This is the stuff that really makes my mum proud. And I must admit that I get a real kick out of seeing my name on the shelves in Waterstones.
Flash Video Creativity.
ISBN:1904344216
The Flash MX video object is a wondrous thing, but 90% of people seem to be happy keeping it constrained in a small, square window. Why? Video can be anything that you want it to be, and then some. The experiments in this book will take you through simple video manipulation, kaleidoscopes, emulating TV effects, 360-degree displays, animating vectors over film, dynamic masking, fake blue-screening, blur and focus, combining video with the Comms Server, and much more.
But it's not just for fun. As the world turns broadband, video becomes a more and more obvious choice for content delivery. This is where the web goes another stage further than passive TV though, Flash allows video to be truly interactive and grab viewer imagination.
In this fickle world, no-one’s going to sit still for very long to watch videos play straight across their desktop. So, now’s the time to get inspired by some of the hottest designers around, and see what is possible when it comes to adding a twist of creativity to the mix. This book is about learning key skills without realizing it, and producing fantastic results.
All of the assets and FLAs needed to recreate the effects are on the CD that ships with the book.
Macromedia Flash MX Video.
ISBN: 1903450853
Let's make movies! Interactive movies, totally integrated into your Flash interface! With Macromedia Flash MX you have the power to import digital video and sound, and manipulate them just like any other media object. That's a whole world of design possibilities. This book takes you through all you need to know about producing such wonderful sites.
The first section gives you a thorough grounding in how best to import your video and sound into Flash MX and the many different ways that you can manipulate it once it's in there.
Then, in the second section, we go through a complete real-world case study from pre-production on the video to final output to the web and CD-ROM.
Finally, we show you how can apply advanced ActionScript to video, and create a fully object-oriented sound and video playing Flash component that you'll be able to use time and time again.
The inclusion of video support is the most noticeable and exciting feature in Flash MX - viewers who have the tiny Flash Player installed can now see video material that would otherwise require lengthy downloads and the clunky interfaces of other web video plug-ins. This book is the guide you need for this exciting new universe, offering inspiration and technical guidance in equal measure.
As with all books from friends of ED our support is fast, friendly and free.
Even if our dedicated support team are unable to solve your problem immediately, your queries will be passed onto the editors and authors who put the book together. All foED authors help with the support on their books, and will either directly mail readers with solutions or (more usually) send their response to an editor to pass on.
This book assumes no knowledge beyond an ability to work with the Flash MX interface, and is not intended for those with substantial digital video experience. As such, this book does not assume that the reader has access to expensive video-editing software. All you need for this book is access to Flash MX, and some imagination.
Macromedia Flash MX Upgrade Essentials.
ISBN: 1903450764
This book focuses on the new and enhanced features of the new Macromedia Flash MX release. It tells you what's new, what's changed, why these things are important, and how you can use them effectively.
To get quickly up to speed with the new release, you can't afford to waste time trawling through heavy manuals, extracting just the juicy upgrade information. This book will do the filtering work for you. Sham Bhangal through Flash MX with a fine-toothed comb and focus entirely on the new stuff. Flash MX Upgrade Essentials examines the changes, improvements, shortcuts and complexities, and presents them clearly in rich context, chapter by chapter.
Concentrating on new and upgraded features, this book assumes you are comfortable and competent with Flash 5. By the end of this book, you will be fully familiar with all the fundamentals of Flash MX, and ready to start exploring the new technical and creative avenues it has opened up. Flash MX Upgrade Essentials offers the most efficient way of getting up to speed with the latest version of Flash.
The main author for this book is Sham Bhangal. I was a technical reviewer and wrote one of the chapters.
New Masters of Flash: The 2002 Annual.
ISBN: 1903450365
Finally, friends of ED have produced a beautiful full colour companion to last years New Masters of Flash! Each New Masters volume delves deep into the heart of the year's most innovative Flash design and brings you the new New Masters' inspiration and technique. Building to form a unique collection of Flash Art, the New Masters series tests your Flash skills, offers inspiration and insight, while at the same time forms an in-depth chronicle of the best of motion graphics.
New Masters: Flash Annual 2002 gives competent web artists inspiration on cutting-edge Flash design techniques, as well as serious tutorial information on how to build top class effects. The format builds on the best of the original best-selling volume, New Masters of Flash, while improving in such areas as generic customisable code examples. The talents, the inspirations and effects are all of the moment and represent the mature and expert deployment of the staggering new capabilities of Flash 5 ActionScript.
This book offers immediate insight into the design approaches of 15 globally known designers. There is step-by-step deconstruction of cutting-edge design effects, both from the original designer’s p.o.v, PLUS an editorial commentary.
Included is a CD-ROM with animated tutorials and video interviews with authors.