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Foundation Actionscript 3.0 Animation: Making Things Move!

By Keith Peters

Media: Book (Paperback, 568 pages)
ISBN: 1590597915
Publisher: friends of ED
Release Date: Apr 2, 2007

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Product Description

In this book, you'll learn

All the ActionScript 3.0 (including math and trigonometry functions) and Flash rendering techniques you'll need to start animating with code
Basic motion principles such as velocity, acceleration, friction, easing, and bouncing
How to handle user interaction via the keyboard and mouse
Advanced motion techniques such as springs, coordinate rotation, conservation of momentum, and forward and inverse kinematics
All the basic 3D concepts you need to do 3D in Flash, from simple perspective to full 3D solids complete with backface culling and dynamic lighting

Flash has long been one of the most approachable, user-friendly tools for creating web-based animations, games, and applications. This has contributed to making it one of the most widely used programs for creating interactive web content. With each new version of Flash, ActionScript, its built-in scripting language, has become more powerful and a little more complex, too. ActionScript, now at version 3.0, has significantly matured as a programming language, bringing power and speed only previously dreamed about to Flash-based animation, going far beyond traditionally used keyframes and tweens. The material inside this book covers everything you need to know to harness the power of ActionScript 3.0. First, all the basics of script-based animation and setting up an ActionScript 3.0 project are covered. An introduction to object-oriented programming follows, with the new syntax, events, and rendering techniques of ActionScript 3.0 explained, giving you the confidence to use the language, whether starting from scratch or moving up from ActionScript 2.0. The book goes on to provide information on all the relevant trigonometry you will need, before moving on to physics concepts such as acceleration, velocity, easing, springs, collision detection, conservation of momentum, 3D, and forward and inverse kinematics. In no time at all you'll both understand the concepts of scripted animation and have the ability to create all manner of exciting animations and games.

Summary of Contents

PART ONE - ACTIONSCRIPTED ANIMATION BASICS
- Chapter 1 Basic Animation Concepts
- Chapter 2 Basics of ActionScript 3.0 for Animation
- Chapter 3 Trigonometry for Animation
- Chapter 4 Rendering Techniques
PART TWO - BASIC MOTION
- Chapter 5 Velocity and Acceleration
- Chapter 6 Boundaries and Friction
- Chapter 7 User Interaction: Moving Objects Around
PART THREE - ADVANCED MOTION
- Chapter 8 Easing and Springing
- Chapter 9 Collision Detection
- Chapter 10 Coordinate Rotation and Bouncing Off Angles
- Chapter 11 Billiard Ball Physics
- Chapter 12 Particle Attraction and Gravity
- Chapter 13 Forward Kinematics: Making Things Walk
- Chapter 14 Inverse Kinematics: Dragging and Reaching
PART FOUR - 3D ANIMATION
- Chapter 15 3D Basics
- Chapter 16 3D Lines and Fills
- Chapter 17 Backface Culling and 3D Lighting
PART FIVE - ADDITIONAL TECHNIQUES
- Chapter 18 Matrix Math
- Chapter 19 Tips and Tricks

Too complicated for me

I've written some Javascript and am familiar with html and actionscript, but this book was too complicated for me. The early chapters refer to an alphabet soup of coding I've never even heard of. Additionally, it was written over my head. I returned the item.

Submitted 17 Nov 2008

This is the best book to learn anything useful with actionscript 3

This book is simply the best book for programming interactivity into Flash (w/ AS3 of course). This book covers an amazing amount of relevant information and does it all in an easy to understand way. A couple things that Keith covers in this book are forward and inverse kinematic systems (although if you buy CS4 you won't necessarily need this anymore), trigonometry for animation / games (I'm no math whiz, but this just plain made sense) which includes calculating angles, getting distances, and then there's some algebra for movement like different forces, velocity, acceleration, gravity, wind, mass, friction, etc, and how to make a realistic 3d system in flash all by yourself.

Whew.

Honestly, that short description only covers about five of the chapters.

This book is amazing, buy it.

Submitted 16 Nov 2008

Foundation ActionScript

Really clear and well laid out; with excellent explanations of what for me has been taxing to learn until now.
Good job!

Submitted 25 Oct 2008

I love this book

This book is an in-depth look at the topic of scripting animation in ActionScript. By meaning "Making things moves" It's mean making objects move using ActionScript. The primary focus of the book is on creating animation for simulating real-world physics: making things move; simulating bouncing, gravity, springing, and friction; creating objects you can throw them. Finally, an additional section gives an introduction to basic 3-D concepts and techniques. Most of the well-known and engaging Flash content uses these techniques; although they are particularly geared towards use in games and physics simulations. Since this book focuses on a specific application of ActionScript, it is definitely not a basic book or an introduction to ActionScript in general -- I think that a good understanding of ActionScript syntax is essential to understand this book and certainly this book is recommend for everyone want to get in-deep into actionscript animation

Submitted 28 Sep 2008

OOP beginner

Since I'm still a beginner and this book is more for intermediates I'm a little overwhelmed. Definitely more details than I expected but a sourcebook worth buying. I will catch up.

Submitted 27 Aug 2008