Actionscript 3.0 Webcam Motion Detection with Interaction Physics

Actionscript 3 application that performs motion tracking via webcam.

The application works by constantly monitoring a webcam, taking snapshots of each frame. Those frames are then constantly drawn to a bitmap data object. The difference in brightness within each segment (from one calculation to the next) determines whether or not motion had occurred in this area of the screen. If motion is detected the coordinates of a rectangular grid around said motion is recorded. To track whether or not the "ball" has been effected, the current x and y coordinates of the rectangle to the coordinates of the ball. The direction of the ball is determined by again comparing the points of the motion area to the "ball" point.


Try it for yourself here. (webcam obv required)

Natural Object Rotation Using Papervision 3D

I've been trying to start AS3 since last week but because of the tight work schedule, neither me or m3 haven't got a single opportunity to sit even for 5 minutes...

But I haven't stoped my eager for AS3 and Papervision and found the following link while searching for some tutorials.

Natural Object Rotation Using Papervision3D

Really usefull.

Colin Moock's Charges Against ActionScript 3.0

Colin Moock published an interesting article about nine problems he sees with ActionScript 3.0 and Flash Player 9. Most of the charges he makes are specific to the Flash CS3 authoring environment, and the general theme is that ActionScript 3.0 and its implementation in Flash CS3 makes the development process more difficult than it should be for users without significant programming backgrounds.

The Nine problems are:

1. The removal of on()/onClipEvent() from Flash CS3 makes creating simple interactivity hard.
2. Getting rid of loaded .swf files is hard.
3. Casting DisplayObject.parent makes controlling parent movie clips hard.
4. The removal of getURL() makes linking hard.
5. The removal of loadMovie() makes loading .swf files and images hard.
6. ActionScript 3.0's additional errors make coding cumbersome.
7. Referring to library symbols dynamically is unintuitive.
8. Adding custom functionality to manually created text fields, to all movie clips, or to all buttons is cumbersome.
9. The removal of duplicateMovieClip() makes cloning a MovieClip instance (really) hard.

Colin does an excellent job of describing each charge in detail, with code examples. He also spends a lot of time discussing not only what Adobe should do in each case, but also what the Flash developer community should do. If you regularly work in the Flash CS3 environment, I highly recommend this article. There's less relevant material for Flex and FlexBuilder users, but a couple of the topics may be of interest: "2. Getting rid of loaded .swf files is hard." and "6. ActionScript 3.0's additional errors make coding cumbersome."

I'd like to encourage you to read his article and send a feedback on what you think are the most important issues he brings up in his article. Colin even links to some of Adobe's feedback mechanisms.

I didn't see in his article the relative weights he attaches to the nine charges, but it would be interesting to see which charges the community would consider the highest priority.

Here's the link again in case you missed it at the top of the post:

The Charges Against ActionScript 3.0

a follow-up

Data Visualization in Entertainment

I was checking out the PaperVision3D blog today, and stumbled across a really impressive data visualization technique used by the band Radiohead with the release of their new video for "House of Cards". You can check out the video here.

Here is a completely interactive version of the data visualization, complete with audio synchronization: http://code.google.com/creative/radiohead/viewer.html

It was created using a modified version of PaperVision3D... Even more impressive, there were no cameras used to create this. Check out this quote from the google code site hosting the visualization:

No cameras or lights were used. Instead two technologies were used to capture 3D
images: Geometric Informatics and Velodyne LIDAR. Geometric Informatics scanning systems produce structured light to capture 3D images at close proximity, while a Velodyne Lidar system that uses multiple lasers is used to capture large environments such as landscapes. In this video, 64 lasers rotating and shooting in a 360 degree radius 900 times per minute produced all the exterior scenes.

You can read more about this technique and data visualization at: http://code.google.com/creative/radiohead/

You can even download the data, and create your own visualizations from: http://code.google.com/p/radiohead/downloads/list

Related links:
Papervision3D blog post
Interactive Data Visualization
Google Radiohead page
Google Code Download

Top 10 Websites To Learn Flash/ActionScript

Adobe Flash is an excellent technology that allows developers to add interactivity and smooth animations to web pages. Its popularity is so immense that you’ll find many websites dedicated to helping developers interested in Flash.

In this article, you’ll find 10 wonderful websites that’s worth a bookmark if you’re looking into sharpening your Flash development skills. For each entry, you’ll find three tutorials from the website so that you can see what’s in store for you.

1. kirupa.com
   (kirupa.com is a site that features excellent Flash tutorials (as well as Silverlight, ASP.net, PHP, and Photoshop). There are plenty of well-written, detailed tutorials and articles pertaining to Flash sectioned into seven categories including Basic Drawing, Special Effects, Server-side Flash, and Game Development.)
   


2. gotoandlearn.com
   Some people learn best by visualization and following along with the instructor step-by-step in real-time. If you’re the type that prefers to learn by watching instructional videos, check out gotoandlearn.com – a website by Lee Brimelow that offers free Flash video tutorials.


3. gotoAndPlay()
   gotoAndPlay() is dedicated to providing resources for Flash game developers. It’s a community that has a forum, interviews from professional developers, and reviews of books and resources. It also has tutorials and articles about Flash game development that can be filtered by topic, expertise, and type.


4. Adobe - Flash Developer Center
   Adobe’s Flash Developer Center is a community for Flash developers. Here, you’ll find tutorials, articles, and related resources about Flash. You should also check out the ActionScript Technology Center for articles on specifically about ActionScript.


5. Flash Kit
   Flash Kit is one of the biggest and oldest community dedicated to Flash development. With over 600,000 members, you won’t have a hard time finding people with a similar interest in Flash. There’s a forums section, free resources that you can download and use in your Flash projects, and a large tutorials section that includes 18 categories.


6. ActionScript.org
   ActionScript.org is a site that provides resources and information pertaining to Flash, Flex, and ActionScript. They have a fairly active Forums section as well as an ActionScript Library that currently has over 700 objects you can download.


7. Flash and Math ActionScript 3 Tutorials
   Flash and Math has a great collection of tutorials on AS3. They cover basic to advanced topics so that Flash developers of any level can find something they can read and learn from. Many of the tutorials include the source files for download.


8. Flash Tutorials on Pixel2Life
   Pixel2Life, according to the site, is the "largest tutorial index catering to graphic designers, webmasters and programmers". With over 40,000 indexed tutorials, you’ll find many links to tutorials in their Flash Tutorials section.


9. Flash Perfection
   Flash Perfection is a website with a large collection of Flash tutorials, tips, and tricks from various websites. Flash Perfection has 23 categories to help you find information more quickly.


10. metah.ch
    metah.ch has some awesome video tutorials on Flash, ActionScript, Flex, and AIR. Files associated with the tutorials can be downloaded and used in your own projects.

Greenbox: Measuring home energy use

Greenbox, are taking energy efficiency online by bringing a Web 2.0 approach to home energy monitoring.

$150m in new clean technology grants

Flash brains to setup, Greenbox to Tackle Energy in the Home
- energy efficiency online by bringing a Web 2.0 approach to home energy monitoring.

Paper Critics in Wikimapia.org

http://wikimapia.org/#lat=25.1636245&lon=55.4137087&z=18&l=0&m=a&v=2