If you’re a Flash designer or developer picking up Flash CS4 Professional for the first time, or a user upgrading from a prior version, you’ll want O’Reilly’s newest publication, Learning Flash CS4 Professional: Getting Up to Speed with Flash, by your side.

Learning Flash CS4 Professional: Getting Up to Speed with Flash offers beginners and intermediate Flash developers a unique introduction to the latest version of Adobe’s powerful multimedia application. Authored by Flash and ActionScript expert Rich Shupe, this easy-to-read book comes loaded with full-color examples and hands-on tasks to help you master Flash CS4’s new motion editor, integrated 3D system, and character control using the new inverse kinematics bones animation system.

No prior experience with Flash is necessary to enjoy this book, as you learn the Flash interface from the ground up, but there are plenty of new features of which veteran Flash designers and developers can take advantage.

“Like many creative technologies, the Flash platform (not just the software, but also the community) has exploded over the last several years, fueled by faster, less expensive computers, the arrival of economical broadband access, and the growing role the Internet plays in our personal and professional lives,” writes Shupe in the book’s introduction. “If you’re reading this book — whether you’re a developer or designer (or perhaps a member of the recently dubbed devigner camp: a programming creative that defies easy description) — it’s because Flash does, or will, play a part in your productivity. No matter what your experience level, you’ll find that Flash is a big application with a lot to offer.”

Learning Flash CS4 Professional will help you:

• Understand Flash fundamentals with clear, concise information you can use right away
• Learn key concepts and techniques in every chapter, with annotated screenshots and illustrations
• Develop an ongoing project that utilizes material from every chapter
• Learn how to package your work for distribution on the Web and through AIR desktop applications
• Download sample files and discuss additional Flash features on the companion blog

As part of the Adobe Developer Library, and companion volume to the bestselling Learning ActionScript 3.0 by Rich Shupe and Zevan Rosser, this is the most authoritative guide to Flash CS4 available. Get moving with Flash today!