ActionScript is what gives Flash its power, but with that power comes a certain level of complexity, which can be intimidating. This beginner's book covers all of the basics of ActionScript using Flash 8. An ongoing case study means that by the end of the book, readers will have constructed a cutting-edge Flash site to showcase their newly learned skills.

* New edition of the best selling and very well respected beginner's Flash book. Sham Bhangal is very well known in the Flash community as a world class teacher, and beginners have even contacted him about personal tuition, as well as buying his books. * Provides easy-to-follow tutorials ideal for beginner market - it is slimmer and more concise than the competition, and concentrates on the essentials that beginners need to know. * Flash X is going to be a huge market - it is the most widely-anticipated release of Flash since 5, because of exciting new features. It is the release that MX 2004 should have been.

* Practically orientated, and assumes no previous knowledge of coding, making sure that the reader can actually use ActionScript to build a working website via real and detailed examples and case studies. * Previous best seller-successful writing style and tone from an author that has proved to be popular with readers of previous editions. In fact, this is the middle book in an integrated three-book Flash series from Beginner to Advanced, all written/co-written by the same author (Foundation Flash, Foundation ActionScript, and the Designer's ActionScript Reference) - no other publisher provides this sort of unbroken coverage from a single voice. * Covers both Flash MX 2004 and Flash MX Professional 2004.

* Practical in its organization- teaches via a real website design. After reading this book , a reader will have a lot of foundational, practical knowledge and a self-created website. * Comprehensive and clear coverage of Flash by an established author team. In the past, Foundation Flash has been the number 1 best-selling friends Of ED; this book has been well received in its previous revisions as a quick and approachable first book for learning Flash. * Covers both Flash MX 2004 and Flash MX Professional 2004.

With the release of Flash MX, scripting in Flash moved from being a desirable asset to an essential skill in the world of web design. ActionScript is, quite simply, the center of power in Flash, and it's no surprise that most of the advances in Flash MX are script-centric. Flash is a design tool, and ActionScript can easily scare designers. This book is for anyone who has ever looked in awe at a cutting-edge Flash site, then taken a look at some code, and run in the other direction. Learning ActionScript with friends of ED will not turn you into a boring programmer, it will turn you into someone who finally has the power to achieve what they want with their web design. This book will take you from knowing nothing about ActionScript to a firm knowledge that will allow you to exercise a previously unimaginable amount of power over your flash movies. It does this with fully-0worked examples throughout, and a case study that will leave you with a cutting-edge Flash site by the end of the book. The book assumes no previous knowledge of code or ActionScript, but does assume that you know the basics of the Flash interface, and have maybe created some basic timeline-based movies with tweens and so on. (If you're totally new to Flash, then you might want to take a look at friends of ED's acclaimed Foundation Flash MX, or at the more visually-oriented Flash MX Express.) Foundation ActionScript-with the help of friends of ED Flash guru Sham Bhangal, Foundation ActionScript has been re-structured and re-written to reflect the major changes in ActionScript brought about with Flash MX. Just compare the table of contents if you don't believe us!

Want to create a top-level website from scratch, but dont know where to start? Well, youve got a choice: buy this book, or buy ten others...

Creating a website in today's environment is no longer a question of knowing about one piece of software, or one technology. To achieve the best results, you need broad knowledge on a range of topics: HTML to create pages Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)to format your text JavaScript to create interactivity Image editing software like Fireworks and Photoshop to prepare images Macromedia Flash to add multimedia content

Foundation Web Design is a step-by-step guide to stunning website creation. Starting with the basics, and assuming no prior knowledge, Sham Bhangal cuts through the jargon and introduces a wide range of essential skills and technologies. These combine to help you create a fully operational and graphically stunning case study website.

About the Authors:

Sham Bhangal's unique tutorial style has found success in friends of ED Foundation titles such as Foundation ActionScript, heralded by Amazon.com as perhaps one of the finest introductory programming books ever written.

Tomasz Jankowskiwho designed the case study sitehas won numerous web design awards. His stunning artwork first appeared in our landmark title New Masters of Flash.

Some friends of ED books concentrate on more serious aspects of Flash - this one concentrates on the fun. Flash can be used for many purposes, but making visually stunning effects to impress your boss, your friends, and anyone who looks at your site is one of the most rewarding. friends of ED have scoured the web and the Flash community, discovering the most requested and popular Flash effects in action today. We have investigated the visual effects and actual design techniques that Flash beginners have been asking for. The visual inspiration and detailed explanations of how to recreate these effects are combined together in this book. The eight leading designers in this full color book take these effects apart, showing you how to adapt your basic Flash knowledge to achieve results exceeding anything you thought possible. The effects stay true to the tried and tested friends of ED design-centric approach, with full exercises and explanations for each effect. Topics include: ground-breaking site navigation; a dynamic MP3 jukebox; cartoon animation; and Flash math visual effects. All you need to use this book is a knowledge of the Flash MX interface, and some imagination. So sit back, relax, and open up your mind to the visual potential of Flash MX. As with all books from friends of ED our support is fast, friendly and free. Your queries will be passed onto the editors and authors who put the book together.

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: * Primitives * Timelines * Symbols * Flash Assets (sound, video, and bitmaps) * Code hacks * Events and event handling * Advanced animation * UI design hacks True 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.

If you've never used Flash before, this is the book for you. It uses a series of structured exercises to give you the broad, solid foundation knowledge you need to start your exploration of Flash from scratch. Foundation Flash MX uses a proven sequential, detailed, and accessible tutorial style to ensure that you'll retain your learning and be able to draw on it throughout your Flash career. Macromedia Flash MX is an exciting product, providing rich creative opportunities for Flash designers and developers at all levels of ability and experience. No single book can hope to provide adequate coverage of all aspects of Flash MX, which is why this book focuses relentlessly on the core skills that you need to get you started: understanding the interface; familiarizing yourself with the creative tools and their capabilities; grasping the relationships between the different components that make up a Flash movie; getting insight into how to put all the pieces together and hook them up with ActionScript. All these aspects (and much more) are covered in detailed tutorials and exercises, reinforced with a case study that runs throughout the book to apply everything in a real-world context. If you're looking for a book that'll give you a rock-solid grounding in Flash MX, then this is the title for you.