AdvancED ActionScript 3.0 Animation (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: private function draw, isometric world, private var private var, Pixel Bender, Making Things Move, Robert Penner (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

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

About the Author

Keith lives in the vicinity of Boston, MA, in the USA with his wife Kazumi and their new daughter Kristine. He has been working with Flash since 1999, and has co-authored many books for friends of ED, including Flash MX Studio, Flash MX Most Wanted, and the ground-breaking Flash Math Creativity. In 2001 he started the experimental Flash site, BIT-101 (www.bit-101.com), which strives for a new, cutting edge, open source experiment each day. The site recently won an award at the Flashforward 2003 Flash Film Festival in the Experimental category. In addition to the experiments on the site, there are several highly regarded Flash tutorials which have been translated into many languages and are now posted on web sites throughout the world. Keith is currently working full time doing freelance and contract Flash development and various writing projects.

Product Details

• Paperback: 472 pages
• Publisher: friends of ED; 1 edition (December 29, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1430216085
• ISBN-13: 978-1430216087
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #70,492 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent animation book, April 20, 2009

By	Marlon Ceballos "AUGM Xpert" (Bogotá, Colombia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I begin by saying that this is not a book aimed at users with basic level and that I noticed since I started reading the first page. In fact, if you want to exploit all the content, you should first read the book "Foundation ActionScript 3.0 Animation: Making Things Move" by the same author.

Do not expect to find an introduction to ActionScript 3 or it syntax. More than a manual, this book is a compilation of techniques you can use in your projects, especially in game development with artificial intelligence. The different chapters of the book does not have a sequential organization whereby you can read it in the order you want or agree to a particular need.

During his ten chapters and 439 pages of content, the author displays trigonometric formulas to achieve amazing results that achieve a realistic simulation of physical aspects such as motion, acceleration and friction, among others. Several of its themes focus on new capabilities in Flash Player 10 as working with 3D, new drawing APIs and working with Pixel Bender.

At the beginning I was surprised that this book was printed in black and white, but in the long run this is not a problem because the color does not add any extra. In return we have a content beyond the common that hardly find in other books about ActionScript.

In short, Advanced ActionScript 3.0 Animation is an excellent book if you enjoy looking for advanced topics for ambitious projects and do not be scared of math and trigonometry.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "This is a great book!", January 14, 2009

By	David Freeman (Miami, Florida USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

"This is a great book!" That is how the intros of the AS2 and AS3 versions of "ActionScript Animation: Making Things Move" began. This current book has no introduction or forward to herald its greatness, but it is great nonetheless. Kind of a continuation of the previous book, but not really. While the last book covered Flash 9.0 centric items, this one covers Flash 10 and what is now possible. It is an advanced book, as the title denotes. The book is not going to teach you the basics of programming in AS3. You pretty much had better know what you are doing when you get into it. I liken this book to the "AS3 Cookbook", also contributed to by the author, as you don't have to read it from cover to cover, and can go through picking and choosing what interest you. There are few books that I have two copies of, one for work and one for home. This is definitely one of those books, as are his others. No greater compliment can I give. Comments also on The Freeman View.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Takes your projects to the next level, January 31, 2009

By	Daniel D. Orlando "Dan Orlando" (Tempe, AZ USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The techniques found in this book are quite priceless. In fact, this book is actually a follow-up to the "Actionscript Animation...Making Things Move" book, which I also thoroughly enjoyed and used it as a reference throughout a very important project. I like this one even better though, because it helps you take your AS3 development to the next level. The requirements of my recent Flex projects are often extremely graphically intensive, and often involve 3D. However, I generally have to use Flex for all of my development since my projects are all RIA applications. This book makes for an incredible reference regardless, so whenever I am asked "can you make it do...?" My answer is always a resounding "YES".