Animation Books

This book is more of art book. There plenty of pictures of transformers as seen in their cartoon form(also contains early concept models). There is not much to read in this book except for a couple of paragraphs. If you are a fan of the cartoon show than get this book.

I decided to get this book upon a suggestion from an internet friend. I personally love drawing and recently started making attempts at some of the original Transformers. I was pausing the computer screen and making attempts to hunt down good reference material. This book worked wonders for me. It is all in black & white,with multiple views of the characters. Apparently most are character models that the animators used for the cartoon.It does have all the characters from the 3.5 American Seasons of the cartoon. If you enjoy drawing or just want to remember who everybody was, I'd recommend this book.

I got this book for my 8 year old son on the advice of a friend. It's wonderful for the artists! It gives front and back line drawings of all the Transformers in both mech and vehicle/tool format. It is a terrific resource.

Very nice book who are fans of the original animation. It has many nicely character design (model pack drawings) in the book. The book's graphic design is layout by T.V. seasons. Easy to follow the progression of each generation designs for the series. I am very satisfied with this book. What I like to see is the next book from the publisher is to have a background layout drawings and paintings from the television series.

Substantial historical reference of the Transformer robot roster of the 80s. While the line quality can be poor in a few models, they are all still adequate as a starting point for budding artists. Given their simpler block construction, they are easier to study, copy, and position in 3-D space for young artists eager to learn how to draw their own transformers. For a good basic library of Transformers Art, this would be a good bundle with You Can Draw Transformers (DK) (Spiral-bound).

Mr. Kerlow has written an excellent fundamentals book that hits the target for beginners who are trying to get a grasp of the scope of CG and a great reference book for veterans as well. The book takes the big picture view of the field and gives great examples of technique and theory as well as the down and dirty uses in the field. If you are starting out in CG, a seasoned veteran or just curious about the field of digital animation this is the first book to purchase.

You want one book that will teach you every concept in 3D? This is the book. Well written, Good diagrams. Just get this book, already!

If you are expecting an tutorial book for a day by day work, this book is not for you.
But if you are expecting an overview of techniques developed troughout the time, with a more theoretical approach, this book is your book.

This is a Book that will teach you 3d, From origin to cool timelines. basic concepts and goes advanced from there HOWEVER there is a new version coming out. the 3rd edition will be out later this year. Maybe you want to wait for that one since it will be completley updated :) It is Teaching me much, as other's Have said it is not a tutorial book. But I personally think if you want to actually Learn 3d animation you have to know the Concepts not just How to Follow Directions. Also A little Side note learn how to draw if you don't yet. If this is your dream arm yourself with every aspect of it. Traditional and 3d. It Can't possible hurt to know as much as you Can. Good Luck.

Jennifer

I think this book is highly over-rated. I found the tiny font very hard to read and the screen captures look like they were made several application generations ago. For my money I'd get something like 3D Animation: From Models to Movies by Watkins or digital 3d design by Danaher.

If they updated this book to reference software that people are actually using today and made the font bigger then I think it might merit a higher ranking.

The perfect way to start this review is to say that this DVD is the best of its kind ever!!! Untill I bought this DVD I was struggling to model a character using the online tutorials available.Well... I cant's say they weren't of any help, but if you really want to be able to model realistic charcaters in 3ds max, you got to have this DVD.The 48 quick time movies available on the DVD contain every bit of information that you need to posses in order to be able to model your own charcaters(with a few exceptions, like the author could have given some more details as to why a certain modelling technique was used in some areas of the "virtual girl",like the ear, for example, which is really complex and it might take you some time to get it right) and nothig is ommited,like in other instructional videos, where the author simply skips some steps. No, that doesn't happen here.No change is made without letting you know.
Of course, you probably already realise that it may become a little boring sometimes to just watch somebody pull vertices around, but I strongly encourage you to follow all the steps shown on the DVD.
The final character look really nice,and is practicly ready for use.ATTENTION!!!!!!!!!(When I say "use" I mean texturing, rigging, animation etc...)THIS IS NOT A TEXTURING,RIGGING,OR ANIMATION TUTORIAL DVD. IT TEACHES YOU HOW TO MODEL A CHARACTER.But this is actually allright because the authors can concentrate on one aspect only and this way they can do their job better.Having multiple aspects of 3D encapsulated in one DVD makes it confusing and harder for the instructors to teach us what we want to know.So basicly, this is the right DVD if you want to know how to model realistic characters.
To cut a long story short, I just want to end this review by saying:BUY IT!!!!! IT'S WORTH BOTH YOUR TIME AND MONEY!!

When I bought this tutorial, I was a beginner with no real experience in organic modeling. The idea of modeling a human head was something I didn't think I would ever be able to do. However, I followed the tutorial, which is a complete guide to modeling an entire human body, and managed to create a self-portrait that even my professor was impressed with.

This DVD is for beginners through advanced modeler looking to improve their skills in modeling the human form.

YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED!!

With very detailed explaination and guidance.
Recommended to the beginner who has basic knowledge of 3ds Max.

I bought this DVD and have been walking through the tutorials in 3DS Max 2008, and it is still fully applicable, since the UI has not changed much in 3DS Max since this DVD was made (3Ds Max 6 i think)

It is great that you get to see the person work, and follow along. As the movie segments go on, you develop more and more comfort, and therefore get to apply some of your own creativity in where you would want to put the vertices, etc. I do not like tutorials where if a single one of your vertices is out of place, then following the rest of the tutorial is impossible -- this DVD is definitely not like that -- what you end up with is truly your own creation.

One thing to mention is that this is an overall tutorial for the whole body - and you do each part in detail, so it takes an investment of time and patience if you want to see it through. Think of it more like attending a class on character modelling, not just a quick walkthrough. I worked on it each night until I felt I was tired, and then would continue next night or even a few nights later.

Overall, I found this DVD great.

I am extremely impressed! This is my very first experience with any 3D modeling and software. The program is easy to follow and the instructor is very down to earth. The program explains the modeling process in laymans terms and when 3D terminology is used it is followed by an explanation. I could watch another 50 CD's like this by the same artists.

If you want to become a pro in character rigging, this is the book, very simple, but complete.

This book has many great points! i think mainly i like it because instead of a linear step-by-step abc approach, each chapter explains approaches for a specific bodypart for your standard biped rig. that is a big plus.

on the other hand the directions are unnecessarily verbose, skimming over important considerations and possibly over-stressing minor considerations. that said i would not set down this book for another.

This book along with 'Art of Rigging Vol 1' by CGToolKit are staple books for your rigging library if you are shopping for more than just long discriptive directions for applying IK solvers and naming bones.

This book is a wonderful volume for any artist's library. It would serve exceptionally well in the classroom, but it is a worthy purchase for advanced artists in all disciplines of visual effects and animation who want to expand their knowledge and skill sets in rigging. Where far too many books are trite superficial tutorials, Eric and company have written a book as steeped in technique as it is in concept and principle. Wonderful purchase.

This is a great book for the beginning rigger as well as for more advanced artists and technical artists. It's a comprehensive overview of planning, techniques, terminology, and concepts involved in rigging all different types and styles of digital characters. Examples provided are clear and informative; advanced concepts are explained and demonstrated in a way that's intuitive and informative. The authors have years of experience and learned many of these principles the hard way, so you don't have to. You'll be benefitting from a wealth of experience and especially knowing what things do and don't work well- you'll save lots of time by reading and paying attention if you're just starting out!

This is a great book to have in your library as a learning tool and as a reference- I will be keeping it on a nearby shelf for quick access!

The book is an excellent resource. I've done my fair share of rigging, and Allen and Murdock have put together a body of information that not only teaches me new tricks, but polishes and streamlines what I already do. Body Language will be the first place I look when I need to dig around for rigging assistance.

Body Language has me excited to rig again, which is perhaps the greatest aspect of the book. There are a lot of little "aha" moments here, and I'm itching to put them to use. It's an essential component of my reference library.

I have only one complaint with this book: It doesn't cover 3DS Max. It's understandable, what with Maya being dominant in the high end of the field, but some of the principles and techniques here are so good, it just seems a shame to not have Max involved. Ironically, then, it's the excellence of the Maya coverage that leaves me wanting the same for Max. Perhaps there's a sequel in the works.

That minor quibble aside, I still rate this at the full five stars. The book stands on its own merits, and that I wish for more merely testifies to the value of the data.

If you think Flash is too complicated to learn, then you might enjoy the approach taken by the author of this book: simple, funny, and easy to follow. And if you are already familiar with the basic concepts, then you can use it is a valid quick reference!

The book is easy to understand and very straight forward. The author obviously has teaching skills beyond the ordinary. Especially loved the bright orange and yellow tear out shortcuts page!

If you're just starting out with Flash, or even if you've been using it a while but haven't explored all its features, David Karlins' book will prove to be a useful addition to your library.

The things I like best about this book are

1. David has a friendly, uncomplicated way of explaining things, so it's all easy to "get."

2. You really could be almost a technological idiot and still be able to use this book to do some fun animations with Flash, because every tool and animation technique is covered, and each item is broken up into bite-size bits.

3. The Tips and Nitty Gritty Stuff is a good way of presenting useful key information that you can refer back to and refresh your memory as you need to.

4. Flash is fun to work with anyway, and breaking it up the way David does here makes the technical aspects of animating in Flash so easy to digest, you'll be a Flash wizard in no time.

Well, maybe not a wizard. This book doesn't cover much ActionScript, and that's where the real Flash wizards dwell. But as a way to giving you a solid foundation to all the ways you can have fun working with Flash, you could do a lot worse than to buy "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Macromedia Flash 5," and you'd probably have a lot less fun getting your basic Flash chops.

Well no, I don't consider myself a complete idiot; "I am a "Power User" of my PC, and of the Internet. I know what I am doing". Or so I thought! But I purchased Macromedia's Flash 5 software because I wanted to design that website full of innovative and eye catching animation. I wanted it to be noticed. To be recognised as a leader in the field of web site design. But, I was overwhelmed by the program. I didn't know where to start.

"So", I thought, "I have to get back to basics. Lets assume I am a complete idiot. Where do I go from here?"

To tell you the truth, there was only one place to go. The Complete Idiots Guide to Macromedia Flash 5, by David Karlins, illustrated by Paul Mikulecky, joined my "essential reading" collection.

Without being pretentious, the book treats you as a complete idiot. It really does get down to basics. True, it does assume you have a smidgen of computer knowledge, (well if you don't, and you have brought Macromedia Flash 5, you really are dreaming the impossible ).

I am half way through the book now. I am taking it easy. I really do want to learn all about Flash 5 and this is the book that's teaching me. But I need to absorb it all. The book is easy to follow, full of information, tips and guidance, and it takes you through each step, each level of "Objects", "Groups", "The Stage", "Frames", Timelines", "Layers", Animation", "Interactivity", "Movies", at your own pace.

The first thing I found out was, there is a lot to learn about Flash 5. That is why I am taking my time.

But this book is teaching me. I recommend it. It doesn't treat you as a complete idiot. What it "does" do is recognise that Macromedia Flash is a powerful, but complicated tool to master. You will need time and a helping hand to master it. The time is your own. The Complete Idiots Guide to Macromedia Flash 5 is the helping hand.

I brought this book from Amazon.com's UK site at Amazon.co.uk. It is my pleasure to write such a good review.

(Ohh, by the way, "Smidgen" is England English for "a small amount", ).

David Karlins actually sent me an e-mail because of my last review about this book (below this one). He was very concerned that it didn't meet my expectations and was willing to reimburse me for the book since I had unfairly expressed my utter disappointment in it.

Well, the truth is, it does EXACTLY what it claims to do and at an unbeatable price. And the fact that the author is so sincerely interested in delivering a book that satisfies ALL it's readers just blows my mind!

It DOES do an adequate (and sometimes superb) job of walking you through the basics of Flash and getting you familier and comfortable with its simpler features.

And it does this in a humouristic fashion, unlike may of the technical textbooks we've all had to suffer through.

Yes, I did review this as a major disappointment because of it's lack of 'complete' coverage, but really, this book does everything it promises to do in a comprehensive and simple way so even the BIGGEST idiots can learn to master Flash.

I give it 5 stars for what it is: A beginners introduction to Flash 5.

If you're beyond the beginners level (as I am) and on to intermediate, than this book's not really for you. Read my other review for some good recommendations.

Finally I'd like to say: Kudos to David Karlins for having the humility and sincerity that most authors lack. He really cares about delivering his promises and raising the level of todays web through educating. Cheers!

A bit lacking in the real nuts and bolts, but this is clearly a well done overview into the minds of some of the best Disney has to offer. Easy to read, and also a pleasure to read, left me wishing that disney appoints some one to really pick John's mind in case he leaves us some day, now that would be a tragedy, if we loose 1/2 of what this man has learned over a delightful lifetime of serving his customers and guests. Reading this brought me back to the B/W days of TV waiting for Walt, but Walt couldn't have ackomplished anything if it wasn't for the love of the work these people do, and have for the work they love to do.

I do like this book, but it doesn't have the great pictures that the other Imagineering book does. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the Imagineers. It has a lot of text, which will help you understand many aspects of what it means to be an Imagineer. I would recommend getting the other one first, and this one second if you are still interested. They are both great.

not exactly what I expected. I was hoping for a more historical perspective, but overall a good book.

Let's face it. There are hundreds of books about Disney. The movies... the stage shows... the company... the management style... recipes... fiction... even an incredible collection of Walt Disney World Trivia (currently in its second edition!). Occasionally, a book comes through that fills a unique void.

John Hench was a designer with Disney for over 65 years. His designs are as identifiably Disney as anything else coming from the mouse house. In around 150 pages, Hench shares some of his design work in artist's concepts and blueprints. These are beautiful and rare, but it is his insight into the thought behind the design choices that turn this book from yet another Disney book to a text book worth much study.

Many books discussing Disney magic often push the art of looking around, taking note of details. This book helps you to know "How" to look around and "What" you are looking for... Hopefully, you'll never look at it the same way ever again. Entire sections are devoted to in depth discussion on color, costumes, character, line, layout and most of all, story. With over half a century working for Disney, Hench's resume is able to back it all up with beautiful artwork.

If there is one thing that is surprisingly absent from a Disney legend that spent years working directly with Walt, it is a lack of stories that bring you into Walt's presence. It lacks that emotional touch, but makes up for it in intellectual stimulation that will affect your thinking about Disney for many years to come.

This is a fascinating look into the mind of the premier Disney designers. Hench explains how every single detail of the Disney parks is designed to fit into a great whole: color, form, space, and even time must reinforce a narrative theme in every single ride or experience, as if the viewer had entered a film sequence. All detail is foreseen - with storyboards! - discussed, and built with this kind of total consistency of experience in mind. I was astounded that the parts were so much more deeply planned than I had imagined.

I read this as part of my research for a writing project on Disney. For this, it was extremely useful and informative. It strikes me that the imagineering method is of great relevance to all managers.

While easy to read quickly, this book will give anyone who likes Disney a fascinating new perspective on one of the great American success stories. Warmly recommended. The writing is clear and to the point, while elegant.

This book is geared to beginning students. It follows a format common in secondary school and military textbooks that each chapter begins with a bulleted set of objectives that are clearly stated. Unlike most computer books, the author accomplishes these objectives with clear, concise, and detailed instructions - including highlighted paragraphs on avoiding traps (such as inability to click on spline points under the move arrows). Compared with "The Cinema 4D 9/9.1 Handbook" and "C4D 9.5 3d Animation Production", this book is much better written and has far fewer errors.

Particularly strong are the sections on materials and lighting. These are so good that they could be used as a textbook for Maya, 3Ds Max, or other high end 3D programs. The illustrations are excellent.

The chapters on modeling are very good. Nurbs are particularly well explained. Curiously polygon modeling leaves out details on the knife settings, the close polygon hole, how to save selections (for use with animations and setting materials to defined regions), and most importantly - omits any mention of converting nurbs or booles to polygons. (A paragraph saying "push the C key to convert nurbs to polygons" would have helped).

The section on rendering was also very good, but geared toward still images. The still image examples were excellent, but it would have helped to have some paragraph on using Quick time rather than AVI for rendering out movies for rgb + alpha.

What is missing is any discussion of animation. There is nothing on bones, weighting, claude bonet, poses, etc. The author has left that for a future book to be published in Dec 2007.

Overall this is the best book on C4D. Although it is geared towards beginners, it accomplishes its mission better than other books that I've seen.

This is for the beginners. This book is good for using the large figures; and showing the clear chapter goals, common pitfalls, and easy explanations. Do not expect tips for modeling character designs, such as humman faces or bodies.

I have been modeling for years but with different software and decided to download the demo of CD4 to see what it was like. To get a jump start I purchased Mr Alley's book and got to work. I learned a lot in short amount of time, especially how to navigate the software and learn to use the various tools. I found the book easy to follow, accurate and I enjoyed the tutorials and sample files on the CD very much. As a result I am going to buy the software. Recommended.

I have been working through this book. I at first was going to get one of the flashy books, but now I am glad I started here (okay I did read some of the flashy books as well but this one has been much more helpful)

Aimed at the beginner through intermediate user, this book uses a series of tutorials to lead you through the design and implementation of several projects using Maxon's Cinema 4D. Through these projects, most of the features of the program are illustrated and the reader quickly understands what the program is all about.

To be sure, Cinema 4D has so many features and capabilities that they cannot all be covered in a book even twice this size. Instead the book attempts to teach the core, fundamental capablilities of the program and leave the reader to experiment with the other features by himself.

The CD of the book is more complete than usual. It has a Demo version of the program for both Mac and PC - Version 9.1. It has all the images used in the book, and the files you'll need to complete the tutorials in the book. It also includes the Cinema 4D Reference Manual, Quick Start Manual and the files used in the Quick Start tutorial. While you can get these off of the Maxon web site, it's a lot faster to get them off the CD. Finally, the CD also has three issues of 3D Attack, the Cinema 4D Magazine.

I really like the writing style that the author uses, for me it comes across as clean, easy and yet conveys the information I wanted. I also like the fact that some of the color illustrations in the book were done by the author. Often I get the feeling that the writers just write and don't actually use the software they are describing.

I have also enjoyed this book very much. Many of these techniques, such as using of intermediate images, were known to me, but numerous details escaped my attention. For example, using of 'compatible images.' I had no idea that this notion exists. I also enjoyed the timing experiments with wait and disclosure of its granularity. Their description of Animators is probably the best and most comprehensive of everything what I saw so far, its a real value-add for me.

I will not repeat the positive accolade summarized here by others, I have one very substantial objection, which is really well summarized in the title used by someone else's comment:

"Practice what you preach."

The book preaches performance, efficiency and style, and yet the authors implement some enormous convoluted scheme around their own code sniplets!

Of course, interested in all the timings and performance of the examples, I wanted to run and watch them. And... I failed at first. I have spend, or wasted rather if you so want, a lot of time in an attempt to achieve this goal.

This sounds so easy nowadays to provide Webstart Java, or merely to deliver some *.java or *.class files, separate or in a *.jar archive.

Not so for Chet and Romain: Their own web page claims that you can download a plugin for Net-Beans and run the examples. Net Beans has proven to be a product, a specific development environment, with which you may or may not be familiar. I never used it and I cannot operate it. Nor am I interested in learning it, being perfectly happy with my own Java setup. But be it as it may, I installed it in the hope to run these demos. It flooded my disk with some 125Mbytes and thousands of files, the usual mayhem, but we have now Terabytes at home, don't we? I also downloaded the plugin, and started to click around to get anything running. Lost in unfamiliar windows and menus I found nothing, no way to start any demo.

I must be getting old. My rusty PhD Dr.Evil brain is too stubborn to crack usage of NetBeans, I failed the IQ test. All right than, I give up. Lets download the source code, run javac and be happy. What can be so difficult, wouldn't you think Minime?

Nope! The adventure has just begun!!

Click on Chapter 2, Swing Rendering Fundamentals. You will get an archive frc-chapter2.zip, in which root directory is no Java code at all. I see merely two folders and two empty files with the same name. On a hunch, step down into the directory SwingRenderingFundamentals, only to find another set of folders and a set of empty files, each with the same name like one of the directories. On a hunch lets step down into HighlightedButton, where we find a bunch of alien looking files and 3 more directories, with you guessed it, 3 more empty files carrying the names of these directories.

Among them is build.xml. XML eh? Hmm... what do I do with that? None of my systems can do anything with XML, this book is not about XML, I do not need to use XML, do I? It's a practitioners book about a specific aspect of Java. I would be happy to stay with "javac" and "java" only, please.

On several places I see a directory called CVS, this may or may not be a name of some source code managing tool. For example, a CVS directory (accompanied again by an empty file with the same name) contains 3 files. Each seem to have some generated content, like this file called Entries: /HighlightedButton.java/1.1/Tue May 01 22:48:46 2007/-ko/
Hm... It most probably serves a project tool of a sort. But how this relate to the book and to the task at hand?

But one directory name is "src". Source, hurray, the treasury hunt might be close to an end! Indeed, this is how you can 'fish' for Java files, best done with a script of a sort to copy all java files into one single place. You will be fine, most of them do not has any package specification corresponding to the directory they were found in. Once you get these files filtered out, you will even find among them Java files containing mere 2-3 lines of code, accompanied by the monster 30-lines Sun copyright node. Vive la lawyers!

Equally convoluted is the way to access these files on Java.net. In a hope for an easy one-click demo, boy I am a lazy spoiled individual, and not willing to give up just yet, I registered an account with Java.net and dived into filthyrichclients.dev.java.net, only to find the same convoluted way of keeping here and there a Java file among a forest of directories and sidecar files. Here however, I got finally educated that CVS is a repository system, and the web pages provide some comprehensive help in its use.

Please do not take me wrong: I do not want dismiss usability of any tool, like NetBeans or CVS, but pardon me, I was happy with my setup. "If it isn't broken, do not fix it," I do not need to get hundreds of megabytes of some unrelated software in order to find a few demo lines of Java, do I?

Authors of a book teaching practitioners in minimality of algorithmic and best application of a graphical API, claiming to provide code examples of merit, should be focussed strictly on the implementation of just such philosophy, and not on their tools. A use of a language like Java can be explained and demo'ed using strictly the Java compiler and its own Java Virtual Machine. Compare this convoluted delivery with other Sun Java tutorials and their one-click demos. I hope that the authors would use "find" of their vast repositories of files to make a tiny set of *.java files, maybe even of class files. That would be all what a reader would need.

To push java's ui capabilities has in the past been a bit of a struggle due to the many ways of dealing with Swing, repaints, events, animation etc. This book is an absolute life saver in terms of presenting a unified best practice strategy for everything a ui developer would wish to do in java. It creates very simple applications with solid explanations of what the code is doing, from the low level to the high level. It is also written in a very personable style and the book moves easily and logically through the related material. I wish I had read this book 4 years ago.

This book will save you hours of trouble shooting the little things that don't work as intuitively as they should in Java.
I have not found an un-useful idea here.
It also shows you how to make your application more efficient (faster).
The author has already done the timing tests and offer you the results and the routes you should take.
All in all, a fantastic find.

This book is fantastic - so many tips and tricks that I was unaware of. I want more!! I hope a sequel is in the making!! Check it out!! You won't be disappointed!!

I want client-side java very much to succeed, especially now that it is open source, but the java.com site itself uses flash instead of applets, and the first author of this book no longer even works for Sun on java stuff - he now works on Adobe Flex:
http://graphics-geek.blogspot.com/2008/02/what-hello-world.html

If I had bought this book 4-5 years ago when it related to the current version of Flash/ActionScript, I would have given it 5 stars. Even with that drawback, as someone who is new to ActionScript, I learned a lot and now have enough knowledge to produce some projects I've wanted to for some time. I now am going to upgrade to Flash CS3/ActionScript 3 and hope I can find a book that is as good as this one for the new version.

One thing I was trying to do was to load and parse XML files. This book was short on the XML part, but with some help from some web site tutorials and this book I was able to accomplish it.

If you're still using Flash MX 2004, and want to get started with ActionScript, I would say that this is the best book out there.

I've been using Flash for awhile now and have purchased quite a few books on the subject. When I learned enough of the basics to move into actionscript, I was lost. Most of the books I had assume you are a programmer or else just dump code in your lap expecting you to just plug it in and not really know how it works. This is the first book I have found that gives you the code and explains HOW and WHY it works - and all in simple, easy to understand English. I am an artist, not a programmer, but with a book like this, I too can enter the realm of coding and truly unleash my creativity...and isn't that what it really all about?
My highest rating.

I read it, is time consuming but it worth it. This book emphasizes on the gap between a designer and a programmer doing Flash projects, in fact the writers are, one designer and a programmer. So they will guide you through the concepts of ActionScripts considering the other side which is the design part. On it's own is a unique type of book, never seen such a great combination. Just bear in mind, this is an ActionScript 1 training book...although is an ActionScript 1 book, it will gonna help you learining ActionScript 2 faster. I like it at all ;-)

Scott Hamlin and Jennifer Scott's book is clearly written and the worked examples are straightforward.

I really like the fact that the screen shots are in colour, it makes a real difference.

I was looking for ActionScript books here in the Philippines and this book caught my attention when I held it in my hand.

I asked the National Bookstore lady to open the package and lo and behold! The pages are packed with full colored images.

I love reading books if they have a lot of images. This makes you more interested on finishing the book from start to finish.

I am planning to take up Flash courses and I will bring this book whenever I go. =)

One thing that was lacking was a large list of ActionScript tags. What the heck...the tutorial is more pleasing to read though.

A lot of books focus on telling you what to do. This is great as it enables you to get the job done.

Far too often people who write technical manuals think that is all the learner requires in order to retain knowledge.

Thank goodness this book doesn't stop there. It tells you WHY things should be done this way in addition to the HOW. I've found this process much more reliable as a means to transmit information in a sticky format.

I've been working with Flash video for years and have found through trial and error how to get videos to work properly.

This book finally explains in plain english things like keyframes, interlacing for web, exactly how the new CODEC works.

Ultimately, every new thing this book taught me was set in cement by the logical explanation of the why.

Very good book that covers all from the beginig to the deploying to better deploy your video content. I am pleased to have gotten this book

As promised, this book offers a lot of food of thought, and provides an excellent framework for creating a professional-quality online video player.

The authors offer a strong argument against using the stock FLVPlayback components of CS3, and if you adopt their methodology (even if you skip Chapter 5 at first), you'll get plenty out of this book. You're sure to find some useful information, even if you don't drink all the design-pattern Kool-Aid.

This is a very excellent book. It cures any intimidation someone might have dealing with video in flash. The chapters were very easy to understand, and the samples were very fun to do. This book does really well at showing the potential and creativity of working with video in flash.

This book is a much-needed resource and road map to creating all kinds of Flash video for the web. Authors Larson and Constantini begin with a chapter on project archaeology and conclude with a chapter on live video. In between, they cover all the nooks and crannies from encoding, the big picture of Object Oriented Programming, dynamic playlists.....in others words: Flash Video from soup to nuts. Coming from a traditional non-web video background in editing and graphics, this book is quite simply the book I'd been hoping would appear once I began to dabble in Flash development. Up to this point, most Flash books usually have a standard chapter or two about video. This book is the whole enchilada and delivers a fantastic "forest for the trees" perspective on planning, creating and deploying Flash video websites. The text is very well-articulated on subject matter that is quite complex. Whether you're an advanced specialist ready to dip right into the Action Script and get your own Flash video ball rolling or you need a quick primer in order to talk the talk with a Flash colleague, this book is your pixel-perfect friend. From a technical standpoint, there is a lot here, but one can browse very easily for quick solutions. From a creative standpoint, there are many inspiring examples and recipes to apply everything from a simple YouTube interface to a more ambitious video wall a la Nam Jun Paik to a website. Ultimately, I enjoyed the book mostly in how it challenged me to approach Flash video as its own art and craft, however new. From cue points to video skins to custom players; the sky's the limit. Let this book be your breath of fresh FLV air.