Flash Hacks

From Book News, Inc.
Intended for web developers familiar with Flash MX, this collection of 100 tricks for enhancing Flash web designs, ActionScripts, and Flash content offers innovative approaches to adding visual effects and animation, drawing more efficiently, manipulating text, synthesizing speech and other sounds, optimizing runtime performance and download times, and maximizing browser compatibility.Copyright © 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Book Description
If you've ever seen an especially cool Flash effect on the web, gone straight to your trusty Flash book to find out how to do it, then turned away empty-handed--Flash Hacks is for you. This unique book offers a collection of expert Flash tips and tricks for optimization, creating interesting effects, ActionScript programming, sound and video effects, and much more--and you don't need to be an expert to use them (although you'll certainly look like one). With Flash technology, you can create compelling web content, expressive user interfaces, and rich applications for the Internet--all of which dramatically enhance the user experience. But Flash is not just practical, it's a wellspring of opportunities to unleash your creativity and have fun. Flash Hacks dives straight into all that's fun and creative about Flash, while presenting useful programming techniques and practical--although never mundane--hacks that can make your work easier. Geared to cover Flash MX, Flash MX 2004, and Flash MX Professional 2004, Flash Hacks begins with hacks on authoring, testing, and web environments. You'll learn how to beat the Flash bloat bug, realistically simulate the web, create a JavaScript-free Flash sniffer, and hack a spellchecker for Flash. Other hacks in the book are grouped in the following areas:PrimitivesTimelinesSymbolsFlash Assets (sound, video, and bitmaps)Code hacksEvents and event handlingAdvanced animationUI design hacksTrue to O'Reilly's popular Hacks series, Flash Hacks tackles problems and solutions that aren't dealt with elsewhere. You'll pick up insider tips from the experts, and learn about amazing and sometimes quirky aspects of Flash. If you want more than your average Flash user--you want to explore and experiment, unearth shortcuts, create useful tools, and come up with fun things to try on your own--Flash Hacks is the book you'll need.


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Flash MX 2004 (see Computer Media, LJ 6/1/04; LJ 2/1/04) remains the hottest component of Macromedia's web development suite, so stock current guides. Those wanting to implement Flash but are intimidated by its complexity will welcome Teach Yourself, a heavily illustrated, step-by-step beginner's guide to the basics. Unfamiliar terms are succinctly defined on first use, tips answer questions and add info, and full-color screen shots illustrate concepts. Recommended for all public libraries. Including a free trial on CD-ROM, Illustrating focuses on the ins and outs of Flash's vector-drawing tools. While the text is somewhat awkward, the thorough, well-illustrated explanations make it a useful addition for larger libraries serving beginners and those wanting to learn Flash to create graphics. For intermediate users, Beyond the Basics takes readers through completing a complex real-world project, with a practical emphasis on modular construction that allows components to be reused in other projects. Its CD contains movie files that cover confusing processes, plus exercise files, trial versions of Flash and other software, and several media players. Step-by-step instructions, screen shots, discussions of using techniques in real-world situations, and just enough background information recommend this for all libraries. Flash Hacks includes 100 contributed hacks and tricks of varying complexity from multiple designers, ranging from converting animated GIFs to Flash format to making Flash content site-dependent (unable to run outside of your server). A supplemental but fun and thought-provoking purchase for larger libraries that already own how-to guides. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.


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