Macromedia Flash: Super Samurai

Macromedia Flash: Super Samurai doesn't cater to new users of Macromedia's Web animation tool, so if you are just learning to wield Flash, skip this book. However, if the weight of Flash in your hands feels balanced and comfortable, perhaps it is time to learn how to make the blade sing like the rushing wind, making effort invisible.

Parallels to swords and samurai aside, Flash Super Samurai compiles the experience of 12 gifted Flash designers. Much more than a book on Flash animation, it shows the reader how to create interactive elements, how to create 3-D Flash elements, how to use XML and Flash together, discusses the intricacies and pitfalls of adding sound and how to make sound work for you, and much more.

Nine chapters and three appendices detail tricks and techniques for adding physics simulations to Flash animation (think bouncing billiard balls), programming sound, using XML and Flash together, using JavaScript and Flash together, and dynamic Flash pages created on the fly based on user input. Each chapter is well illustrated and heavily coded, and the accompanying CD-ROM includes all the necessary project files.

The way of the samurai is one of intense concentration and the constant search for wisdom, a description that fits the contributors to this rich, dense book for advanced Flash developers. Filled with ActionScripts and Flash animation that goes far beyond basic tweening, this book is invaluable for those looking to make the most of Flash as a tool for animation as well as for interactive site development. --Mike Caputo