tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46088414633644763092012-01-04T04:54:26.691-08:00Flash, WebGL, HTML5 and 3DVideometry.nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12691535521911086799noreply@blogger.comBlogger271100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4608841463364476309.post-86069421556225893782011-10-24T11:32:00.000-07:002011-10-24T11:32:38.489-07:00

With all the (deserved) hype surrounding Stage3D, it's easy to miss some of the other great new features of Flash Player 11. Over the weekend I tried and failed to find an example of Cubic Bezier Curves (cubicCurveTo), so there was no way out but to build one. In the past this would required a degree in maths and a minimum 4 litres of Red Bull, but with the new command any idiot can do it, and

Videometry.nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12691535521911086799noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4608841463364476309.post-62520062525824814572011-09-23T01:54:00.000-07:002011-09-23T09:05:33.508-07:00

Away3D 4.0 Showreel 2011 using Flash Player 11 beta from Rob Bateman on Vimeo. Well, actually not quite 15 seconds, but we managed to get 2 demos into the new Away3D showreel.

Videometry.nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12691535521911086799noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4608841463364476309.post-24776884561893662052011-09-13T02:16:00.000-07:002012-01-04T04:54:26.702-08:00

As seen in an earlier post, I've been messing with image based 3D. That is to say encoding 3D information into video. The technique is showing some promise, and I've started formalising it into an exporter for 3D Studio MAX and an AS3 library for Flash/Away3D. Here's another quick example. Please view in fullscreen. To the right of the curtains you will see a small, wierd animation/film, that

Videometry.nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12691535521911086799noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4608841463364476309.post-32767664897802773532011-09-13T02:01:00.000-07:002011-09-13T02:02:56.982-07:00

We are approaching probably the most exciting Flash Player release in history! Not since version 4 introduced scripting has there been a more major update. We've been through quite a few beta versions, and visitors to the site will likely have experienced broken demos, as with each development cycle updates were necessary, and if you didin't have the right player, for the right demo, it was tough

Videometry.nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12691535521911086799noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4608841463364476309.post-60177427331586736552011-09-02T04:29:00.000-07:002011-09-02T04:45:17.715-07:00

click here to open (requires Flash 11 beta2 or higher) I remember the title of a book for salesmen, called "Fake it 'til You Make It", the idea being to fake being successful until you actually become successful. While I haven't been able to make a physics engine to rival Havok in AS3, I have found a novel way to fake it by using reactor (powered by Havok in 3D Studio MAX) to create simulations

Videometry.nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12691535521911086799noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4608841463364476309.post-58463180203043622582011-09-02T04:10:00.000-07:002011-09-02T04:10:19.356-07:00

I've just realised I've been wasting my life for the past 15 years... Though a regular user of 3D Studio MAX (I even taught it for 4 years), Maxscript has always been a closed book to me. Maybe it's because it wasn't there when I started using 3D Studio in DOS. Everytime I've looked at a MaxScript I've been put off by the lack of punctuation and thousands of reserved words, etc. and never

Videometry.nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12691535521911086799noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4608841463364476309.post-11071425133168068882011-07-21T07:51:00.000-07:002011-07-23T08:43:06.242-07:00

I've seen a lot of people looking for a way to publishing Flash 11 content from the CS5 and CS5.5 IDE, so here's a quick guide... (I don't have CS5.5 myself, or a Mac, but have set it up on a mates machine so I know it can be done, please bare with me!) 1. If Flash is running, close it. Go into your Flash directory (usually Programs > Adobe > Flash) and find Common > Configuration >

Videometry.nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12691535521911086799noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4608841463364476309.post-275843172417782892011-06-16T07:52:00.000-07:002011-07-14T04:45:33.623-07:00

To celebrate the newly unveiled Away3D website, and to showcase the power of Broomstick and Molehill compared to previous Flash players and Away3D frameworks, I wanted to share this little client demo. (Incubator player required). UPDATE: Flash 11 Beta is out on labs and the example has been modified to run under the new F11 plugin. Incubator users should update before clicking the image below.

Videometry.nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12691535521911086799noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4608841463364476309.post-7867084224319533372011-05-17T08:57:00.000-07:002011-08-11T02:35:50.214-07:00

After seeing David Lenaerts excellent Broomstick example, I've been eager to find a workflow to bring motion capture data into Flash. It took a while to work out, not being familiar with the MD5 format at all, but it turned out those nice guys at Away3D had already done all the hard work. I was thinking I'd have to map the bones of MAX's Biped to some other custom "MD5 scheme", but to my delight

Videometry.nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12691535521911086799noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4608841463364476309.post-45776767424550932882011-04-16T05:32:00.000-07:002011-04-17T23:59:53.197-07:00

A practical application of a wave formula, animating a Manta Ray. To keep the body steady while animating the "wings" the formula applies amplitude depending on distance from the centre, multiplied by a cosine to give a fairly smooth transition from centre to wing tip. The formula is still fairly simple and can definatly be improved upon. The movement, though graceful is not true to life (yet)

Videometry.nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12691535521911086799noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4608841463364476309.post-26245403162867630102011-04-15T05:05:00.000-07:002011-04-18T00:00:32.503-07:00

Spurned on by the success of my first Away3D 4.0 Experiment and what with it being friday afternoon, I thought I'd try another one. After looking at the docs (I know, cheating really) I tried making a wave modifier. Considering the maths is all on the CPU it runs quite well. There is massive room for optimisation by making the wave function run as a GPU program. Maybe something for next friday.

Videometry.nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12691535521911086799noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4608841463364476309.post-48846158476290480432011-04-14T07:16:00.000-07:002011-04-18T00:00:59.580-07:00

Now that the Flash player 11 alpha is in the wild, the Away3d team have released Broomstick, a GPU accelerated version, with the familiar feel of Away. Development with Molehill is not for the faint hearted, and accessing the alpha technology through an alpha framework is bound to cause you to start smoking again, but hey, it's also fun to pioneer new technology. For a primer on the "new" way to

Videometry.nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12691535521911086799noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4608841463364476309.post-13199974380597738782010-11-01T03:02:00.000-07:002011-04-18T00:01:22.325-07:00

I've always been quick to criticise Adobe for their handling of Flash and the Flash community and so I feel it's only fare to give them deserved kudos in light of recent developments. I'm mainly referring to the upcoming Molehill 3D API's, but also their inroads into the mobile market. While we lowly developers will have to patiently wait for the "the first half of 2011" to get our hands on the

Videometry.nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12691535521911086799noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4608841463364476309.post-7668206040061900452009-11-12T23:36:00.000-08:002009-11-16T04:37:13.303-08:00

When you're creating online applications you often want to mimic the tools people are used to from the desktop. The classic marching ants selection marker is a good example and even easier than before, now that the lineBitmapStyle has been added to AS3. matrix.translate(0.5, 0);this.graphics.clear();this.graphics.lineStyle(1);this.graphics.lineBitmapStyle(ants, matrix, true, false);

Videometry.nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12691535521911086799noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4608841463364476309.post-50904726436509440512009-11-10T13:48:00.000-08:002009-11-10T13:59:37.044-08:00

Original? No.Useful? Not really.Flashy? Definately!Forked on Wonderfl

Videometry.nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12691535521911086799noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4608841463364476309.post-21940415320560907442009-10-22T14:37:00.000-07:002009-10-22T15:25:22.843-07:00

A few days ago I recieved my new phone. With all the recent hype about CS5 and iPhone it may have escaped some flash developers attention that the HERO already ships with Flash player. Currently this only runs AS2, although video is running perfectly (YourTube, TED) in fullscreen, and the F10 player is on the way. What can I say, the HTC HERO is the best phone I've ever seen. It has all the

Videometry.nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12691535521911086799noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4608841463364476309.post-34769384294351289722009-09-28T00:48:00.000-07:002009-09-28T06:34:45.665-07:00

A friend of mine has been making 2D floorplan tools in Flash since MX.A couple of years ago I built a 3D option for him, based on the then open source Flux player(X3D). When MediaMachines turned into Vivaty, the javascript API broke and player was no longer open source, and that was the end of the solution we spent 6 months developing. Ouch! Since then we've been looking for another option based

Videometry.nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12691535521911086799noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4608841463364476309.post-53993536039731668622009-09-21T06:28:00.000-07:002009-09-21T06:46:08.216-07:00

Still playing around with Away3dLite.It's a huge advantage when you want to extend a framework for your own purposes, that the framework itself is compact and understandable. That's certainly the case with this lastest version of Away3d. I've been working for some time with high fidelity models, X3D import and custom material filters. This work has been easy to migrate to Away3dLite, which is an

Videometry.nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12691535521911086799noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4608841463364476309.post-27454495738420811432009-09-13T15:57:00.000-07:002009-09-13T16:14:23.036-07:00

The first test og Away3dLite looks promising.http://www.videometry.net/away3d/AwayTest.html(Click the screen to start)I fudged the BitmapMaterial so I could use a shader as input.At 30 fps there seems to be no performance hit at all. At higher framerates the shader does cause a dip compared to using a plain bitmap. The size of textures seems to affect framerates dramitically when using shaders

Videometry.nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12691535521911086799noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4608841463364476309.post-47853293032227011822009-09-12T02:33:00.000-07:002009-09-12T02:51:41.212-07:00

Away3d has just released a new version, Away3dLite.http://away3d.com/away3d-lite-v1-0-fastest-and-smallest-3d-engine-in-flashThis release seems to address all the same issues that Atomic was trying to.Firstly it is written from the ground up for Flash10, making full use of the new features/types, etc. which greatly increases performance, and secondly it has a very small footprint compared to the

Videometry.nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12691535521911086799noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4608841463364476309.post-30561624991649049742009-09-12T02:10:00.000-07:002009-09-12T02:52:44.671-07:00

Normal mapping has now been added to Atomic.Normal maps provide a fast alternative to, for example phong shading and other lighting models, and at the same time enhances simple geometry.The normal filter adds less than 1Kb to the size of the engine, but adds a fast, smooth, directional lighting.Click the image to open the example, click and drag to rotate and zoom

Videometry.nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12691535521911086799noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4608841463364476309.post-90216945543362558712009-09-08T08:38:00.000-07:002009-09-09T02:25:10.627-07:00

Atomic, the new 3D renderer is purring like a kitten, even with full mapping and baked ambient occlusion.http://www.videometry.net/atomic/town.htmlThere's zoom when you click and drag in the y-axis. I discovered to my horror the scrollwheel *still* doesn't work natively in Flash player 10 on Mac. Sorry about that, will use alternative from now on...

Videometry.nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12691535521911086799noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4608841463364476309.post-91789423036900631962009-09-02T13:38:00.000-07:002009-09-02T23:34:47.577-07:00

Here's a first glimpse of our new 3D class for Flash10, Atomic.Wait a while for the 300K model to load then click the screen to start. There's some primitve navigation via mouse position.This actual t-shirt design is available at http://www.bluebaldur.com/The idea of Atomic is to be like the atom itself, very small yet surprisingly powerful.Rendering quality is the number one priority, closely

Videometry.nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12691535521911086799noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4608841463364476309.post-60923155739092436112009-08-30T14:32:00.000-07:002009-08-31T00:38:27.067-07:00

This example shows the exact same filter, but a more complex 3D scene.As before, you can click and drag the object in x and y planes, and use the scroll wheel to move in the z plane.Try moving the beachball around the scene and notice that it is masked correctly in all 3d positions.You can place it between the car and figure, or halfway through the windscreen, behind a pillar, etc.The actual 3d

Videometry.nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12691535521911086799noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4608841463364476309.post-90724091497981709292009-08-17T15:34:00.000-07:002009-08-17T16:05:57.261-07:00

When is 3D not 3D? Well, all the time when it comes to computer monitors, 3D is merely a 2D illusion.The generally accepted way to producing this illusion is to draw 1000's of triangles based on a geometric model of an object, or group of objects in a scene resulting in hundreds of thousands of calculations per frame. There are other ways. There are other techniques that also mimic 3D, but avoid

Videometry.nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12691535521911086799noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4608841463364476309.post-42092025832064563432009-05-04T07:30:00.000-07:002009-05-04T08:10:17.286-07:00

In the past we've used Flash to control an X3D plugin. It worked, but was kind of limited. With the O3D plugin literally everything is exposed to javascript, and as Flash can call javascript throught the ExternalInterface it follows that is it straight forward to control the O3D plugin from Flash.http://www.videometry.net/o3d/FlashPiggyback.html(click and drag the white circle in the flash movie

Videometry.nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12691535521911086799noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4608841463364476309.post-74960524608667212922009-05-01T02:09:00.000-07:002009-05-01T03:43:18.816-07:00

I couldn't resist starting with this geeky, 3d way of saying that Google have turned the 3D web inside out with the preliminary release of O3D, a new initiative to attempt to bring 3D to the web. But before you go thinking "heard it all before, yet another VRML clone" let us talk about why this time it might just be different.In the beginning there was VRML, way ahead of it's time, and

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