Bruce Von Stiers

The learning curve for any major software application can be very steep. Most people have to go through some training or grab a couple of armful of self help books to get to know the product. One product that could potentially be extremely hard to learn is Macromedia Authorware. But the folks at the company figured there might be some other folks who would need help learning the product. That is where the Macromedia Press group came in. They have a series called Training From The Source. This series features books about a specific Macromedia product and are written by SME’s or Subject Matter Experts. Macromedia Press published a title in this series to help out people learning Authorware. The title of the book is Macromedia Authorware 6: Training From The Source. The authors of the book are Orson Kellogg and Veera Bhatnagar. The book was copyrighted in 2002. Peachpit Press is the distributor for the book.

The book is set up as 22 individual lessons. Each lesson tackles a specific area in the Authorware program and teaches you about it. The book comes with a three part appendix and an 11 page index. It contains a total of 558 pages. There is also a CD-ROM disc that comes with the book. This disc has the source files for the lessons in the book.

The first lesson takes you through some of the Authorware basics. Learn how to navigate around the Design Window. The lesson will show you how to follow basic flowline logic. If you have ever worked with flow charts, this part should be easy. If not, then the book will step you through it.

Each lesson will have at least a Tip or two. These are extra things that the authors think might help you. In the first lesson, one of the tips told about opening the Presentation Window by choosing Window>Presentation from the pull down menu. Another tip let you know that you can right click an icon to preview its contents. There is also an occasional Note. These are items that the authors think are important A Note in Lesson 3 warns about using custom palettes in the RTF Objects editor. At the end of each lesson, there is a recap of what you were supposed to have learned.

Lesson 2 goes into what Knowledge Objects are and how these are used to build your application. It will show you how to set up a basic framework and the individual pages and sections of your project are tied together.

Lesson 3 is called Creating A Simple Piece. You will put together the program piece that you looked at in the previous lessons. You will learn how to import a graphic and create text using the RTF Objects editor. The fourth lesson has you adding sound and motion files to the project.

In Lesson 5 you will begin to start using Interactions. This is how your user interacts with the program. You will be shown how to create something called a keypress interaction. This is where the user presses a key on their keyboard in response to a prompt in the program. Then something will happen as a result of the interaction. Lessons 6 through 10 also deal with Interactions.

Lesson 11 deals with something called Perpetual Pull-Down Menus. This means that the menu should be available throughout your entire piece, or program. This lesson will show you how to create a pull down menu and the nuances of separating sections out in one. Lessons 13 through 15 take you into the world of variables. You will learn what variables do for user input and how it affects output. These lessons also take you into the array arena. Gee, this sound s a little like programming, doesn’t it? Not to worry. Orson and Veera explain things fairly simply, so that even remedial folks like me could get it.

By the time that you are done going through the lessons, you should have more than just a nodding acquaintance with Authorware 6. This book may not be the end all for Authorware users, but it will sure help people who are wanting to learn how to use it and can’t go to training.

I found that Macromedia Authorware 6 Training From The Source to be a top notch self help book. If you haven’t used Authorware before, but are going to, this book should be the first thing that sets on your desk.

You can find Macromedia Authorware 6: Training From The Source at bookstores like Barnes and Noble. You can also order it online from Peachpit Press at www.peachpit.com.