A fantastic book to learn Flash from.
Flash 8, The Missing Manual
By E.A. Vander Veer
Pogue Press, O’Reilly, 2006
ISBN: 0 596 10137 6
The Missing Manual books are, from my observations, universally the best books I have seen on a given topic, when you are looking for a real understanding of how to use a piece of software. This book on Flash follows that tradition and belongs on the bookshelf of anyone trying to come to grips with Flash.
This 400+ page book is divided into the following chapters:
* Getting Around Flash
* Creating Simple Drawings
* Animating Your Drawings
* Organising Frames and Layers
* Advanced Drawing and Coloring
* Adding Special Effects
* Reusable Flash: Symbols and Templates
* Incorporating Non-Flash Media Files
* Automating Flash with ActionScript
* Controlling Animation
* Interacting with Your Audience
* Components of Interactivity
* Testing and Debugging
* Publishing and Exporting
* Installation and Help
This book is great. It takes you from the easy to the more complex. So you can sit down with this book, working chapter by chapter and end up being a very solid Flash expert or at least a very effective practitioner. Like many books it takes you through the features and functions of Flash, but I like the directed and progressive way that this is done. The book is well illustrated, though only in black and white. That is fine because Flash really needs to be experienced in a browser and the very last page of the book points you are suitable sites where you can find all the inspiration you need.
If you want to learn how to use Flash, this is the book to do it with. Buy it.