I know that it has been a while since my last post on here.  That is because work had really picked up and a couple other things changed over the past summer.  Either way, I am back now.

Here is a little recap of the past 8 months:

• got my multi touch table working but the projector was messed up so i just left it alone and destroyed it last week
• my girlfriend moved to Boulder in August, in January I proposed and we are now engaged
• CP+B was great to me, but I am moving back to Canada to be with my fiancee and closer to friends and family
• Worked on a ton of fun projects with CP+B and I am really going to miss them

That is basically it, a lot of work but also a lot of personal things have been going on.  Either way, the future is promising !! I have teamed up with a couple of individuals to put together a little agency that we are calling Cult Creative.  You can follow us on twitter @ www.twitter.com/cultcreative or become a fan on Facebook @ http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cult-Creative/107701979253194 .  We are working on the site over the next couple of weeks and updates will come for that soon.

We are on the road for the next couple weeks, my fiancee and I are heading up the west coast to take a little break from the world and enjoy ourselves a little bit.  I am sitting in Santa Fe, NM right now and we are off to somewhere in Arizona today and possibly California tomorrow.  The ultimate destination being Toronto the weekend of FITC.

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I am in the mood to write a couple more tutorials but I would like to take suggestions as to what to write about. A couple of ideas that I have had are the following:

Box2d Physics – a thorough introduction
Something more advanced with Papervision
How to write Pure AS, no more need for Document classes
Intro to Away 3D
something else?

let me know what you think and what you want to see?

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I quickly realized that I don’t have enough time to make this thing on my own, but being stubborn, I tried anyways. Well, I haven’t had time to even really think about it for over a month now but would like to get back at it.

What I have decided to do is to try and create a team of 3 or 4 developers to try and get this this off the ground and working, because I really feel that it would be a benefit to the Flash community. If you would like to help out, I am looking for a couple people that have experience in both Flex and Papervision.

Here are some of the areas that we need some specific help with :
Interface Design
Flex Development
Papervision Development

If you are interested, you can check out www.paper-face.com to see the app and email me at marc@marcpelland.com and we can get going on this. One thing to note is that there is no compensation for the work done on this project but I would like all involved to take it seriously. It will be a good learning experience and hopefully a helpful tool for the industry.

thanks,
Marc Pelland

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• Overview
• Setup
• Create Your First Project with Augmented Reality
• Optimize and Customize the Settings
• Tutorial Files
• Finished Scene

Overview

What is Augmented Reality?

Augmented Reality is a technology that allows you to superimpose images into real-time environments. For the purposes of this tutorial, you just need to know that it reads a marker (shape/symbol), interprets the angle and size of that marker and then allows you to place objects at that size and position on the screen (or whatever your medium is).

Here are a couple example videos:

Mini Video and the GE Site

What is FLARToolKit?

To start with ARToolKit is the development package that has allowed developers to tap into the power of Augmented Reality. FLARToolKit is an Actionscript 3 port of the Java version of the toolkit.

What do I need for this tutorial?

In this tutorial, we are going to use FLAR Manager, which is a framework setup to make the combination of Papervision 3D and FLARToolKit easy and quick to setup/use.

If you would like to simply use FLARToolKit (or just get a little more information about it) clik on the following link: http://www.libspark.org/wiki/saqoosha/FLARToolKit/en

Otherwise, download FLARManager (using v0.1 in this tutorial) from http://words.transmote.com/wp/20090309/flarmanager-v01/ . FLARManager actually comes with a build of FLARToolKit in it and you can get it for AS3/FP9 or AS3/FP10 (we are using FP10).

You will also need FlashDevelop or another Actionscript editing tool. In this tutorial I am going to be compiling my code directly from FlashDevelop, but feel free to use the compiler/method of your choice.

You should also get a pattern generator so that you can create your own patterns (markers). Go here for more details: http://www.squidder.com/2009/03/05/for-nerds-only-custom-flar-markers-explained/

What else should I know?

You should be aware of the fact that there is a licensing fee to use check here: http://www.hitl.washington.edu/artoolkit/license.html for more details.

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After all of the tests and playing around that I have done with face/motion detection in Flash and Processing Quasimondo posted an optimized version of the OpenCV port to AS3. This is something that I have been waiting for someone to do for quite some time. I thought I would just post my first test with it and forward you to his page since anything i would say about it would just be repetition.

To view my test click here (need a webcam): www.marcpelland.com/opencv

In my example, I just slightly modified Mario’s class to allow for an image to be placed instead of just a box being drawn. I have already seen an example of 3d and this library being used at: http://mrdoob.com/blog/post/643

Quasimondo’s blog posting: http://www.quasimondo.com/archives/000687.php

thanks, marc

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With actionscript you are able to customize these menus and add a little extra interactivity to your pages. Even though most people don’t right click on anything, some people do. To have something there for them to find and use could prove to be useful. It could be anything… credits, navigation, easter eggs, helpers, etc.

Context menus take very little time and effort to add, and show that you are paying a little bit extra attention to detail when creating a site / application.

here is a quick and easy guide to using AS3 Context Menus > http://www.emanueleferonato.com/2009/03/11/understanding-as3-context-menus/

thanks, marc

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PaperFace is a graphical user interface for Papervision 3D. The goal of the app is to build out 3d scenes without the need to write all the initial code. I am hoping to build it to a state where designers can come in and build a fairly complete scene and export the code to someone that can do something with it. Please go register and tell me what you think. Check out the forum on the site, and post any feedback you may have.

The app is no-where near completion, but I thought it would be good to get some thoughts on it throughout the course of development. Plus, now that it is live it puts a little bit of extra pressure on me to work more on it.

the address is www.paper-face.com

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• Introduction
• Parsers: ASE
• Parsers: Collada
• Parsers: DAE
• Parsers: Max3ds
• Parsers: Sketchup
• Parsers: Other
• Parser Comparison
• Final Thoughts
• Tutorial Files

Introduction

Overview

With all the different 3d applications in use today it is hard to come up with one standardized format. So Papervision includes a number of parsers that can interpret some of the different types of 3d files. This gives developers and modelers some freedom as to which application they would like to use.

Located within each parser class in Papervision is a little bit of a write-up that explains what the parser can do and what it can’t. In this tutorial, I will just introduce you to each type; basically re-iterating what is in the class (for ease of access). Then I will run through some examples for how to use a couple of the parsers to load your objects.

What does a Parser do?

As stated above, a parser just interprets whatever is in the 3d asset file and translates it into something that Papervision can read.

Every file format has a core structure that remains the same, so the developers of Papervision have just made an translators for all of these core structures.

Where are the Parsers?

The parsers are located in the Papervision codebase under: src/org/papervision3d/objects/parsers.

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http://www.lostinactionscript.com/blog/index.php/2008/09/28/tips-on-how-to-write-efficient-as3/

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Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Starting Out
• Building your First Papervision Application
• Add Interactivity
• Next Steps
• Tutorial Files

Overview

I am going to start out with a brief discussion and introduction of 3D and what Papervision brings to the table and then move on to the full tutorial. The files for the tutorial can be found by clicking here: tutorial files

What is 3D?

A standard website is created in 2D space; that is it consists of objects (text, images, video, etc) on an X and Y plane. People have faked perspective in the past using graphics tool, but in general it has been 2D. What 3D does is add another dimension to that traditional plane. Alongside the X and Y, there is now a Z. This 3rd dimension allows for depth to be shown.

I remember my entry exam for college, I had to look at a series of shapes and come up with any number of ideas for what it could be. For instance, if you look at a circle with another circle inside it you would think that it was just two circles. If you were told to imagine those same two circles in 3D space the possibilities are much greater as to what they are. It could be a bowling pin from the top, an empty glass, a garbage can, or a football being tossed into the center of a hoop.

If you are having still having trouble envisioning the 3rd dimension, here is a great video/project by Rob Bryanton explaining how dimensions work:

What is Papervision?

Papervision is a 3D engine built with Actionscript that enables developers to start working in 3D. Using a ton of math, the Papervision team has found a way to create a simulated 3D environment.

Papervision consists of a ton of Actionscript classfiles that developers can use to create objects, scenes, and even worlds in 3D space. 3D applications and engines generally build objects using smaller objects, Papervision is no different. It uses triangles as the building blocks for larger objects in the scene. The more triangles that are used, the better the quality but more triangles means that it is harder on the processor.

Being open-source, developers are able to see all the code that they are working with which allows for a better understanding of what they are using. This also means that the development community has to ability to build on what the original developers have done without having to go through the hardships involved in extending something that is not open-sourced.

Open source means that it can be easier to understand how a complex system works because you can view all of the code that it was built with. If you have any more questions regarding the benefits of an open-source system, there is a good article located here: http://www.directionsmag.com/article.php?article_id=889&trv=1

Why use Papervision?

Papervision is a great 3D engine for Flash, but there are others. These include Sandy, Away3D, Alternative, and more. When push comes to shove it is more of a personal preference that I came to like working with Papervision.

I think that the biggest reason to use Papervision (other than comfort from it being the first engine that I tried) is that it is so widely supported in the Flash community. I seem to be able to find more help with Papervision than with any of the other application. Having the ability to tap into the minds of other developers in forums, at conferences, and anywhere really is a priceless tool.

What has been done with Papervision?

I have to start off with a site that I had a hand in building, and that is www.amg-360.com. Apart from a couple of prototypes, this was my first major 3D application for the web.

Some other good examples can be found at: http://dailypv3d.wordpress.com

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