Web Design Question # 2 - Macromedia Studio MX

[can-o-phish]

For those of you out there working with Macromedia Studio MX, Dreamweaver etc., what literature can you recommend for designing websites? I use Photoshop CS for image creating and rendering and have used Image Ready CS as well but now have the Macromedia Studio suite and would like to find some books to help with the basics.

Any and all suggestions are welcome and keep the wisecracks to a minimum...

[SmoothedShredder]

I just got the Macromedia Studio MX For Dummies book... it promises that I'll have something up with this software in no time. I just got it today and got through the intro before I had to go out. There was another on at Indigo which was double the price, and double the thickness... both came with a CD ROM so you could try the program without buying it first, but the thicker one also had a Flash plug in.

How much does the full program cost? Is it copyprotected well?

~W

[paisley]

recommend learn about html and then about cascading style sheets, start easy and work your way up... the web is chock full of tutorials (many thousands), search around for one's you identify with... then follow links from sites you connect with

good to understand whats going on with your code, as no software is perfect and will eventually screw something up and make you crazy (though dreamweaver is the best I know of for web design, so good choice there)

here's a good link for lots of design related sites http://www.alvit.de/handbook/

if I bump into more links I'll post

Edited September 29, 2005 by Guest

[shainhouse]

I design in action script 2.0, but most people use either java or php. I'm lazy to learn new languages.

[can-o-phish]

Thanks for the tips. The Macromedia Suite price was steep ($1300.00) as it has everything; Flash, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, etc so it's a little daunting but as most programs blend into one another I hope to have the new site up soon.

Thanks for the link paisley. All of this is useful to me as it's borrowing a little of this and a little of that.

There were so many books to choose from and the salesperson didn't really have a recommendation...LOL

[paisley]

happy to help if I can

another good link, particularly for starting-outers

http://www.w3schools.com/

start off figuring out what html tags are, how they work and what they do... use some in a page (both using Dreamweaver and also just a text editor like Notepad) build a page or 2 playing with fonts and background colors, insert an image, build a table (keeping some brief notes)

don't worry about frames... if you absolutely need one one day figure it out then

then breeze over to the cascading style sheets section to see what thats all about... try to make a few pages that way trying to replicate what you did with straight html

I sincerely apologize to anyone uninterested in making web pages who just read any of that

[TonyRage]

The best start to all these programs are the tutorials in the help section. I love Director but do not do too many fancy things. There are a few lingo (director's programming code) help sites for the basics.

I personally find flash unnecessary for me since I do not need animation, but it and director are the same in essence, with flash being one step up.

In terms of Dreameaver, a solid knoweldge of HTML is so useful. Try this tutorial site:

http://www.echoecho.com/html.htm

I used it, but there are a zillion out there.

You may not need a book at all. Everything is free if you search for tutorials. Bookmark often!

[can-o-phish]

Again, thanks for all of this shared info. I have bookmarked all of these links and have started a deeper exploration into web design. I designed our companies website from layout to images but it so needs to be slicker and I've just gotta build my skills so all this helps!

[Kaidy Mae]

CoP, a lot of community colleges have Dreamweaver, Flash, etc. night courses that you can take part time. Usually 8 sessions (3 hours each) for around $200. Just some info in case you're interested in that route. I think I'm going start a Flash course in a few weeks. Yay!

[bouche]

Dreamweaver does have some great built-in tutorials. I suggest going through some of those to understand the concepts of their interface. Using their layout mode is something that I didn't know existed until I clicked through the tutes.

I wouldn't ever suggest a book from the 'dummies' series, but publishers like Oreilly's and Wrox should have a book at chapters that should match your version of the weaver.

I haven't used dreamweaver in a while, but I'm going to see how well it supports php. At home, I'm back to using a text editor (ultraedit) for the time being while I learn more about php.

[can-o-phish]

Hey KM, yah, a while ago I was looking into taking some of those night courses and now am considering it again. Have you found some good ones that seem to give a good bang for the buck? If so, please post or PM me. That'd be great. Flash is something I'd like to know a bit more of as well as it's very much part of my world.

Bouche, any tips you have, keep 'em light though, would be great as well...

[bouche]

Don't eat yellow snow.

[can-o-phish]

Don't eat yellow snow.

ah bouche, you're such a (_E=mc2_)

[Kaidy Mae]

CoP, I think I'm going to just take the night course at Georgian in Barrie (so close to home). I'm not sure if it'll be any good or not. I studied some Dreamweaver in school, but a lot of it went in one ear and out the other. *blush* Check out part-time studies at Ryerson, George Brown, Seneca, Humber, etc. There should be something there for ya. I wouldn't know which one is the best, but a few friends of mine went to Humber and have sweet design jobs (one specializing in Flash) in the city.

If you want to learn Flash I'd recommend a class. I'm not all that familiar with it, but everyone I know who uses it said the learning curve is unbelievable. One of my buddies in Toronto is amazing with Flash. He's gotten so many sweet jobs based on that alone. He's doin' okay.

[can-o-phish]

Thanks KM for the info. I'm not looking at "getting into" flash, just want to be able to develop stuff for our website and get a better understanding of it as so much of the animation that we're working on these days is flash. All the same, thanks for your input

[Kaidy Mae]

The beginner class up here is $200. I'm kind of in the same boat as you. I'd like a general sense of how it works, but I don't plan on specializing in it or anything. I'll let you know how it goes.