The Essential Guide to 3D in Flash (Essential Guide To...)

350 Pages·2009·3.81 MB·english

by  Richard Olsson

The Essential Guide to 3D
in Flash
Rob Bateman & Richard Olsson
The Essential Guide to 3D in Flash
Copyright © 2010 by Rob Bateman & Richard Olsson
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
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system, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner and the publisher.
ISBN-13 (pbk): 978-1-4302-2541-6
ISBN-13 (electronic): 978-1-4302-2542-6
Printed and bound in the United States of America 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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Credits
Publisher and President: Compositor:
Paul Manning Bronkella Publishing LLC
Lead Editor: Indexer:
Ben Renow-Clarke Toma Mulligan
Technical Reviewer: Artist:
Gregory Caldwell April Milne
Editorial Board: Cover Designer:
Clay Andres, Steve Anglin, Mark Beckner, Ewan Anna Ishchenko
Buckingham, Gary Cornell, Jonathan Gennick, Jonathan
Cover Art and Turtle Model:
Hassell, Michelle Lowman, Matthew Moodie, Duncan
Peter Kapelyan
Parkes, Jeffrey Pepper, Frank Pohlmann, Douglas
Pundick, Ben Renow-Clarke, Dominic Shakeshaft, Matt Suzanne Monkey Model:
Wade, Tom Welsh www.blender.org
Coordinating Editor: Skeleton Model:
Anne Collett www.geocities.jp/oirahakobito2/,
[email protected]
Copy Editor:
Heather Lang
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Contents at a Glance

Contents at a Glance ...............................................................................................iii
Contents...................................................................................................................iv
About the Author......................................................................................................x
About the Technical Reviewer...............................................................................xi
Acknowledgments.................................................................................................xii
Introduction............................................................................................................xiii
Chapter 1: Getting Started.......................................................................................1
Chapter 2: Creating Your First 3D Project..............................................................9
Chapter 3: The View, Scene, and Camera...........................................................19
Chapter 4: Primitives, Models, and Sprites.........................................................47
Chapter 5: Materials, Lights, and Shading...........................................................87
Chapter 6: Vector Shapes and Text in 3D..........................................................121
Chapter 7: Procedural 3D Content......................................................................147
Chapter 8: Interactivity.........................................................................................171
Chapter 9: Animation............................................................................................193
Chapter 10: Optimizing Tips and Tricks.............................................................217
Index.......................................................................................................................251

iii
Contents

Contents at a Glance ...............................................................................................iii
Contents...................................................................................................................iv
About the Author......................................................................................................x
About the Technical Reviewer...............................................................................xi
Acknowledgments.................................................................................................xii
Introduction............................................................................................................xiii
Chapter 1: Getting Started.......................................................................................1
Getting the Away3D library......................................................................................1
Setting up a project........................................................................................................................................2
Using Adobe Flash CS4/CS5........................................................................................................................2
Using Flash Builder........................................................................................................................................3
Using FDT.......................................................................................................................................................5
Using FlashDevelop.......................................................................................................................................6
Open source workflow using the Flex SDK and Makefiles..........................................................................7
Summary ....................................................................................................................8
Chapter 2: Creating Your First 3D Project..............................................................9
Starting up the engine .............................................................................................9
Adding 3D objects to the scene............................................................................10
Understanding constructors and initialization objects................................................................................12
Lighting the scene...................................................................................................12
Animating objects in 3D.........................................................................................14
Enabling interactivity in 3D.....................................................................................15
Summary..................................................................................................................15
Chapter 3: The View, Scene, and Camera...........................................................19
Understanding the basics .....................................................................................19
View..............................................................................................................................................................19
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Scene............................................................................................................................................................20
Camera.........................................................................................................................................................20
Exploring the fundamentals of 3D..........................................................................20
Working with coordinates in 3D space........................................................................................................21
The rendering process.................................................................................................................................22
Setting up the chapter base class...........................................................................23
Creating and using the view .................................................................................25
Centering the vanishing point......................................................................................................................26
Clipping the viewport....................................................................................................................................26
Managing the scene.................................................................................................28
Adding and removing 3D objects................................................................................................................29
Accessing 3D objects in the scene.............................................................................................................30
Working with nested 3D objects..................................................................................................................31
Moving, rotating, and scaling in 3D.............................................................................................................32
Using containers as pivots...........................................................................................................................34
Creating and using cameras...................................................................................36
The Camera3D object..................................................................................................................................37
The TargetCamera3D object.......................................................................................................................42
The HoverCamera3D object........................................................................................................................43
Summary ..................................................................................................................46
Chapter 4: Primitives, Models, and Sprites.........................................................47
Knowing the basic terminology............................................................................47
Vertices.........................................................................................................................................................47
Faces and segments....................................................................................................................................48
Meshes and primitives.................................................................................................................................48
Billboards and sprites...................................................................................................................................48
Setting up this chapter’s base class.......................................................................48
Understanding common primitives.....................................................................50
The plane primitive.......................................................................................................................................51
Back-face culling..........................................................................................................................................52
The cube primitive........................................................................................................................................52

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The sphere primitive.....................................................................................................................................53
Understanding wire primitives and line segments................................................54
Wireframe primitives....................................................................................................................................55
Combining wireframe and regular primitives..............................................................................................56
Drawing irregular lines in space..................................................................................................................57
Using regular polygons...........................................................................................59
Working with external models .............................................................................61
Workflow when loading a model..................................................................................................................61
Optimizing external resources for size and speed................................................63
Converting a model to ActionScript.............................................................................................................64
Using the converted model..........................................................................................................................65
Creating a library of models.........................................................................................................................66
Applying bitmap filter effects to 3D objects...........................................................68
Using 3D sprites......................................................................................................69
Creating smoke using 3D sprites................................................................................................................69
Tutorial: Creating a twisted image gallery..............................................................72
Laying out the application shell...................................................................................................................73
Creating the TV sets....................................................................................................................................76
Loading the gallery image............................................................................................................................79
Creating the menu items..............................................................................................................................79
Displaying the content..................................................................................................................................81
Adding movement and interactivity.............................................................................................................83
Summary ..................................................................................................................85
Chapter 5: Materials, Lights, and Shading...........................................................87
Understanding Away3D materials........................................................................87
Using color and bitmap materials.........................................................................91
Working with wire materials.................................................................................95
Using lights and shading materials......................................................................97
Lighting in Away3D......................................................................................................................................98
Creating and configuring light sources......................................................................................................100
Controlling the intensity of a light source..................................................................................................100
Shading materials in Away3D....................................................................................................................102
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Using normal map shading........................................................................................................................106
Using environment shading.......................................................................................................................113
Using animated and interactive materials............................................................116
Using the MovieMaterial class...................................................................................................................116
Using the VideoMaterial class...................................................................................................................118
Summary ................................................................................................................119
Chapter 6: Vector Shapes and Text in 3D..........................................................121
Working with vector graphics.............................................................................121
Vector graphics vs. raster graphics...........................................................................................................122
Creating lines and curves..........................................................................................................................122
Using the Away3D drawing API................................................................................................................123
Preparing the chapter base class.........................................................................124
Drawing 3D vector shapes...................................................................................126
Creating simple shapes with straight lines................................................................................................126
Creating curved shapes.............................................................................................................................128
Creating open-ended line segments.........................................................................................................129
Creating nonplaner shapes........................................................................................................................130
Creating shapes with holes........................................................................................................................131
Importing 3D vector shapes..................................................................................132
Extracting vector shapes from an SWF file...............................................................................................132
Animating imported vector shapes............................................................................................................135
Importing 3D Text...................................................................................................136
Extracting vector data from a font.............................................................................................................137
Extruding text..............................................................................................................................................139
Warping text along a path..........................................................................................................................140
Knowing the limitations of vector graphics in Away3D ......................................144
Summary................................................................................................................145
Chapter 7: Procedural 3D Content......................................................................147
Preparing the chapter base class ......................................................................147
Building a pyramid primitive................................................................................149
Starting with AbstractPrimitive...................................................................................................................149

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Setting up the constructor..........................................................................................................................150
Adding public properties............................................................................................................................151
Building the Pyramid mesh........................................................................................................................152
Mapping UV coordinates...........................................................................................................................155
Using the extrusions tools....................................................................................159
Creating a ribbon using the PathExtrusion class......................................................................................159
Creating a vase with the LatheExtrusion class.........................................................................................161
Using mesh modifiers............................................................................................163
Creating a terrain using the HeightMapModifier.......................................................................................163
Summary ................................................................................................................168
Chapter 8: Interactivity.........................................................................................171
Setting up the chapter base class......................................................................171
Interacting with 3D objects in a scene...............................................................174
Introducing the MouseEvent3D object......................................................................................................175
Using MouseEvent3D’s scene coordinates..............................................................................................177
Using MouseEvent3D’s UV coordinates...................................................................................................179
First-person camera keyboard controls...............................................................182
Walking with the keyboard.........................................................................................................................183
Looking around by dragging the mouse....................................................................................................185
Summary ................................................................................................................191
Chapter 9: Animation............................................................................................193
The basics of scripted animation.......................................................................193
Using basic tweening...........................................................................................195
Path tweening.......................................................................................................197
Importing animation.............................................................................................202
Working with MD2 animations...................................................................................................................202
Working with COLLADA animations.........................................................................................................207
Creating programmatic animation with bones.....................................................209
Defining an animation rig...........................................................................................................................210
Bone tweening............................................................................................................................................210
Summary ................................................................................................................214
viii
Chapter 10: Optimizing Tips and Tricks.............................................................217
Preparing the chapter base class ......................................................................217
Optimizing geometry ...........................................................................................219
Using level-of-detail objects.......................................................................................................................219
Culling and clipping polygons and meshes...............................................................................................223
Using models effectively............................................................................................................................228
Optimizing materials..............................................................................................232
Optimizing shading.....................................................................................................................................233
Conserving material instances..................................................................................................................237
Exploring general best practice techniques ........................................................239
Switching between 3D coordinate systems..............................................................................................239
Changing camera lenses...........................................................................................................................245
Summary ................................................................................................................249
Index.......................................................................................................................251

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About the Author
Rob Bateman is a web developer and community leader who has been
involved in programming for over ten years. He specializes in content for the
Flash platform and has always held a particular interest in 3D on the Web. In
2007, he cofounded the Away3D engine with Alexander Zadorozhny and has
been leading the development of core features for the last two years.
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 Olsson is a Swedish freelance Flash developer based in the city of
Malmö and has been a member of the core Away3D development team since
the end of 2008. He found his interest in programming at the early age of 12,
writing BASIC on an old Commodore 64 that was passed on to him from a
relative who wanted something more modern. After a short detour to 3D
graphics, thinking he wanted to be a 3D modeler, he went back to
programming, exploring C/C++ and OpenGL before ending up working with the
Flash platform.
Richard is commissioned by several advertising agencies across Europe to
assist with Flash 3D application development and has worked with some of the
world’s largest brands. He is also a frequent Flash instructor and a contributor
to the Blender open source 3D suite.
On the Web, Richard himself, as well as his work and experiments, can be found at
www.richardolsson.se.
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