Hi Joshua, What is your opinion on experience? e.g. When is somebody a professional developer?
How long did it take you guys to feel comfortable with coding as3, and especially understanding precisely how Away3D works?; How much projects have you done? How much time do you spend on a project per day or per month? Do you work in a team? I'm trying to get an idea whether I'm taking the right steps... For example this project which I've been working on for more than three months: My goal was to make a Panorama viewer: -with multiresolution cubical panorama support -with Hotspot navigation -Zoomify-like Flat panorama's -Panorama video (with VideoMaterial class) -Partial panorama's -VRObject viewing -multitouch -optionally using some sort of PHP connection to a database. -Lightning fast. Why? Well I've been making Virtual Tours for almost two years now. I've tried several panoramic viewers, but unfortunately, they don't fit my needs. (Not-extendable, not as3-compatible) How? -Using Flex MXML for data and AS3 for various pano classes. -Using Away3dLite So I made a plan: 1. Read the "3D in Flash" book. 2. Dig through the code of the Mesh class. 3. Understand materials, and know how to load them at runtime. (Partial tile loading) 4. Keyboard/ Mouse controls 5. Make Multtiresolution Cube Panorama Class. 6. Make Hotspot Class. 7. Make Partial Spherical Panorama Class. But I bumped into the following questions: -How can I use multiple materials on a Mesh --> Solved; apply material to each face individually. -How do I know which cube(sub)faces are currently being viewed, for loading? -How can I update only certain faces in the Mesh class, without updating the whole mesh? And lastly, I'm never sure about the speed and performance of the flash player. If I use the debugger in FB, and I run the code step by step, I don't understand how the Flash Player can handle the amount of commands that come by every second. Does the extra code within Away3dLite's classes (extra code; Lights, shaders, etc..) which I don't use have an (Serious) impact on the performance? Remember, my goal was to make this viewer Lightning fast... That's why I'm trying to understand what Object3D.project(), ObjectContainer3D.project() and Mesh.project() actually do. (Matrix calculations, projection plane, etc...) So my question are: -How do you begin a project; Is it similar to the way I started my project? -How to know if cube(sub)faces are viewed or not? -Is it possible to update only certain faces (delete, replace) in a mesh? -Do you guys have some links to tutorials or pages about how Matrix projections are calculated? ( I already found these: http://www.codeproject.com/KB/openGL/Space_Matrix.aspx http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/mathematics/18-06-linear-algebra-spring-2010/video-lectures/ ) Thanks in advance, Declan On Dec 26, 8:15 pm, "Joshua Granick" <[email protected]> wrote: > A couple things: > > - FlashDevelop. Using FlashDevelop instead of Flash (and instead of Flash > Builder, in my opinion), is a huge boost in productivity. Instead of > having to memorize classes and methods, the code completion and other > language features allow you to use the language before its been committed > to memory. Over time it becomes more and more familiar, but until then, > you can leap into AS3 (and libraries like Away3D) without a lot of study > > - Maya + OpenCollada. I had a hard time getting into Away3D development > (beyond cubes and spheres) because I couldn't find a good pipeline for > generating 3D models and importing them into Away3D reliably. Other > developers could chime in here, but for all the formats and applications I > tried (SketchUp, Blender, Milkshape 3D, Misfit Model 3D) the only one that > truly worked for me all-around was using Maya plus the OpenCollada plugin > (with triangulation enabled) for exports. Maya is prohibitively expensive, > so I'm sure there are other applications that can work, but this was when > my experience with Away3D took off. It's exciting when you can create a > mesh, use a UV editor to wrap your texture, and have it load correctly in > Away3D. Other formats and applications may be different, but in Away3D + > OpenCollada, .1 unit = 1 pixel (if I remember correctly). When testing > formats, always remember to test with something like a WireColorMaterial, > and play with the scale. You may be loading your model correctly, but > can't see it because the material isn't appearing, or because the scale is > so small or so large. > > - Class-based development in AS3. If you aren't doing it already, get > comfortable with using classes. When learning a language it can be easier > to begin with procedural programming (like you would do on a frame, coding > in the Flash IDE) but a class-based architecture really pays off in the > long run. Using FlashDevelop really helps make this easier (the Project > panel is awesome for always maintaining the context of all the files in > your project) > > - Common-sense development. There's also some "common-sense" principles > that really help in development. Don't be afraid to use capitalization or > long names if it makes your code more clear. It all gets compiled to > binary anyway, so you don't do anyone (yourself included) when variables > are called "v1" and "v2" instead of "objectMesh" and "objectTexture". It's > also helpful to use multiple classes and methods to keep each piece of > your complex work, simple. For example, if you have multiple states in > your application, it may be helpful to create a "showState" function. That > function can then be the authority to making sure everything falls into > place. Instead of putting this code in each button handler, make each > button handler point back to your central function. It's much easier to > debug applications when a specific behavior is always handled by the same > code. > > - Actuate. Use a good tween library -- goes a long way to making your > life easier. Animating properties, or pushing numbers around, is an > extremely common task in AS3. Use a library that feels comfortable and is > reliable. My favorite is Actuate, but (by no means) is it the only library > out there. Performance, reliability, and (in my opinion) global control > with good overwrite support is essential. If your library supports solid > overwriting, it means that you can "set it and forget it" ... even if you > started an animation moments before, it will kill the previous animations > if they conflict with your most recent instructions. > > - Mailing lists, Google. Google is a great resource for AS3 questions, > and mailing lists can be the best place for library-specific questions. > > On Sun, 26 Dec 2010 09:46:37 -0800, rctdeclan <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > Hi guys, > > > I'm 16 years old and live in the Netherlands. > > I'm now coding AS3 and MXML for almost a year. I love coding, and I > > love learning new things. > > > I have a few questions for the pro's out there. I hope you can help me > > with getting a better understanding of programming RIA's, and Flash > > development in general. > > I would like to know how you guys started, and what your visions were > > and how you managed (or not managed) to make those visions reality. > > > Subjects like: > > - Away3D projects: How do you start your projects, do you have tips? > > - As3: Cairngorm, MVC > > And for Rob and Richard: > > - where did you guys learn the theory needed to build a 3d engine? Are > > there some 3D-related tutorials you guys could recommend me? > > > Many thanks in advance, > > > Declan > > -- > Using Opera's revolutionary email client:http://www.opera.com/mail/
