FIVe3D TextCloud: AS3 Tutorial and Source

A few people have asked me to release the code to my FIVe3D Text Cloud example, so I’ve cleaned things up to the point where I wouldn’t be completely humiliated to release it into the wild. However, I thought I’d touch on a couple points and turn this post into something halfway between a tutorial and an exhibition.

If you just want the source code, you can download it at the bottom of the page. If you’d like the whole shebang, pray read on.

Best FIVe3D Experiment Yet- Seriously, It’s Awesome

I’m pretty proud of this one…

AS3: BitmapData Foibles

Today I ran into what looks like an odd oversight in Adobe’s otherwise excellent BitmapData class. Alternatively, it could be an oversight in my otherwise excellent critical thinking skills. Neither is unheard of, but either way, someone is missing something somewhere.

FIVe3D and TweenLite: Text Cloud

I can’t seem to get enough of this FIVe3D thing. It’s even becoming natural to capitalize every letter except for that “e” when I write it. Not that I’m blinded to its faults, for there are a few here and there. But for quick 3D text rendering, I have yet to find its equal. Take today’s experiment, for example.

The Art and Beauty of Singletons

A) In poker, a card that is the only one of its rank.
B) In animal husbandry, the sole surviving offspring of a litter.
C) In astrology, a single planet alone in a hemisphere (or some crap like that).
D) In mathematics, a set with only one member.
E) In England, a small village about 7 miles north of Chichester in West Sussex.

What do all these things have in common?

MXML Singletons in Flex 3

Okay, so I’ve been putting together a little image-viewer component in Flex, and I wanted it to load one data model that all other components would share. Sounds like a job for a Singleton, right? However, I also wanted to instantiate said model from MXML, which adds some kinks. In fact, I’ve heard it said that it’s not possible at all. And after some trial and error, I found that apparently it is possible- you just have to hack around a little bit.

Forward Kinematics in AS3

I must confess, firstly, that a week ago I didn’t know what forward kinematics were. Everyone seems to be talking about inverse kinematics lately (e.g. “ragdoll” physics), with no love at all for her sister, forward kinematics. And really, if such a thing may be said, forward kinematics is the hot sister- I’d take her over inverse anyday.

AS3 Earthquake Class v1.0

I’ve noticed that there are a lot of small things that can save you time when designing and coding a game. Stuff that wouldn’t take long to code, but if someone’s already done it, why bother?
So in that glorious spirit of apathy, I present to you the Pixelwelders Earthquake class. This […]