Customer Rating:  
Summary: A good set of videos for beginners
Comment: Adobe Dreamweaver CS3: Video Training Book
This set of materials is about 4 hours of training, created by Garrick Chow. The lessons are divided into 12 areas: Getting Started; Exploring the Interface; Managing Your Sites; Learning the Basics; Linking; Working with Cascading Style Sheets; Working with Typography; Working with Tables; Using Layout Tools; Designing for Devices; Working with Rollover Images; and Publishing Your Site. Although videos are the heart of this "book," there is a small printed reference guide (167 pages) which briefly highlights selected points for each section. However, the manual will not replace the videos. Included in this collection are exercise files, which are the files used in the video demonstrations.
These video lessons are also found on lynda.com but this collection allows you to use the materials without paying for the connect time to Lynda Weinman's site or without having an Internet connection (or should I say a fast Internet connection, which posted videos often require). All of these videos are QuickTime so that player must be installed on your computer. An important thing to keep in mind if you purchase this video collection is that the videos will not run if copied to your hard drive, but must be played from the CD drive on your computer. The exercise files can be opened and used if copied to your hard drive.
As the title implies, these lessons are primarily aimed at a new user of Dreamweaver. Filmed with CS3, there are comments periodically in the videos if something "different" is available in this release of Dreamweaver, for example the option to preview web pages in various devices (hand held devices primarily).
I think these videos would be very useful to anyone starting Dreamweaver. One of the topics which typically confronts and confuses a new user is defining a remote server, and, of course, no single explanation can solve this problem, since servers are set up differently. This resource describes setting up a Tripod account (which is free), to give people an option to post files, if they do not have an established server already.
As someone who has taught Dreamweaver for several years, I still found things in this material that I had not used or used minimally (for example, changing the docking of panels, creating a site map, using a tracing image, using AP div areas for placing items on a specific part of a page, creating a disjointed rollover, and creating a navigation bar with images). Because of these "intermediary topics" these videos would further stretch the new user to tackle more than just basic text, links, images and tables.
I thought the introduction to cascading style sheets as they can be created in Dreamweaver was very good, so this resource would be useful to someone who had a basic understanding of Dreamweaver but still felt "fizzy" when dealing with CSS. There is not a lot of detail about doing a layout using CSS, but this video series is aimed at new users. I was happy, however, that the instructor included a video about creating a printer-friendly style sheet, and illustrated in a few steps some practical reasons to take the extra steps needed to create a screen versus a print style sheet.
Review by Linda Ffolliott
Tucson Adobe Users Group member
Customer Rating:
Summary: This is NOT a Windows tutorial
Comment: This is NOT a Windows tutorial. I am furious that the product description is written intentionally leaving out the important fact that this is a MAC video. I purchased a video tutorial because I wanted to see the exact same screens in the tutorial that I see on my Windows PC. The entire video is demonstrated on a MAC, with only a very few references at the beginning of the course to differences on a Windows PC. The MAC windows are very similar, but similar is NOT the same. Additionally, the book that comes with the video is not a "detailed" written description of the video as the video training book description says. The book is a "summary only" of what is in the video.
PRO's:
I just watched the videos, not following along and doing the exercises, and got a quick idea of the most important things that Dreamweaver is capable of. That's the true value of this course. This course is much much faster than reading a 1,000 page book that includes everything that Dreamweaver is capable of. I rated this product 3 stars instead of 1 star because the product does have value because of how quickly it gets you in to using Dreamweaver for web design.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Terrific Video Book
Comment: As part of my new job I had to learn DreamWeaver in a hurry. The simple, no nonsense approach to web page creation is fantastic. I looked at a lot of Dreamweaver books and most were confusing and written for people with web work experience. Garrick gets you going quickly and is very easy follow. I highly recommend this video and any other products by Garrick Chow.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Wonderful way to learn.
Comment: I have been working on web sites for over five years. My first training was at a state university extension class. It was a great introduction but I quickly realized that web site design would require a lot more effort, a lot more books for me to read. Over time, I was amazed at how web site development has changed and for anyone not making a good effort at keeping current; your efforts will be out of date in a short time. Training needs to be done more quickly with our fast-pasted living and the web is changing way too fast to easily keep up. Finding the time to read books to keep up with these changes is a luxury for some. I thought I had almost every good book on Dreamweaver ever written until I found Adobe Dreamweaver CS3: Video Training Book. I had heard of Lynda. com training materials and some times enjoyed their free offerings in some of the web design magazines. When I found this book, I thought that a new dimension might be brought back, namely classroom instruction. I had really enjoyed the classroom instruction I received at the state college. The college instructor was top notch. I guess I was looking for the next college class to take. Well I found it in this "book". The instruction is extremely well plotted out. The dialog is amazing in its clarity and precision. Even when I think a point is extraneous at a particular moment becomes obviously important a few seconds later. Someone spent a lot of time story boarding this tutorial out. The video follows nicely but at times a bit quickly so I had to rewind the movie some times to get the point being conveyed. I was amazed that with all the years reading how to work with web design and Dreamweaver, I had missed some basic techniques, actually made some minor mistakes in my web design. This approach to learning is simply wonderful for some of us. I cannot imagine who would not benefit greatly from this one on one teaching approach. I just wish there was more chapters to the "book". I sincerely recommend this "book" and give it a maximum score.
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