You've seen the promises in the advertising: Microsoft's free Movie Maker 2 will make it simple to capture, edit and share your home movies. We agree, but how do you know where to start, or where you're going? The answer is Windows Movie Maker 2 Zero to Hero, which will take you from filming your movie (with useful tips to improve the quality) through editing and adding effects, to premiering your masterpiece to your friends and family. You'll learn how to produce professional looking films, with effects and transitions like those you see on TV, and how to show them off. Send them by e-mail, post them to web sites, copy them to a CD, or even make your own DVD! Zero to Hero is more than a catchy slogan and an opportunity for puns and graphical representations of tights, capes, and phone booths. It's a style of learning designed by friends of ED to reach beyond dry technical explanations and dusty old authors who don't know how it is for real users and wouldn't know good design if it slapped them round the face with a wet fish. With a Zero to Hero book you can choose how you learn. You can choose to learn everything you need to know about Windows Movie Maker 2 by working through the first section of the book from start to finish. Alternatively you can dive straight in to the inspirational 'Hero' chapters and refer back as and when you need. Then later, when you're a hero yourself, the book is easily used as a reference tool. When you're done you'll be ready to wear your underwear on the outside, metaphorically speaking of course. Table of Contents Chapter Zero - Introduction Chapter 1 - Shooting your footage Chapter 2 - Capturing video and importing files Chapter 3 - Collections andprojects Chapter 4 - Transitions Chapter 5 - Editing clips Chapter 6 - Video effects Chapter 7 &emdash; Audio editing Chapter 8 &emdash; Titles and credits Chapter 9 - Saving and sharing movies Hero 1 &emdash; E-mailing a video postcard Hero 2 - Editing a vacation movie Hero 3 - Videoing an event Hero 4 - Producing a short movie for the web

If you've dabbled with Flash and want to expand your repertoire, this book will teach you what you need to know about ActionScript in a fast-paced tutorial style. The ActionScript language is becoming an increasingly vital part of every Flash designer's toolkit, but it can seem like a scary prospect for the non-programmer. We'll show you how easy it is to create interesting, interactive movies in Flash MX through visual metaphors and worked examples.

The aim is to get you up to speed quickly, giving you the skills you need to add extra functionality and control to your Flash movies. By the time you're finished, you should have a good grasp of the core ActionScript concepts and techniques, and plenty of ideas for your own projects.

No previous programming experience is required, just a familiarity with the Flash MX interface, and even the most code-phobic reader should find the learning curve to be smooth and easy.