Away3D 3.6 Cookbook

✍ Scribed by Michael Ivanov

• Publisher: Packt Publishing
• Year: 2011
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 480
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Over 80 practical recipes for creating stunning graphics and effects with the fascinating Away3D engine Invaluable tips and techniques to take your Away 3D applications to the top Reveals the secrets of cleaning your scene from z-sorting artifacts without killing your CPU Get 2D objects into the 3D world by learning to work with TextField3D and extracting graphics from vector graphics Learn essential topics like collision detection, elevation reading, terrain generation, skyboxes, and much more Gain an exclusive and practical introduction to Molehill, the next generation of 3D APIs for the Flash platform - by creating a rotating sphere from scratch. Part of Packt's Cookbook series: each recipe is a carefully organized sequence of instructions to complete the task as efficiently as possible In Detail Three dimensions are better than two--and it's not a secret anymore that 3D is here to stay. Gone are the days when Flash was just used for 2D animations. In the last few years online Flash content has undergone a revolution with the introduction of real-time 3D engines for Flash. Away3D is the big daddy of them all--which makes it the ultimate resource for top-rated 3D content development and for powering today's coolest games and Flash sites. Away 3D 3.6 Cookbook is your answer to learning all you need to take your Flash or Away3D skills to the next level-- and having fun doing it. This book is your practical companion that will teach you more than just the essentials of Away3D, and will provide you with all the tools and techniques you need to create a stunning 3D experience. You will find recipes targeting every possible field related to Away3D, 3D development pipelines, and best practices in general. You will find practically relevant content exploring advanced topics, which will clear your way to developing cutting edge applications--not to mention saving hours of searching for help on the internet. The recipes in this book will teach you diverse aspects of 3D application development with Away3D. They will guide you through essential aspects like creation of assets in external programs and their integration into Away3D, working with material, animation, interactivity, special effects, and much more. Each topic is packed with recipes targeting different levels of complexity so that even experienced Away3D developers will find a lot of useful and unique information. By the time you are done with this book, you'll be creating your own awesome Away 3D applications and games in less time than you can say "design".. What you will learn from this book Learn how to prepare and get into Away3D external models of diverse formats (DAE, MD2, 3DS, Obj) Manage your assets by loading 3D models right from the database via AMF binary stream or compressing them into SWF resource containers Have fun with special effects such as geometry explosions, 3D clouds, and sound visualization Rig characters in 3DsMax and learn how to control it in Away3D Animate with Tween engines and Away3D generic tools Dive into 3D math by learning advanced interactivity concepts like virtual trackball, moving objects in 3D space based on mouse input, and how to create a fully interactive vehicle Transform 2D objects into the 3D world by learning to work with TextField3D and extracting graphics from vector graphics Optimize your application implementing such techniques as depth of rendering, selective rendering, LOD Objects, and the low poly modeling approach Explore Prefab, and see how it helps to speed up the development process Get to know essential 3D terminology , such as normal maps, light maps, texture baking, and UV Mapping and how to create these assets Discover the secrets of cleaning your scene from z-sorting artifacts without killing you CPU Integrate external libraries like JigLibFlash, FLINT, BOX2DFlash, FLARToolkit, and more Get introduced to Away3DLite- lightest and fastest Away3D junior brother on the market Skin your geometry with PixelBender shaded materials and learn how to set a video from Adobe FMS as a source for Away3D VideoMaterial Manipulate Away3D cameras and learn how to set up first- and third-person controllers, get introduced to advanced camera transformations, and discover the power of Quaternions Learn what BSP trees really are and how to use them for creating complex geometry indoor scenes with a minimal impact on performance Approach The book consists of recipes, each of which delivers a detailed solution to a specific problem scoped inside a broader topic of the chapter. Each recipe contains a detailed guide of what you need to set up for the solution to work, the full example code, rendered images, and step-by-step explanations so that you will be able to fully understand the mechanics of the program. Many recipes don't stop at giving only one solution to the problem but also suggest alternative or more advanced approaches to the same problem giving you much a broader set of options in your development process. Who this book is written for The book is written for experienced Flash developers who want to work with the Away3D engine as well as for those who are already acquainted with the engine but wish to take their skills to the next level. Basic knowledge of Away3D and familiarity with ActionScript 3.0 and OOP concepts is assumed.

✦ Table of Contents

Cover......Page 1
Copyright......Page 3
Credits......Page 4
About the Author......Page 5
About the Reviewers......Page 7
www.PacktPub.com......Page 8
Table of Contents......Page 12
Preface......Page 16
Introduction......Page 22
Using a single MovieClip for multiple
materials......Page 23
Controlling the MovieClip of MovieMaterial......Page 27
Streaming VOD from FMS for VideoMaterial......Page 31
Interpolating material color dynamically with DepthBitmapMaterial......Page 36
Creating normal maps in Photoshop......Page 39
Generating normal maps using Away3D
NormalMapGenerator......Page 41
Getting your hands dirty with Pixel Bender materials......Page 45
Assembling composite materials......Page 53
Introduction......Page 56
Creating an FPS controller......Page 57
Creating Camera Depth of Field Effect......Page 65
Detecting whether an object is in front of or behind the camera......Page 71
Changing lenses......Page 75
Following a third-person view with a spring camera......Page 82
Tracking screen coordinates of 3D objects......Page 87
Transforming objects in 3D space relative
to the camera position......Page 90
Using Quaternion camera transformations for advanced image gallery viewing......Page 93
Introduction......Page 100
Animating (Rigging) characters in 3DsMax......Page 101
Controlling bones animation in Collada......Page 105
Working with MD2 animations......Page 109
Morphing objects......Page 115
Animating geometry with Tween engines......Page 120
Moving an object on top of the geometry with FaceLink......Page 127
Introduction......Page 134
Adding rotational interactivity to an Away3D primitive by using Mouse movements......Page 135
Implementing advanced object rotation
using vector math......Page 140
Creating advanced spherical surface
transitions with Quaternions......Page 143
Interactively painting on the model’s texture......Page 148
Dragging on geometry by unprojecting mouse coordinates......Page 152
Morphing mesh interactively......Page 156
Creating a controllable non-physical car......Page 160
Introduction......Page 168
Exploding geometry......Page 169
Creating advanced bitmap effects using
filters......Page 179
Creating clouds......Page 184
Visualizing sound in 3D......Page 188
Creating lens flair effects......Page 194
Masking 3D objects......Page 198
Introduction......Page 204
Setting dynamic text with TextField3D......Page 205
Interactive animation of text along a path......Page 210
Creating 3D objects from 2D vector data......Page 215
Drawing with segments in 3D......Page 219
Creating a 3D illusion with Away3D sprites......Page 223
Introduction......Page 228
Fixing geometry artifacts with Frustum and NearField clipping......Page 229
Removing artifacts from intersecting objects......Page 232
Solving depth-sorting problems with Layers and Render Modes......Page 236
Introduction......Page 242
Exporting models from Prefab......Page 243
Normal mapping with Prefab......Page 247
Maintaining workflow with AwayConnector......Page 253
UV map editing with Prefab......Page 254
Creating terrain......Page 259
Generating light maps......Page 263
Creating and animating paths......Page 268
Introduction......Page 276
Exporting models from 3DsMax/Maya/Blender......Page 277
Exporting models from 3DsMax to
ActionScript class......Page 281
Preparing MD2 models for Away3D in
MilkShape......Page 284
Loading and parsing models (DAE, 3ds,
Obj, MD2)......Page 289
Storing and accessing external assets
in SWF......Page 295
Preloading 3D scene assets......Page 298
Introduction......Page 304
Setting Away3D with JigLib......Page 305
Creating a physical car with JigLib......Page 310
Morphing Away3D geometry with AS3DMOD......Page 318
Exploding particles with FLINT......Page 325
Setting Augmented Realty with FLARToolkit in Away3D......Page 329
Adding Box2D physics to Away3D objects......Page 335
Introduction......Page 344
Setting up Away3D Lite using templates......Page 345
Importing external models in Away3D Lite......Page 347
Manipulating geometry......Page 350
Making 2D shapes appear three dimensional by using Sprite3D......Page 355
Managing Z-Sorting by automatic sorting and using layers......Page 358
Creating virtual trackball......Page 364
Writing Away3D Lite applications with haXe......Page 370
Introduction......Page 376
Defining depth of rendering......Page 377
Restricting the scene poly count......Page 380
Working with LOD objects......Page 383
Optimizing geometry by welding vertices......Page 386
Excluding objects from rendering......Page 390
Image size consideration......Page 395
Important tips for performance optimization......Page 398
Moving on uneven surfaces......Page 402
Detecting collisions between objects
in Away3D......Page 407
Creating cool effects with animated
normal maps......Page 418
Creating skyboxes and their textures......Page 424
Running heavy scenes faster using
BSP trees......Page 432
Appendix: Beginning Molehill API......Page 446
Creating a rotating sphere from scratch......Page 447
Index......Page 466