Good book for intermediate user. One dimensional but does adequate job in that one dimension.

This book is fantastic, and a fine addition to my Friends of Ed collection. The author does a brilliant job of explaining how Actionscript 3 works and doesn't assume you are using a particular application to put it all together. So for anyone developing in Flex or some other Actionscript app, this book is equally useful.

The trigonometry and maths of it all are simplified down so you can understand it, and through this book I've rediscovered my inner geek - playing with maths for the fun of it!

If you are at all interested in building your own animation scripts, grab this book and read it! It's great.

Keith Peters has written another excellent teach-yourself book pertaining to Actionscript. I also have a copy of his Foundation Actionscript 2.0 book. I am only half way through the book as of now due to my reading several other books concurrently with this one, but it has already taught me a lot. Keith Peters teaching style is easy reading, with humor and taught by examples which are easy to follow and comprehend. I highly recommend this book to anyone first learning Actionscript and to those of us familiar with Actionscript 2.0 transitioning to Actionscript 3.0. There are significant changes in Actionscript from versions 2.0 to 3.0 and Keith Peters clearly lays them out.
The only negative I give the book, and it is a small and correctible problem, is there exists conflicts in the book's examples prevently the examples from running correctly. Specifically, I refer to the names given to the mouse handlers in the examples' functions; e.g. the function name "onMouseDown" conflicts with the Actionscript naming conventions preventing examples using that function name to run or to run without error. This I easily corrected by renaming the function "onMouseDown1." I did the same with "onMouseUp" changing it to "onMouseUp1" and this corrected all such errors.

This book was an excellent resource for AS2 and the rewrite to AS3 helps out a lot but it is really about math, primarily trig.

Perhaps the greatest challenge to many coding animation is the math needed. This book covers it pretty well in ActionScript and provides a number of good examples however if you are looking for a book to learn AS3 it might not be the best choice.

Cons:
Coding errors in any book about programming are pretty much unforgivable. If the author is doing his job he would compile and run his code... and a few examples from this book would not run correctly... and some would not even compile.

This book rocks!
I am a flash developer one year out of school and i work for an e-learning firm.
We produce our lessons using flash.

I never stop using the information in this book for producing interactions for an e-learning environment. without this book I would not be as successful at my job as quickly.

honestly i have been awarded plenty of monetary bonuses from using this book.

It's a must have!!!

This book is an excellent resource for flash animation for AS3. Saying that if you have the previous version of the book for AS2 there is no need to purchase this book. All it does it show you the same formulas; but in objects. If you don't know about objects and different aspects of OOP for AS3 then i recommend this book Essential ActionScript 3.0 (Essential). This book takes you from beginning to end of AS3. If you want to learn animation though then this book is it when it comes to AS3.

This is a great programming book -- perhaps the best I've ever bought. It covers a lot of fundamentals of setup in different environments for AS3, and gives you the theoretical concepts paired with examples. That being said, there are some typos in the code. Page 128, first line in the onEnterFrame function should read: var radians:Number = angle * Math.PI / 180; (Instead of 180, it says 2). I'm sure there are others that I haven't gotten to, but even if you encounter errors, you should be able to fix them yourself, as the theory is so well covered that you should be able to understand how to solve them.

I have programmed in AS since Flash 5, and I have read many AS books. This book is an overall average. Its for those who know a little about AS and Flash. If you are totally new to AS, then the books coding in the first chapter will really frustrate you. There are minor coding problems in the first chapter, and the author has a bad time explaining basic definitions. However, its later chapters are overall good, and I enjoyed the book.
I would say: Buy the book if you can stand some frustration and some (minor) unclear explanations. For $25, it's a bargain.

If you, like me, are designer centric then this may very well be the answer for you when it comes to understanding actionscript. AS2 was a very forgiving but highly mysterious language to me but I was able to make it work even though the how and why remained a blank area. When AS3 arrived I was totally lost in a programmers world were actionscript had suddenly become a foriegn language study.
Buying Foundation Actionscript 3.0 has changed that, although it isn't a book for first time flash users as it assumes that the reader knows Flash fundementals, it clearly leads a non-programmer, like myself, into how to work with AS3 AND understand the why of it working so that one becomes able to work with AS3 and build your own applications with the knowledge of how and why they work.
Excellently written and so so easy to follow!!!

If you just buy this book and read the codes are not going to work you have to understand the new concept in ACS3.It is similar then ACS2 but works a lit a bit different way so that is why a first time a codes did work for me as I read in others reviews.You have to learn what means class than open the book it will be more clear to you.

For animation and programming outside the Adobe Flash interface, this is one of the best books I have read. It starts out with an introduction to concepts that apply across the board for animation and then continues on in to physics based animation and eventually 3D programming. While the book uses ActionScript as the primary language, the concepts it employs easily translate into other graphical programming languages.

Something to keep in mind when you order this book is that it will not teach you how to use Adobe Flash. While "Making Things Move" is very applicable to this program, it is geared more towards Flex Builder 2 and the Flex/AS 3 command-line compiler and Flex 2 SDK (the last two of which are free from Adobe's website at the time of writing this review).

If you are looking for a book that will help you get started with Flash-based game development, this is a great book to use. I would consider it an excellent resource for both novice and advanced users.

If you are looking for a book on developing sites that interact with databases or send and retrieve online data, this is not the book for you. Instead I would suggest The Essential Guide to Flex 2 with ActionScript 3.0.

Another resource I would reccomend for any Flash developer is ActionScript 3.0 Cookbook: Solutions for Flash Platform and Flex Application Developers, which is good for just about anything else "Making Things Move!" and "The Essential Guide" don't cover.

This book is a must have for any serious flash artist (no designer/developer tags...). It approaches AS3 as it was meant to be, an objet oriented laguage, not only for .fla projects. The author is in the top of this line and the reason why I gave 4 instead of 5 is that the author does not go as deep as I would have liked in some cases, but still, if I lose the book, I would buy it again.

I was eagerly awaiting this book because of the good reviews, but I've had lots of problems getting his code to work.

He uses old AS2 keywords in examples as user created function names, but this causes errors. I had to look online to find out that solution. There was nothing on the "Friends of Ed" site.

Next, the drawing example he gives on page 64 did not produce the arrow it was supposed to produce. I am new to this level of coding, so some of my problems may be my lack of experience, but it's tough to learn if the code examples don't work.

I wish the Friend of Ed would post some corrections and/or help. I'm sure that the problems I've had with the book are because the author was using a development version of AS 3.0, but they should get information up about the issues.

This book has what appears to be many great animation solutions; however, there is a very important piece missing. The code that connects the packages in the book to your time line in Flash CS3 Actionscript 3.0.
Not enough explanations or examples, as to how to connect these animation packages to the timeline.
This book went from a previous copy for Flash 8, a fully usable book for flash designers to hey how about flash designers in 3.0.

First off, the previous version was the best actionscript and or graphics book for the Flash environment I had ever read. Useful segments of script and the practical approach to getting common graphics, animation, collision, 3D and kinematics work done were invaluable.

My criticism of the current edition is that, with the exception of placing everything in a class structure for actionscript 3.0, the new edition lacks novel content. There are no new techniques, projects, nor animations. Also, the programs may be written in classes, but often the programs don't take advantage of the object oriented techniques encouraged in 3.0 actionscript.

The parts about using the Flex SDK are interesting as they allow people to program in actionscript without having to buy anything. It is pretty obvious that this book was written before the Flash CS3 version came out as it would be more aptly named "actionscript animation 3.0 for flex" as some of the techniques necessary to make graphical objects in the flex environment are inconvenient for those using Flash CS3.

So, my bottom line:
If you don't have this book and want to program graphics in flash/flex, get this book before all others.
If you already have the previous edition, don't bother upgrading. (though for me it didn't work out too bad because I used the previous edition so much I wore it out.)

I've been working with Flash since 5.0 and have always tried to keep up with the changes. The release of ActionScript 3.0 pretty much means that one has to learn a whole new way of creating graphics and effects in code. This book makes that transition a whole lot easier. It's not for beginners by any means as it deals in very advanced concepts, but if you are a game or effects developer and you want to get up to speed with the new capabilities of Flash 9, "this is a great book", as the author has aptly stated. The forward from Aral Balkan pretty much sums up the state of the art which we have come to know as Flash. "Programming is a new, exciting art form...", and this book definitely will introduce you to the new paradigm.

Frankly trig was always a puzzle to me, let alone how to apply it. Keith managed to break that ice with my favorite development tool - Actionscript.

Mind you it is easier to just drop Flash formulas that use trig into code and use them. But to have a basic understanding of how they work is power.

Keith is an excellent writer. He mixes just enough explanation between code examples. The code examples are powerful demonstrations of the concepts he presents but very small and easy to follow. As well they are conveyed in Actionscript 3 format and provided as downloads. I have typed in code examples from the book as well and they are perfect. I also simply compiled all the download files with the mxmlc runtime compiler and they worked nicely.

The follow-up at the end of each chapter is refreshing. There you find all the formulas developed in the chapter. As well they are all listed in chapter 19 Tips and Tricks.

This is a concentrated book over 500 pages. So plan on time to digest it. However it is worth your time.

I have chiped my way through part two Basic Motion and enthusiastically working into part three advanced motion.

This is probably the best book on actionscript animation and doing graphics with actionscript I've ever read. It rocks and Keith's style of writing is phenomenal.

The math and physics sections are particularly great as he really lays it down. The 3d chapters in the back are something anyone who is really into 3d should understand and grawk. I've used information from this book in my professional work easily because I understood the concepts clearly.

Overall this book is not for a beginner but someone wanting to take their actionscript knowledge to the next level in animation and design.

Foundation ActionScript 3.0 Animation Making Things Move!
by Keith Peters
Publisher: Friends of Ed
IBSN:-13 (pbk):978-1-59059-791-0
Copyright 2007

Review by: Linda Weller

I highly recommend reading this book even if you don't know what this (!) is. The book, similar to it's AS 2.0 counterpart. Keith Peters does a very good job of explaining the AS 3.0 language in a simple encouraging way. After hearing him say "this is really simple" about 1000 times during the book, you start saying it yourself.

Math, Physics, Trig, Pythagorean Theorem in Flash -- no problem, easy not like your college Physics course. If effects or game ideas is what your looking for you can find them here.

On of the best things talked about in this book is in the foreword by Arial Balkan. He explains that today programmers are artists and designers are ActionScripter's. Bravo!!

He starts with programming basics. How to use Flash with in the Flex format is not covered in this book. Keith is your personal mentor, he is really rooting for you. He knows you can do it and shows you how easy it really is.

First you learn how to make classes. Then he moves on to Rendering Techniques (using the drawing API)

His philosophy is to give you class snippets and let you combine them into your own projects and games. Your goal being, to see how many of these classes you can combine. He goes on to explain basic motion incorporating such concepts as velocity, acceleration, friction and moving objects around.

In this book, it's all about the Greeks. He introduces the section on Easing and Springs with an explanation of Xeno's Paradox. Keith tells you which hit test to use with which shape. "How do I bounce something off of an angled surface?" The answer is here. As you have probably guessed, "it is not that hard."

Then moving on to bound checking with getBounds. Next, there is the section on billiard ball physics and mass momentum. Each well explained section of the book is supplied with downloadable code samples and simple formula explanations. Following that he delves into particle attraction and gravity, the slingshot effect, and "g" forces. He throws out a few game ideas for you to explore along the way.

The book then covers Kinematics (making things walk), and 3D animation and, learning to locate things in virtual space. The great part about the code he gives you is that it just builds on itself as you read through the book. As he progresses, he adds the new items in bold allowing you to quickly scan the page and see what is new. As you near the book's end, you have almost memorized the rest of the code. And if you haven't the last chapter holds the formulas for all the chapters that you have just read to reinforce your learning and as a quick reference.

"Boing Boing Boing!"

Keith Peters's engaging and readable book on Flash 9, Actionscript 3.0 Animation is quite unusual for a programming techniques book. It assumes you know very little, but it ends up being an authoritative work of lasting value.

Notwithstanding the "3.0" in the title, this is the second edition of "Making things Move," updated for Actionscript 3.0. The first version sold very well, but I think the second edition will open up Flash to a much wider audience.

This is because Peters almost always gives you two or three ways of doing something, and this extends to whatever Flash development environment you have chosen. There are three ways you can write Actionscript 3 for Flash: The Flash IDE (which you get when you buy Adobe Flash), Flex Builder 2 (which you get when you buy Adobe Flex Builder) and the free Flex 2 SDK (which you get when you download Flex SDK free from the Adobe website.) I use the third environment, so I really appreciate that "Making Things Move" tells you how to set up "trace" for debugging in the free Flex SDK environment. Because of the popularity of Flash animation, and the fact that the book tells you how to use the free development environment (and the fact that Actionscript 3 is so great), I think this book will be both popular and influential.

So, I found nuts and bolts information in the very beginning that was probably worth the price of the book even if I didn't animate a single bouncing ball, but what's the rest of the book about? Three things that everyone learned (or should have learned) in school: trigonometry, physics and how to think about stuff on your own. And you get it an applied context that basically gives you everything you need to build, and to understand how to build, an interactive 2D or 3D game -- except fancy graphics, of course.

User interaction, moving objects around, collision detection (two or three different methods), how to use acceleration and velocity for springing and easing, billiard ball physics, how to make things walk (forward kinematics) and reach for stuff (reverse kinematics), plus rotate collide and move in 3 dimensions, it's all in the book. All completely comprehensible. Various ways of placing things randomly on the screen, how to bounce back after colliding, how to swarm objects and connect them to each other? All covered. Matrix math, Brownian motion? Covered and explained. About the only thing Peters doesn't give you is the rotation matrices for four-dimensional graphics, but to be perfectly fair, nobody else does either.

This book is a product of tons of experience and thoughtfulness. Each technique appears to be so simple -- certainly there isn't too much code in any one example -- and yet along with each technique, it seems like there's at least one little `gotcha' that Keith Peters tells you how to avoid. In other words, you can scan the book quickly to see what's in it, to see what's there and examine the formulas, and then when you go back and read it, you also benefit because you pick up one of these 'gotchas' or an explanation of why one way is better than doing it another way.

Will you find this review useful if I don't complain about something? Okay! Well, in the spaceship example in chapter 5, which uses the keyboard, nothing works unless you click on the window first. The book says nothing about this, or how to prevent it. Can you set the keyboard focus onto your movie without clicking the mouse on it? I wish I knew.

Less important, in nearly every code example in the book, the constructor of each document class calls an init() method, which Peters says is a recommended "best practice" I would like to know why this is a best practice, since it just makes the code (and the book) longer and (ok, just slightly) more time consuming to read.

Lastly, everyone knows (or will know after reading this book) there are two kinds of animation, frame-based and timer-based. What I never realized is that there's a third form, time-based animation, that's smoother and more accurate than either frame based or timer based. Plus, it's immune to the frame rate of the movie, the motion stays just as smooth and constant as you have intended it to be. I really appreciate the fact that the book brought this to my attention, but why did the author wait until page 505 to get around to it? No matter, you're crazy if you don't read every page, from the beginning of the forward ("This is a book about art"), right to the very end of the index ("zero, dividing by zero in Flash").

This book is packed with useful information from beginning to end and will give you many happy hours and things to do on long winter nights in front of your compute; the very last example in the book, slipped in as a final parting gift just before the recap of all the book's equations, tells how to add the "Boing" sound to the bounce of your bouncing ball, in just 3 lines of code.

If you don't have any books on Actionscript 3, I think this is probably the best one to start with until the Moock book comes out, if you have an interest in animation.