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BOOK REVIEWS QUICK GUIDE TO FLASH CATAL BOOK REVIEW BY RIC GETTER YST practical essentials of the program. One of the most challenging aspects of moving into Catalyst is learning the unique nomenclature for its UI and tools. The first two chapters, which cover the interface and all-important components elements, are among the most valuable in the book. The following sections walk you through a project to give you a sense of the workflow. Like other Flash tools, Catalyst is not a standalone application. At the very least, it needs to pull content that has been created in other programs. A series of well-designed examples let you learn the basics of Catalyst by getting some hands-on time with a few simple projects. (The sample files are available from O'Reilly.com.) These tutorials are easy to follow and set you up with some useful tips and techniques. Because you're working with a file originally created in Adobe Illustrator, you also get a good sense of how much of the design and creation process can be done outside of a Flash environment. (Catalyst also plays quite nicely with Photoshop and Fireworks originals.) In its own quiet way, Flash Catalyst was a real breakthrough for developers and designers working on Flash-based sites. Understanding that designers aren't always the best programmers (and vice versa), Catalyst provided a way for designers to focus on what they do best, bringing interactivity to their visuals without learning a lot of code. Though far friendlier than Flash Pro or Flash Builder, it's not immediately intuitive nor is it totally obvious what Catalyst can and can't do. The hallmark of Rafiq Elmansy's is that it is, indeed, quick. The book is short enough to read through cover-to-cover before embarking on a project, yet covers enough of the application well enough to give you a solid head start. As a graphic designer and creative director, Elmansy knows his intended audience exceptionally well and this explains his ability to distill out the The first two chapters, which cover the interface and all-important components elements, are among the most valuable in the book. The following sections walk you through a project to give you a sense of the workflow." As with Catalyst's components elements, Elmansy spends a good deal of time going over the timeline. Though well designed and quite powerful, it can be quite perplexing at first, especially if you've worked with other timeline-based applications. The is well illustrated throughout. Viewing the ePub edition ($11.99) on an iPad and being able to pan and zoom around a high-resolution screen shot made the digital version particularly attractive. At your local bookstore, you'll find the computer shelf dominated by thick and weighty volumes that cover their subject in extreme (and sometimes excruciating) detail. Though hard to spot in the heavyset crowd, this concise and well-written introductory guide was truly a joy to find. by Rafiq Elmansy; $14.99, O'Reilly (oreilly.com) 2011; 100 pages, ISBN: 978-1-4493-0674-8 38 MacDirectory Q u ik c G u i d e " Q u i c k G u i d e t o F l a s h C a t a l y s t Q G u i d e t o F ls a h C a t a l y s t u ik c