Posts Tagged ‘3D’
I have had feedback that certain random movements I program are a bit “jumpy”. Such as my old brownian movement tutorial and I really noticed it in my last tutorial, the parallax 3d depth effect tutorial. I’ve been thinking about it and looking around at some code and now have this updated brownian movement example! Updated for as3 as well as making it less jumpy.
First I’ll explain what I’ve found to be the reason of the jumpiness. And then explain and show what can be done to make this movement be more smooth.
So to examine the old jumpy code. Jump back to the first version post here. I think my technique was well thought out here, but the application was poor. It was recalculating the velocities every single frame and then incrementing the coordinate positions by the newly calculated velocities… This is where the jumpiness comes in. Even though the random value was named velocity, it didn’t actually affect the dot’s velocity, it was just a variable that stored the random value used to move the current x/y coordinates.
To help the animation be more smooth, the velocity needs to be more smooth. The velocity, rather than calculating it fresh each frame, should be randomly modified each frame. And then the new velocity will calculate the new ‘random’ position. Another addition is to introduce another force to dampen the velocity over time, so things don’t get too crazy…
Steps:
- Modify velocity randomly
- With velocity and current position, calculate a new position
- Dampen the velocity
Example:
Here I have a velocity for the x coordinate as well as the y. I’m also experimenting with a z velocity. This adjusts the alpha and scale for depth perception. It doesn’t actually edit the depth or layer the dot shows up on the stage however… keyword here: experimenting. 
Actionscript:
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| //number of balls
var numBalls:uint = 50;
var defaultBallSize:uint = 30;
//init
makeDots();
function makeDots():void {
//create desired number of balls
for (var ballNum:uint=0; ballNum<numBalls; ballNum++){
var c1:Number = randomColor();
var c2:Number = randomColor();
//create ball
var thisBall:MovieClip = new MovieClip();
thisBall.graphics.beginFill(c1, .9);
thisBall.graphics.lineStyle(defaultBallSize/3, c2, .9);
thisBall.graphics.drawCircle(defaultBallSize, defaultBallSize, defaultBallSize);
thisBall.graphics.endFill();
addChild(thisBall);
//coordinates
thisBall.x = Math.random() * stage.stageWidth;
thisBall.y = Math.random() * stage.stageHeight;
//percieved depth
thisBall.ballNum = ballNum;
thisBall.depth = ballNum/numBalls;
thisBall.scaleY = thisBall.scaleX = thisBall.alpha = ballNum/numBalls;
//velocity
thisBall.vx = 0;
thisBall.vy = 0;
thisBall.vz = 0;
//ball animation
thisBall.addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, animateBall);
}
}
var dampen:Number = 0.95;
var maxScale:Number = 1.3;
var minScale:Number = .3;
var maxAlpha:Number = 1.3;
var minAlpha:Number = .3;
function animateBall(e:Event):void{
var thisBall:Object = e.target;
//apply randomness to velocity
thisBall.vx += Math.random() * 0.2 - 0.1;
thisBall.vy += Math.random() * 0.2 - 0.1;
thisBall.vz += Math.random() * 0.002 - 0.001;
thisBall.x += thisBall.vx;
thisBall.y += thisBall.vy;
thisBall.scaleX = thisBall.scaleY += thisBall.vz;
thisBall.alpha += thisBall.vz;
thisBall.vx *= dampen;
thisBall.vy *= dampen;
thisBall.vz *= dampen;
if(thisBall.x > stage.stageWidth) {
thisBall.x = 0 - thisBall.width;
}
else if(thisBall.x < 0 - thisBall.width) {
thisBall.x = stage.stageWidth;
}
if(thisBall.y > stage.stageHeight) {
thisBall.y = 0 - thisBall.height;
}
else if(thisBall.y < 0 - thisBall.height) {
thisBall.y = stage.stageHeight;
}
if (thisBall.scaleX > maxScale){
thisBall.scaleX = thisBall.scaleY = maxScale;
}
else if (thisBall.scaleX < minScale){
thisBall.scaleX = thisBall.scaleY = minScale;
}
if (thisBall.alpha > maxAlpha){
thisBall.alpha = maxAlpha;
}
else if (thisBall.alpha < minAlpha){
thisBall.alpha = minAlpha;
}
}
function randomColor():Number{
return Math.floor(Math.random() * 16777215);
} |
Source:
as3random_brownian_movement.fla
Author: Evan Mullins | Filed under: tutorial
Tags: 3D, abstract, actionscript, animation, as3, color, download, experiment, flash, flex, open source, physics, tutorial
I’ve had quite a few questions about how to make depth in flash. Earlier (like, 2 years ago) I put up an experiment file to give some interactive depth to some sketchbook sketches, see Floating Sketches. I’ve finally gotten around to translating that into as3. It’s still the same basic idea, Create layers of levels, and have each one respond to the mouse a little differently. The ‘closer’ depths will move faster while the farther away depths will be slower. A simple technique called Parallax.
- Seperate the scene into layers
- Place the layers in the correct depth
- Make closer layers react fast and farther layers slower
Example
Actionscript
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| //define number of layer.
var numLayers:uint = 15;
//number of items in a layer
var numBallsPerLayer:uint = 100;
var defaultBallSize:uint = 25;
var stageWidth3d:uint = 800;
var stageHeight3d:uint = 800;
var layers:Array = new Array();
//init
makeMatrix();
//3d created by layers and placing objects on each layer - the layer has it's own distance, simulated by movement and alpha
function makeMatrix():void {
//walk through desired number of layers
for (var layerNum:uint=0; layerNum<numLayers; layerNum++){
//make layer object to add balls to
var thisLayer:MovieClip = new MovieClip();
addChild(thisLayer);
layers.push(thisLayer);
//create desired number of balls per layer
for (var ballNum:uint=0; ballNum<numBallsPerLayer; ballNum++){
//trace("layer: "+layerNum +"; ball: "+ballNum);
var c1:Number = randomColor();
var c2:Number = randomColor();
//create ball
var thisBall:MovieClip = new MovieClip();
thisBall.graphics.beginFill(c1, .9);
thisBall.graphics.lineStyle(defaultBallSize/3, c2, .9);
thisBall.graphics.drawCircle(defaultBallSize, defaultBallSize, defaultBallSize);
thisBall.graphics.endFill();
//apply filter to ball
var myGradientGlowFilter = new GradientGlowFilter(0,
0,
[c1, c2, c1],
[0, .9, 1],
[0, 63, 255],
20,
20,
.9,
BitmapFilterQuality.HIGH,
BitmapFilterType.OUTER,
false);
var myBlurFilter = new BlurFilter((numLayers-layerNum)/numLayers*5, (numLayers-layerNum)/numLayers*5, 1);
var filtersArray:Array = new Array(myGradientGlowFilter, myBlurFilter);
thisBall.filters = filtersArray;
thisLayer.addChild(thisBall);
//coordinates
thisBall.x = Math.random() * stageWidth3d * layerNum;
thisBall.y = Math.random() * stageHeight3d * layerNum;
//size
thisBall.scaleY = thisBall.scaleX = layerNum/numLayers * (Math.random() + 1);
//ball animation
thisBall.layer = layerNum;
thisBall.addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, animateBall);
}
//layer depth/alpha
thisLayer.alpha = layerNum/numLayers;
}
//listeners to animate from mouse movement
addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, positionLayer);
}
var easingStrength:Number = 10;
function positionLayer(e:Event):void{
for (var layerNum:uint=0; layerNum<numLayers; layerNum++){
//move layers according to mouse poosition
var xv:Number = (stage.stageWidth-layers[layerNum].width)/stage.stageWidth;
layers[layerNum].x -= (layers[layerNum].x - xv * mouseX) / easingStrength;
var yv:Number = (stage.stageHeight-layers[layerNum].height)/stage.stageHeight;
layers[layerNum].y -= (layers[layerNum].y - yv * mouseY) / easingStrength;
}
}
function animateBall(e:Event):void{
e.target.x += (Math.random() - .5) * 2 * e.target.layer/numLayers;
e.target.y += (Math.random() - .5) * 2 * e.target.layer/numLayers;
}
function randomColor():Number{
return Math.floor(Math.random() * 16777215);
} |
Source
depth.fla
Author: Evan Mullins | Filed under: tutorial
Tags: 3D, abstract, animation, as3, collage, color, download, experiment, flash, game, interactive, open source, tutorial
StomperNet now has a site map. Only it’s much bigger than just a site map, we’re calling it Stomper Universe! It contains all the pieces parts that make up StomperNet. It links to different sites, video series, tools, and more by giving a 3D interactive space to inspect the thumbnails and click through to the sites! It will help visitors navigate easily to all areas of StomperNet, whether they are new to them or old favorites.
So go check out the StomperNet Universe now!
Author: Evan Mullins | Filed under: portfolio, work
Tags: 3D, abstract, actionscript, animation, as3, flash, interactive, stompernet, web design, website
Gives feel of perspective and depth by reacting to mouse movements. The effect is parallax, read more…
The city images are very choppy and ugly, I know, it’s just a test.
Sample Actionscript. This in on one of the buildings which are separate movie clips. Adjust the equation for different effect.
The basic formula is as follows: this._x = _root._xmouse / (speed) + transform
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| onClipEvent (enterFrame) {
this._x = _root._xmouse/7 - 50;
} |
Update: Here’s a similar effect achieved by just negating the relation between the mouse and the building movie clips.
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| onClipEvent (enterFrame) {
this._x = -_root._xmouse/7 - 50;
} |
Download Source Fla File
Author: Evan Mullins | Filed under: portfolio
Tags: 3D, actionscript, animation, as2, download, experiment, flash, open source
Here’s the new circlecube logo! I’ve had it for a while, but hadn’t uploaded it.
I still have to update my theme to incorporate it. I like the green transparent circlecube graphic in the header now but it’s gotta go… and plus it’s a little too green.
The common 2d © symbol and a 3d cube.
I’ll have to figure out a way to make it interactive… hm…
Any ideas?
Author: Evan Mullins | Filed under: portfolio
Tags: 3D, circle cube, graphic design, illustrator, interactive, photoshop
