Tag Archive for 'Flash 10'

A History of the World

Published on January 19, 2010 in 3D, Flash and Videos. 2 Comments

I just returned from a trip round SE Asia to see my last project launch. Called ‘A History of the World in 100 Objects‘, it’s a joint venture between BBC Radio 4 and the British Museum to chart human history in a new way. I developed the concept for the Flash 3D object explorer with the guys at GT and built it using Flash 10’s native 3D capabilities. Users are able to explorer objects from throughout human history in a sort of 3D timeline and even make history by adding their own. Here’s the TV advert for the series:

Since it is expected to grow to up to 10,000 objects over the next 5 years, I used all the tricks in the book to optimise loading, rendering and memory management – which will bore most people to tears, so that’s for another time. Check out the Flash site itself here.

CoolIris type thing in 30 lines

Published on October 23, 2009 in 3D, AS3 and Flash. 3 Comments

package { // Piclens type thing in 30 lines (FP10+) Liam O'Donnell - spikything.com
    import flash.display.Sprite;
    import flash.events.Event;
    public class Main extends Sprite {
        private var container :Sprite;
        private var imageGrid :Sprite;
        private var images :Array = [];
        public function Main():void {
            container = addChild(new Sprite()) as Sprite;
            imageGrid = container.addChild(new Sprite()) as Sprite;
            for (var i:uint = 0; i <200; i++) images.push(getItem(i));
            images.sortOn("z", Array.NUMERIC | Array.DESCENDING);
            for each (var item:Sprite in images) imageGrid.addChild(item);
            addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, update);
        }
        private function getItem(index:uint):Sprite {
            var item:Sprite = new Sprite();
            item.x = -(200 / 3) * 210 / 2 + (index / 3) * 210;
            item.y = (index % 3) * 160 - 40;
            item.z = 100 + Math.random() * 2000;
            item.graphics.beginFill(Math.random() * 0xffffff);
            item.graphics.drawRect(0, 0, 200, 150);
            return item;
        }
        private function update(e:Event):void {
            imageGrid.x += ((stage.stageWidth / 2) - mouseX) * .2;
            container.rotationY = ((stage.stageWidth / 2) - mouseX) * .2;
        }
    }
}

Flash 10 Matrix3D demo

Published on December 10, 2008 in 3D, AS3 and Flash. 1 Comment

I quickly cobbled together this little demo using the new native 3D transforms in Flash 10. Alongside the regular transform.matrix property, DisplayObjects now have a transform.matrix3D property, which controls its appearance in 3-D space. It's pretty easy to play with in Flash CS4, without any coding knowledge - I can't wait to see a version of GTA built using this :)

Quick as a Flash 10

Published on October 17, 2008 in Flash. 0 Comments

Flash Player 10 is here...Flash Player 10 is finally here! But does it live up to the hype? Previous major releases of Flash Player have each brought with them significant improvements in performance or added functionality. This time around, the guys at Adobe have been tinkering with a few exciting (and a few somewhat drier) enhancements, including: native 3-D transform APIs, new custom 'Pixel Bender' filters, dynamic sound generation, hardware accelerated graphics and new video capabilities.

Personally, because I'm always looking for new things that enable us to create innovative and engaging user experiences, I'm a little less excited about new features such as support for right-to-left languages or new audio codecs. But at least there are people out there filling in the gaps, pushing Flash beyond its perceived limits and developing things we can actually use to create edifying experiences, such as papervision, box2d, etc.

Any new features though, even if they aren't quite as 'cool' as the previous additions of webcam or socket server access, are ultimately a good thing. Let's just hope everyone keeps pushing in the right direction and uses Flash to beautify the web, not just make it more clunky - Shockwave people take note.