Flash -- animation in a web browser
Adobe Flash Builder 4 (2009) renames and extends the former Flex Builder.
This is based upon Flash Player 10 and incorporates open source SWFObject
project. The .mxml file spec has been revised and apparently
more concise, particularly for state matchines.
- Flash Builder 4 (download)
- Get debugger version or Latest Flash Player
- Flex 4 help
- Flex 4 Language Reference
- Regular Expressions
Older:
- Formal specification: ECMA-357 ECMAScript Specification
- ActionScript on Wikipedia has lots of useful links at bottom of entry
Commercial Software
- flash.com
- 30 day trial
- ToonBoom Studio from the makers of USAnimation
- Exports to QuickTime and Flash. Use this for artistry, then import into FlashMX for programming behaviors. Try before you buy.
- SketchUp
- 3D with the easy of sketching on a pice of scrap paper and offers a plug-in to Google Earth
Open-Source Software
- Emacs mode for ActionScript:
- actionscript-mode.el;
Emacs v22+ may need this
hack regarding "
c-identifier-reis not known" - as3corelib
- ActionScript 3.0 library for several basic utilities
- OSFlash - open source Flash
- a community-run resource site for open source Flash projects and tools
- haXe -- this is one tool to watch!
- create Flash SWF files using Flash APIs for Players 6,7,8 and soon 8.5
- generate Javascript code using Browser DHTML API, so you can create AJAX web applications
- generate Bytecode that can be used on the Server side (using an Apache plugin) or packed into standalone executable
- MTASC
- free ActionScript 1.x and 2.0 compiler; see also haXe
- swfmill
xml2swfandswf2xmlprocessor with import functionality- article on .SWF decompilers
- SWF Tools
Communities, Forums And Sites With Tutorials
- Flash Kit
- Flash DB
- ActionScript.org
- ActionScript.com
- Preloaders
- Flash Magazine
- Electric Rain
- 3D Flash vector solutions for Flash 3D, Swift 3D, 3ds Max, Lightwave
- The Flash Movement
- shockwave
- Xara Xone vector graphics and drawing software
- loonyverse - shockwave
- virtual FX
- flash jester
Flash for Games
- Book: Foundation ActionScript Animation: Making Things Move!
- Introduction to Interactive Media and Video Game Design with Macromedia Flash MX
- From Kaleidoscope; many potentially interesting sections are marked, "Not Yet Written," unfortunately.
- Standard ECMA-363, Universal 3D File Format, 2nd edition (August 2005)
- press release
- Creating real-time 3D objects...
- Uses "non-destructive" transforms via matrix math in AS2
- Scripting 3D in Flash from kirupa
- Uses compositing tricks such as layers; combine with "real" 3D for faster apps
- AsUnit -- ActionScript unit testing
- if you're gonna write games, please write testcases to make it solid!
Synchronized content
Flash Remoting
import flash.net.NetConnection;- XML RPC for Flash
- i.e., AJAX for Flash (but mind the changes for ActionScript 3 & Flash 8.5)
- AMF::Perl - Flash Remoting in Perl and Python
- Flash Remoting is a way for Flash movies running in a web browser to request structured data from the web server.
- Flash Remoting: The Definitive Guide
- Companion site for the book, Flash Remoting: The Definitive Guide, by Tom Muck
Education, Training & Conferences
- FlashForward
- sfmmuf -- San Francisco Macromedia Users Forum
- Lynda
Animation
Learn animation from the best: Desktop Academy from winner of British Oscar for Animation, Tony White.