I recently had a request for a tutorial on how to apply masks using ActionScript 3.0. If you've ever tried doing this with AS 3, then you've probably discovered that it doesn't work the same as it did in AS 2.
So, for those of you who have never used masks, or for those who have never used ActionScript to create masks, let's start with the basics.
In the last particle effect tutorial, I laid the groundwork for creating a randomized particle system. In this tutorial, we're going to build on what we've already created, so if you haven't read the last tutorial, you might not get too much out of this one.
Since we're all experts now on creating a basic particle system, this tutorial won't be as lengthy as the last one. In fact, in order to achieve our goals for this tutorial, we'll only have to add a couple simple lines of code.
In the last post, we discussed the basics of how particle effects work. To sum it all up, a particle effect basically involves creating a single movie clip and then using ActionScript to duplicate it, randomize it, and animate it on the stage.
Now that we understand the basics of particle effects, let's actually put these ideas to use in Flash CS3.
In this tutorial, we'll be creating an effect with random particles flying out from the center of the stage in random directions, with random sizes and opacities.
In the world of Flash design and development, there is very little that gives me as much giddy pleasure as playing around with particle effects. Over the next few blog posts, I plan to do a few tutorials relating to particle effects, but before I did so, I wanted to lay a little bit of a foundation and talk about the basic idea behind these effects.
Want to cut your Flash development time in half?
If you answered yes, then you've come to the wrong place. On the other hand, if you'd like to moderately improve your efficiency and save yourself a little time, then it would be well worth your time to learn a few keyboard shortcuts that will save you many a mouse click. Below is a list of some of the keyboard shortcuts that I use most often. It may be helpful to print these out and thumbtack them to your wall.
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