Is there an Idiot's/Beginner's guide to math in Flash

**nocrapchurch** · 03-19-2002, 11:08 PM

Is there such a thing? Maybe not a book, but how about some tutorials on the web somewhere that could get a math in Flash newbie started?

-scott
http://www.scottmanning.com/

**DonDanny** · 03-20-2002, 04:36 AM

Maybe you should check out "Flash Math Creativity" by FoED. I didn't read it yet, but I heard they did a great job on that one.

**bit-101** · 03-28-2002, 05:48 PM

it's an awesome book (if i do say so myself

) but not really a tutorial type thing. to tell the truth, i haven't found a decent book that covers all the bases, so i decided to write one myself.

**nocrapchurch** · 03-28-2002, 06:27 PM

Originally posted by bit-101
it's an awesome book (if i do say so myself ) but not really a tutorial type thing.

Does it cover things like doing caculating complex math equations in Flash?

Originally posted by bit-101
to tell the truth, i haven't found a decent book that covers all the bases, so i decided to write one myself.

Really? How far are you into it? Tell us more about it.

-scott
http://www.scottmanning.com/

**bit-101** · 03-28-2002, 09:04 PM

Originally posted by nocrapchurch

Does it cover things like doing caculating complex math equations in Flash?

hard to describe. check amazon.com. they have a bunch of sample pages.

Originally posted by bit-101
to tell the truth, i haven't found a decent book that covers all the bases, so i decided to write one myself.

Really? How far are you into it? Tell us more about it.
[QUOTE]

just the proposal stage. i have strong interest by one publisher, but not quite a commitment yet. everyone is caught up in the mx rush right now.

i'm looking at covering mostly physics type stuff - gravity, elasticity, momentum, collisions, perspective, rotations, etc.

**nocrapchurch** · 03-29-2002, 02:20 AM

Well, I guess our definitions of math are off.

What I meant was math like math equations:

(p-8)X*2(y-36)=r/2

The friends of ed book looks like a bunch of actionscript equations that will make cool dancing effects. Although this requires math, this isn't what I'm looking for.

-scott

**bit-101** · 03-29-2002, 11:24 AM

yeah, like i said, the book (fmc) is not a tutorial on math by far. it's stuff done using math. more like, "how to play with math"
don't know any resources off hand for what you are looking for, sorry.

**nocrapchurch** · 03-29-2002, 11:56 AM

Originally posted by bit-101
don't know any resources off hand for what you are looking for, sorry.

Well, that sucks. Sure wish there was (hint hint for you and dondanny).

-scott

**DonDanny** · 03-29-2002, 03:22 PM

I'm currently doing some Math Chapters for a book called "Flash MX and ActionScript Professionell" (German). The Flash 5 book was a bestseller here in Germany, but wasn't translated to any other languages. Maybe the MX Book will be published in some other languages, we're still discussing that point. But if we do I'll let you know, there is definetly some interesting Math and Physics stuff in there.

**nocrapchurch** · 03-30-2002, 10:38 AM

DonDanny, that's cool. Let me know when you hear any word about it being translated in English. I just don't have the time to learn German. I'm already having trouble staying fluent in HTML, JavaScript, PHP, ActionScript, etc. etc.

-scott

**Ed Mack** · 03-30-2002, 05:14 PM

bit 101, if you do an advanced Maths book, I will buy a copy. Just make sure it gets down to the gory bits.

**RazoRmedia** · 04-04-2002, 08:04 AM

http://www.were-here.com/forum/Artic...01/index.shtml

http://www20.brinkster.com/ahab/tutorials/mathindex.htm

or for someone at your level scott, click here

**john_bws** · 04-15-2002, 01:07 AM

bit,
do you really think you can write a complete book? from what i have read you seem to only possess average knowledge of the material you discuss. how can you hope to discuss momentum when you cannot even define it or even know of its most important use. it seems you even have the wrong idea of 'elasticity'. i read your posts and website and terms are used loosely with no real understanding of them.

this is my personally opinion. books and teachers can sometimes do more harm than good

**bit-101** · 04-15-2002, 09:42 AM

Originally posted by john_bws
bit,
do you really think you can write a complete book? from what i have read you seem to only possess average knowledge of the material you discuss. how can you hope to discuss momentum when you cannot even define it or even know of its most important use. it seems you even have the wrong idea of 'elasticity'. i read your posts and website and terms are used loosely with no real understanding of them.

this is my personally opinion. books and teachers can sometimes do more harm than good

gosh, you are right. i don't want to hurt anyone. i won't write anything else ever. over to you.

**nocrapchurch** · 04-15-2002, 10:38 AM

Before this turns into a flaming thread, I would like to point out something. There are several books already coming out on Flash MX. Flash MX has only been out a little over a month and the beta version was only out late last year. So how can all these people write books on a program they just learned?

Bit, if you learn the stuff, write the book.

-scott
http://www.scottmanning.com/

**john_bws** · 04-15-2002, 03:33 PM

why would anyone want to buy fallacy? you should know the material better than nearly anyone before you write a book. is it alright for me to think that what you have done for your site is very good for people because it is informal but a book is something much different? small sentences may cut down large prose but my argument is still valid

norcrapcurch,
i thought many were on the beta for months ???

**RazoRmedia** · 04-15-2002, 04:06 PM

Originally posted by john_bws
you should know the material better than nearly anyone before you write a book

While this should be true, it rarely is. Browse some of the flash 5 books out at the moment and all they do is merely run you through projects that you could have probably worked out yourself given the time. This is also the same with the new MX books coming out (I browsed through one today - upgrade essentials something or other). While it may be useful to some, the same information is available online and in sites such as this, wh and ultrashock

It seemed that Friends of Ed and New Riders cornered the flash book market immediately and although they have produced some quality books (I liked the 1st new masters edition,) they now seem to be flooding the market with everything flash

foundation flash
flash studio
advanced flash
advanced actionscript
flash and xml
backend flash
how to eat flash
men are from mars, flash is from venus
etc etc

and John, I think writing a book is a learning experience for the author as well as the readers, I'm sure bit will be researching hard.

Bruce

(oh, buy anything by COlin Moocke, his actionscript definitive guide was great!)

**bit-101** · 04-15-2002, 04:14 PM

ok. let me clarify, rather than start a flame. i have no plans to write a book on MATH. that would be a dumb idea since i plainly profess that i have no formal education in math per se, and would not feel anywhere near capable to write a book on the subject.

i have written one chapter for a book about FLASH. i am currently writing 3 chapters for another book about FLASH and will soon undertake another chapter or two for yet another book about FLASH. there is a possibility of my doing a whole book on my own about FLASH.

all of these projects are how to incorporate particular effects using flash. they also tend to use a good deal of math and physics. not super heavy duty stuff, but more than the average person on the street might have in his head. i freely confess to "dumbing down" a lot of the math and physics, because when you are just bouncing a ball around the screen in flash, you are mainly concerned that it looks real, not that it definitely follows every known scientific law. if someone is going to use my tutorials or books to learn math or physics, they are already off on the wrong foot. if they are going to use them to learn how to make cool effects in flash, i can guarantee that they will be able to understand how those effects work and how to create them on their own.

i'm sorry if i misled anyone into thinking that i was writing a book on math.

**bit-101** · 04-15-2002, 04:25 PM

in terms of knowing more than anyone on a subject, i don't think that's at all a requirement. a virtually impossible one anyway. a more reasltic goal is to know more than your target audience and to be able to communicate it clearly and in a way that they can understand and use the information.

**john_bws** · 04-15-2002, 05:09 PM

ok,fine with me. i will leave it at that. i threw an idea out, that is all. i never thought you were writing a math book. flash/math, math/flash, either way you should tell something correctly. and i still stick by the fact you should know as much as there is to know about what you write.

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