It’s not hard to find Macromedia Flash Training — there are lots of different sources. But it can be tough to find the right kind of training. Some folks think that books are the best form of Flash training. Other folks feel that the best Flash training can only be had in a classroom setting. My opinion falls somewhere in the middle.

While I’m a big fan of the Flash format, I’m often frustrated by the program itself. Part of that frustration is due to the fact that Flash is such a monumental program. There are lots of facets, plenty of nooks and crannies, and lots of places for newbies to fall through the cracks. Flash training is not to be taken lightly. You can’t be a completely casual user and expect success.

I’ve never had the luxury of tradional classroom Flash training, although I often wish I did.

I learned the basic principles of animation through spending a good bit of time with two masters of the craft. Back in 2001, I had the good fortune of co-authoring “The Art of Cartooning With Flash” with Gary Leib and John Kuramoto, the geniuses behind Twinkle and the animators of the 2003 Sundance-winning film, American Splendor. John was the driving force behind writing the book, while Gary knocked out the most fabulous illustrations … they did the lion’s share of the writing … I merely helped bring all that great stuff to the printed page.

In the process of researching and writing the book, I was most fortunate to have sat in on a couple of seminar sessions that John ran at the Twinkle studio. Those sessions hammered home the principles of classic cartoon animation and how they related to Flash. I could not have dreamed of getting a better introduction, with cartoons shown in the context of Flash training.

It’s the animation that I love, but it’s the scripting that I need …

While I don’t aspire to be a mega-Flash scripter, I know I need to know a whole lot more about the code than I do now. I’ve thought about classroom Flash training for scripting, but I just can’t shell out the coin at the moment … that’s one of the downsides of being an independent … there’s no fat corporate education budget … and I miss those days …

If I was still working for the corporation, I’d be vacuuming in all of the classroom Flash training I could find … on the company’s dime, of course … ;)