Papervision3D Camera3D unprojectMatrix function

During my studies in 3D Mathematics, I have mostly found that projection is achieved with a view frustum described as a matrix which involves variables near/far plane. This isn’t how projection in papervision is done by default, so, this set me on to a new path for unprojecting coordinates. This new path uses the perspective matrix.
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A brief study on Cosine Generators

Recently I have been studying rotations. I was particularly interested in the primitive mathematics involved in the conversion between Polar and Cartesian coordinate systems. Usually you are told to use the trig functions to do this. What was actually happening always seemed hidden in the implementation of the trig functions, so I took the time to implement a cosine generator based on a report a man by the name of Dr. William D. Bishop had come up with.
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Coordinate Utility class for Papervision 3D

This class factors out a lot of work that needs to be done to position 3D objects at variable rotations, world coordinates, and screen distances. Use the link below to get the utility class. Using this class requires papervision. If you don’t already have papervision, then you probably don’t need this class… Also, the sample isn’t pretty (graphically), and the source has some weird key controls. They are completely unintuitive but get the job done for testing :)
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FileReference – Can I get an IO Error?

It’s funny, actually, recently I was trying to remember which class was doing what I’m about to explain, and about the same time it happened.

If I had to choose, FileReference would be the strange fruit of the actionscript 3.0 classes. Only if I had to choose, though… I mean, I’m in a life or death situation, and my only way out is to choose which class is the strangest. In that case I would choose FileReference. Some might choose the Sound class, but me, yea, definitely FileReference… Continue reading ‘FileReference – Can I get an IO Error?’

CNN Fails Flash 10 Detection

A friend posted an article about how the flash detection on CNN is failing for Flash Player 10 on certain browsers. This immediately sparked my interest as I have taken it upon myself to make sure he understands that Flash Player isn’t just another pile of proprietary software. Continue reading ‘CNN Fails Flash 10 Detection’

Actionscript Permutation Generator

For those of you who just need a permutation generator:
Actionscript 3.0 Permutation Utility class
Actionscript 2.0 Permutation Utility class

Onward…

Some time ago on a tech interview website discussion, we were challenged with the following problem: Continue reading ‘Actionscript Permutation Generator’

Another Ease Function

I had been thinking about making an ease function that eases a transition in a way similar to the way group94 sometimes uses for their transitions. After some time of sleeping on it, I took some time to write it out. Continue reading ‘Another Ease Function’

Plane Scaling and Positioning with Papervision

Recently, I used papervision for a project. I needed to create a carousel like 3D system. Even though I think it would be helpful and interesting to some to write about the carousel, I’m going to focus on the equations this task led me to instead. I think they’ll prove to be very useful to anyone that needs to match design compositions with pixel perfect precision. To really get the most out of this article, you’ll need some papervision experience. Having made a carousel will help too :) At the moment, I’m unable to share any working example of the carousel, but at some point I should be able to post an example. Continue reading ‘Plane Scaling and Positioning with Papervision’