BDG PUBLISHING Mastering Macromedia Flash MX (Windows/Macintosh)

Rating:
Summary: Could be a good program if they correct the problems...
Review: I bought "Mastering Flash MX Professional 2004" by BDG Publishing which although primarily sold for instruction of Flash MX Professional 2004, also includes instruction for Flash 5 and Flash MX.

To use this program you will have three windows up on your computer monitor at the same one. One will be Flash, the second for the video from the training program and the third the control box used to control the start and stop or navigation of the training CDROM. I have a rectangular 17 inch LCD screen and find the windows large enough for me, but if you had a small LCD screen, especially if square, I can see where it could be difficult to see well enough due to way you have to make each window so small to fit both the Flash and the training windows up at the same time.

Although this training program is primarily intended for Flash MX Professional 2004 the publisher also claims it to be an introduction to Flash MX but that part of the training on this disk appears to be nothing but hacked up parts and pieces of an earlier produced Flash MX training program which is missing all of the basic orientation needed to start using flash, spotty with their explanation of some tools and no mention of others. Next, the program goes strait into telling you to do things which have not been covered yet with no explanation of how to do them. If your buying this disk to learn Flash MX forget it, they just threw some stuff in together to give a few instructions which section to section does not have reasonable flow and far from being even a very basic outline of the program. I'm only a newbie to flash and can clearly see how poorly that portion of the training disk was handled and find it difficult to believe a company would produce such a poor excuse for a Flash MX training CDROM.

This disk appears to be much better for Flash MX 2004 Pro., but when I tried using the Mastering Flash MX 2004 professional portion of this disk every time the guy tells you to click on a tool or menu the audio stops for a long time until you click "next" in the control box so that you can hear more. What I have found happens every time they ask me to select one of the drop down menus the audio instructions have stopped each and every time without telling me what to do next, so then I have to go over to the control panel for the CDROM and click "next" to get the rest of the instructions of what he wants you to select in that menu. However, each time you jump back and forth between the control box to click next and flash you have then just deselected Flash causing the drop down menu you had just opened to snap back and close. Because of this I often find myself having to use the "back" button to hear what he said again. What they should be doing is telling you to click on a menu item then pause their speaking for long enough for you to do it and THEN tell you want they want you to select in that menu without having to click "next" after each sentence and the resulting de-selection of the drop down menu.

The Flash MX 2004 Pro. portion of this program needs some polishing so that the user won't get so frustrated with the way they give you tiny little bits of instruction to tell you to open the menu, but does not tell you what you need to select in that menu until you click "next" to continue. I understand they have tried to make this program as newbie friendly as possible so that even the slowest person can have enough time to see what they need to do, but telling you to click on a menu and then stopping the audio and requiring you to click "next" again (unless your willing to wait for an extremely long period time for the program to time out and continue talking) to hear what they want you to click on in that drop down menu is taking it way too far, to the point of making what could be a good product poor.

One last design problem with the program. The control for the CDROM where you have buttons for Back, Next and Last have the buttons all far too small and close together in a row. The "next" and "last" buttons are right next to one another and I have accidentally clicked on "last" more than once when trying to select next and found it will take you to the end of the training program which you then cannot back out of to get back where you should be, requiring a restart of the training section and navigation to get back to where you last were.