book

The Essential Guide to 3D in Flash

Name: The Essential Guide to 3D in Flash
ISBN: 9781430225416

by Rob Bateman, Richard Olsson

May 2010

Beginner

280 pages

7h 26m

English

Apress

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Copyright
About the Author
About the Technical Reviewer
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Layout conventions
1. Getting Started
1.1. Getting the Away3D library1.2. Setting up a project1.2.1. Using Adobe Flash CS4/CS51.2.2. Using Flash Builder1.2.3. Using FDT1.2.4. Using FlashDevelop1.2.5. Open source workflow using the Flex SDK and Makefiles1.3. Summary
2. Creating Your First 3D Project
2.1. Starting up the engine2.2. Adding 3D objects to the scene2.2.1. Understanding constructors and initialization objects2.3. Lighting the scene2.4. Animating objects in 3D2.5. Enabling interactivity in 3D2.6. Summary
3. The View, Scene, and Camera
3.1. Understanding the basics3.1.1. View3.1.2. Scene3.1.3. Camera3.2. Exploring the fundamentals of 3D3.2.1. Working with coordinates in 3D space3.2.2. The rendering process3.2.2.1. Clipping3.2.2.2. Z sorting3.2.2.3. Perspective Projection3.3. Setting up the chapter base class3.4. Creating and using the view3.4.1. Centering the vanishing point3.4.2. Clipping the viewport3.5. Managing the scene3.5.1. Adding and removing 3D objects3.5.2. Accessing 3D objects in the scene3.5.3. Working with nested 3D objects3.5.4. Moving, rotating, and scaling in 3D3.5.5. Using containers as pivots3.6. Creating and using cameras3.6.1. The Camera3D object3.6.1.1. Moving the camera3.6.1.2. Rotating the camera3.6.1.3. Adjusting the zoom and focus properties3.6.1.4. Aiming at objects using lookAt()3.6.2. The TargetCamera3D object3.6.3. The HoverCamera3D object3.7. Summary
4. Primitives, Models, and Sprites
4.1. Knowing the basic terminology4.1.1. Vertices4.1.2. Faces and segments4.1.3. Meshes and primitives4.1.4. Billboards and sprites4.2. Setting up this chapter's base class4.3. Understanding common primitives4.3.1. The plane primitive4.3.2. Back-face culling4.3.3. The cube primitive4.3.4. The sphere primitive4.4. Understanding wire primitives and line segments4.4.1. Wireframe primitives4.4.2. Combining wireframe and regular primitives4.4.3. Drawing irregular lines in space4.5. Using regular polygons4.6. Working with external models4.6.1. Workflow when loading a model4.7. Optimizing external resources for size and speed4.7.1. Converting a model to ActionScript4.7.2. Using the converted model4.7.3. Creating a library of models4.8. Applying bitmap filter effects to 3D objects4.9. Using 3D sprites4.9.1. Creating smoke using 3D sprites4.10. Tutorial: Creating a twisted image gallery4.10.1. Laying out the application shell4.10.2. Creating the TV sets4.10.3. Loading the gallery image4.10.4. Creating the menu items4.10.5. Displaying the content4.10.6. Adding movement and interactivity4.11. Summary
5. Materials, Lights, and Shading
5.1. Understanding Away3D materials5.2. Using color and bitmap materials5.3. Working with wire materials5.4. Using lights and shading materials5.4.1. Lighting in Away3D5.4.1.1. Omnidirectional lighting with point lights5.4.1.2. Parallel beam lighting with directional lights5.4.1.3. Background lighting with AmbientLight3D5.4.2. Creating and configuring light sources5.4.3. Controlling the intensity of a light source5.4.4. Shading materials in Away3D5.4.4.1. Flat shading materials5.4.5. Using normal map shading5.4.5.1. Generating a normal map5.4.5.2. Using DOT3 materials in Away3D5.4.6. Using environment shading5.5. Using animated and interactive materials5.5.1. Using the MovieMaterial class5.5.2. Using the VideoMaterial class5.6. Summary

6. Vector Shapes and Text in 3D
6.1. Working with vector graphics6.1.1. Vector graphics vs. raster graphics6.1.2. Creating lines and curves6.1.3. Using the Away3D drawing API6.2. Preparing the chapter base class6.3. Drawing 3D vector shapes6.3.1. Creating simple shapes with straight lines6.3.2. Creating curved shapes6.3.3. Creating open-ended line segments6.3.4. Creating nonplaner shapes6.3.5. Creating shapes with holes6.4. Importing 3D vector shapes6.4.1. Extracting vector shapes from an SWF file6.4.2. Animating imported vector shapes6.5. Importing 3D Text6.5.1. Extracting vector data from a font6.5.2. Extruding text6.5.3. Warping text along a path6.6. Knowing the limitations of vector graphics in Away3D6.7. Summary
7. Procedural 3D content
7.1. Preparing the chapter base class7.2. Building a pyramid primitive7.2.1. Starting with AbstractPrimitive7.2.2. Setting up the constructor7.2.3. Adding public properties7.2.4. Building the Pyramid mesh7.2.5. Mapping UV coordinates7.3. Using the extrusions tools7.3.1. Creating a ribbon using the PathExtrusion class7.3.2. Creating a vase with the LatheExtrusion class7.4. Using mesh modifiers7.4.1. Creating a terrain using the HeightMapModifier7.5. Summary
8. Interactivity
8.1. Setting up the chapter base class8.2. Interacting with 3D objects in a scene8.2.1. Introducing the MouseEvent3D object8.2.2. Using MouseEvent3D's scene coordinates8.2.3. Using MouseEvent3D's UV coordinates8.3. First-person camera keyboard controls8.3.1. Walking with the keyboard8.3.2. Looking around by dragging the mouse8.3.2.1. Looking around by scrubbing the mouse8.4. Summary
9. Animation
9.1. The basics of scripted animation9.2. Using basic tweening9.3. Path tweening9.4. Importing animation9.4.1. Working with MD2 animations9.4.1.1. Importing an MD2 file9.4.1.2. Playing an MD2 animation9.4.2. Working with COLLADA animations9.4.2.1. Importing a COLLADA file9.4.2.2. Playing a COLLADA animation9.5. Creating programmatic animation with bones9.5.1. Defining an animation rig9.5.2. Bone tweening9.6. Summary
10. Optimizing Tips and Tricks
10.1. Preparing the chapter base class10.2. Optimizing geometry10.2.1. Using level-of-detail objects10.2.2. Culling and clipping polygons and meshes10.2.2.1. Back-face culling10.2.2.2. Viewport clipping10.2.2.3. Object culling10.2.2.4. Manual culling10.2.3. Using models effectively10.2.3.1. Polygon counts10.2.3.2. Intersecting polygons10.2.3.3. Double-sided geometry10.3. Optimizing materials10.3.1. Optimizing shading10.3.1.1. Static shading10.3.1.2. Normal map images10.3.2. Conserving material instances10.4. Exploring general best practice techniques10.4.1. Switching between 3D coordinate systems10.4.1.1. Converting from object space to scene space10.4.1.2. Converting from scene space to object space10.4.1.3. Converting from object space to screen space10.4.2. Changing camera lenses10.4.2.1. Traditional perspective projections10.4.2.2. Extreme wide-angle projections10.4.2.3. Isometric projections10.5. Summary

Content preview from The Essential Guide to 3D in Flash

About the Author

Rob lives and works in London, UK where his production and consultancy company Away Media Ltd. provides expert services in the field of browser-based 3D content. A regular speaker on the international conference circuit, he is an active member of the Flash community and hosts frequent training programs teaching Away3D to web designers and developers.

His blog at www.infiniteturtles.co.uk provides further examples and musing on 3D in Flash, as well as information on upcoming appearances, training courses, and new Away3D releases.

Richard ...

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The Essential Guide to 3D in Flash

by Rob Bateman, Richard Olsson

About the Author

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.