In this book, you'll learn

• All the ActionScript 3.0 (including math and trigonometry functions) and Flash rendering techniques you'll need to start animating with code
• Basic motion principles such as velocity, acceleration, friction, easing, and bouncing
• How to handle user interaction via the keyboard and mouse
• Advanced motion techniques such as springs, coordinate rotation, conservation of momentum, and forward and inverse kinematics
• All the basic 3D concepts you need to do 3D in Flash, from simple perspective to full 3D solids complete with backface culling and dynamic lighting

Flash has long been one of the most approachable, user-friendly tools for creating web-based animations, games, and applications. This has contributed to making it one of the most widely used programs for creating interactive web content. With each new version of Flash, ActionScript, its built-in scripting language, has become more powerful and a little more complex, too. ActionScript, now at version 3.0, has significantly matured as a programming language, bringing power and speed only previously dreamed about to Flash-based animation, going far beyond traditionally used keyframes and tweens. The material inside this book covers everything you need to know to harness the power of ActionScript 3.0. First, all the basics of script-based animation and setting up an ActionScript 3.0 project are covered. An introduction to object-oriented programming follows, with the new syntax, events, and rendering techniques of ActionScript 3.0 explained, giving you the confidence to use the language, whether starting from scratch or moving up from ActionScript 2.0. The book goes on to provide information on all the relevant trigonometry you will need, before moving on to physics concepts such as acceleration, velocity, easing, springs, collision detection, conservation of momentum, 3D, and forward and inverse kinematics. In no time at all you'll both understand the concepts of scripted animation and have the ability to create all manner of exciting animations and games.

Summary of Contents

• PART ONE - ACTIONSCRIPTED ANIMATION BASICS
  • Chapter 1 Basic Animation Concepts
  • Chapter 2 Basics of ActionScript 3.0 for Animation
  • Chapter 3 Trigonometry for Animation
  • Chapter 4 Rendering Techniques
• PART TWO - BASIC MOTION
  • Chapter 5 Velocity and Acceleration
  • Chapter 6 Boundaries and Friction
  • Chapter 7 User Interaction: Moving Objects Around
• PART THREE - ADVANCED MOTION
  • Chapter 8 Easing and Springing
  • Chapter 9 Collision Detection
  • Chapter 10 Coordinate Rotation and Bouncing Off Angles
  • Chapter 11 Billiard Ball Physics
  • Chapter 12 Particle Attraction and Gravity
  • Chapter 13 Forward Kinematics: Making Things Walk
  • Chapter 14 Inverse Kinematics: Dragging and Reaching
• PART FOUR - 3D ANIMATION
  • Chapter 15 3D Basics
  • Chapter 16 3D Lines and Fills
  • Chapter 17 Backface Culling and 3D Lighting
• PART FIVE - ADDITIONAL TECHNIQUES
  • Chapter 18 Matrix Math
  • Chapter 19 Tips and Tricks

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This book is a compilation of advanced ActionScript 3.0 animation techniques for any user creating games, user interaction, or motion control with ActionScript. It's a compilation of topics that follow on from the author's earlier book, Foundation ActionScript 3.0 Animation: Making Things Move, and things that became possible in the most recent version of Flash: Flash Player 10. This book covers a diverse selection of topics that don't necessarily lead one into the other. You don't need to start with Chapter 1 and read it cover to cover. Just start with any chapter that looks interesting and jump around as you see fit. In this book, you'll find chapters on advanced collision detection, artificial intelligence and steering behaviors, isometric projection, using the camera and microphone for input, 3D, and much, much more.

The book is also more experimental in nature. The techniques shown here might not be the best way to do things, but they should work well and get you started in your own efforts to achieve a perfect implementation. In fact, many of the chapters can be seen as introductions to very complex topics that could fill a whole book by themselves. Many of these subjects have been extensively covered elsewhere, but not necessarily targeted for Flash or ActionScript 3.0. So it took a fair amount of work to pull the data together and get it all working and explain it all clearly in ActionScript. This book will inspire you to find out about subjects that you might not have considered before, acting as a springboard into your own research into the possibilities of ActionScript 3.0.

In this book, you'll learn how to:

• Leverage Flash 10 3D, the new drawing API commands, and Pixel Bender
• Create isometric worlds for games
• Construct powerful artificial intelligence routines including pathfinding, steering, and flocking behaviors
• Use numerical integration for real world physics effects
• Build advanced collision detection routines for more accurate simulations

Summary of Contents

1. Advanced Collision Detection
2. Steering Behaviors
3. Isometric Projection
4. Pathfinding
5. Alternate Input: The Camera and Microphone
6. Advanced Physics: Numerical Integration
7. 3D in Flash 10
8. Flash 10 Drawing API
9. Pixel Bender
10. Tween Engines

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