to have on their bookshelf.
review by:
Ann-Marie Cheung
Freelance Creative
www.FGNewMedia.com
founder
www.FlashGoddess.com
Paperback: 424 pages
Publisher: friends of ED (December 19, 2005); ISBN: 1590595327
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