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Macromedia Flash MX 2004 for Dummies Review by Scott Jibben
OK, but feels like a copy/paste from old book/flash version.
This book is pretty good but has some flaws.
1. Although I haven't read the previous Dummies book for Flash MX (non-2004) by these authors, I get the feeling that the book inherits much of its content from it. Some of the features mentioned in the book just don't seem to exist in my copy of Flash MX 2004 Pro, like the common sound library. I purchased & downloaded my copy of Flash from Macromedia, so perhaps I didn't get the sounds because of that. Next time, I'll definitely get the CD...
2. The examples from the CD are old and most of them give the warning to save in Flash MX 2004 when you close them, that is, they are from previous versions of Flash. The first example even uses an image file that I had to load & export using a graphics program to correct the transparency of the image. That said, the examples are not horrible, but most are contributions from others and not designed/developed by the authors.
3. There are some worthless chapters and appendixes like some of the top 10 chapters and how to install Flash appendix. Considering how sites come & go on the Internet I'm surprised space was used to list the authors top 10 favorite Flash sites. It's only a couple of pages, but might fit better on the authors web site where updates can be more current.
Overall, about 90% of the book will be relevant but there may be other books that are more focused on the MX 2004 version of Flash. If you don't know anything about Flash, you'll come away knowing how to do a lot of the basic stuff after reading this book.