To Infinity! And beyond! an introduction to Away3D
Flash Dev
awaylogoTo put it simply, Away3D is a 3D engine for flash. It consists of a bunch of librarys and classes which can be used with Actionscript 3 to create some pretty stunning real-time interactive and animated 3D in Flash for use in games and websites.

Of course there are other 3D engines for Flash out there with Papervision and Away3D being the most widely used. I prefer Away3D because of the helpful community of away3D developers and the amazing support that they can give you. Where else can you ask a question, even as a newbie, and get a speedy reply from the software creators themselves? That really does mean a lot! Anyway, now onto a small breakdown of some of the things you can do in away3D :

Modelling :


Away3D comes with all of the standard primitives you would expect from a 3D engine. You have your spheres, cubes, cones, cylinders and quite inexplicably... a sea turtle primitive.These can be added to your scene in much the same way you would add any AS3 class containing a 2D vector object or graphic.

Other than the primitives, Away3D can import a host of different 3D model files from any of your favourite 3D design programs. The more popular are 3D Studio Max, Maya and Blender. These models can either be used in their native formats or converted to AS3 classes where the model vertex data is stored in XML format. To have a look at some imported 3D models in action, check out the other articles in this section.

Texturing :


If you know anything about 3D, then you know that a good model is nothing without it's texture. The texture is your model's skin and this really brings your model to life. Textures, or materials as they are commonly reffered to by 3D practitioners, are easy to apply in Away3D. Away3D also supports an array of different material types, including interactive movieclip textures and also video textures! All you need to do is use your imagination to make a guess as to the possibilities these create.

Animating :


There are so many ways to animate in Away3D that covering them here would take up too much space. I will however be experimenting with animation in my Labs articles so check in regularly to se what I have been playing with. These techniques range from simple rotation to full bones animation.


Interactivity :


This is where all of the fun comes in, taking your creations and adding user interaction. Mouse and keyboard interaction is mostly as simple as it would be if you were applying it to a normal movieclip or graphic.Move objects with the keyboard or drag them with your mouse, it is all possible and makes Away3D brilliant for creating 3D Flash games.


Conclusion :


These are just a few things you can do with Away3D but there is a LOT more if you are willing to learn. I have only been working with Away for a few months so the experiments I will be posting will be of me going through the learning process. Modelling, texturing, animation and interaction. Mastering these aspects of Away3D is my goal and my 3D experiments are basically a document of my journey from novice to proficient Away3D Dev.
 

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