Many thanks for those who came down! For those didn’t manage to come, you really missed a lot! The meeting was really really great! David’s presentation was excellent! With the knowledge he shared with us,  we can definitely kick start with Augmented Reality in a much shorter time. Thank you David, again!

The presentation slides shortly. Here’s some more photos.

UPDATE: You can find David’s presentation here: http://www.makestudios.net/preso/ar/

admin :: Feb.23.2009 :: news :: 1 Comment »

In our first User Group meeting I showed a tip about creating the up, over and down states of a button using a movie clip. I thought that it was time that I should put it up here as a reference for everyone.

An easy way of creating a button from a MovieClip is to give the names of the frames with the different states of the button “_up“, “_over” and “_down“.

Add a stop(); frame on frame 1 of the movie clip. Then out on the main timeline, open the actions panel and write: myButton_btn.buttonMode = true;

Just change myButton_btn to the instance name of your movieclip.

Now test the movie and roll over the button and It will now go to the over state. Press down on it and it will go to the down state.

So you do not need to write the code for on roll over, on mouse down and on roll out. Flash will automatically detect what you are wanting to do and do it for you.

Now you may be asking “Why should I do it this way? Why can’t I just make it as a regular button?” Well you can still do it that way if you like, however the benefit of doing it this way is that a movie clip is more light weight then a button. This means that flash can run a bit faster.

Update: Here are the files for this example buttonmovieclip.zip

Cheers,
Ed

Ed :: Feb.21.2009 :: actionscript 3, tips & tricks :: 2 Comments »

Joining existing “Flash/Flex Killer” solutions (Silverlight & JavaFX), here comes a real threat Eclipse E4 & SWT. Instead of pushing for a new platform, Eclipse has come out a really brilliant idea. The latest Eclipse version provides a framework which enables Java programmers to compile Java codes into swf files. Compared to Silverlight and JavaFX solutions, the stmart point is there’s no effort needed to force users to install plugins for their browsers. Since the end result is the same, a bunch of swf files, Flash & Flex users will face a huge crowd of Java competitors. Even though the file size is pretty huge (2-3mb) for a simple file, but it’s not a issue for current internet speed and it’s totally not a problem for desktop applications.

This is only the first round of attack from other programming languages. Soon we’ll see more languages that can compile swf files, C#, Ruby and Python for example. Comparing ActionScript with other programming languages, there is no obvious advantage. In fact, other languages are well established and well supported. Seasoned Java or C# programmers would be able to apply their existing experience and knowledge to participate in this RIA war.

The era of high demand for Flash & Flex developers is ending.

Shang :: Feb.18.2009 :: news :: 5 Comments »

This round of user group meeting is scheduled on 21st Feb, the coming Saturday, 10 am at Ogilvy Centre. Augmented Reality (AR) is the main topic. David & Kun from Make Studios will share with us their AR experience of creating Capture The Unexpected. Here’s a link of some cool examples of Augmented Reality.

After that, Danny will give a brief introduction to JSFL. He’ll share with us how JSFL can improve Flashers day to day work.

Ed will share with us one interesting Flash tip at the last session. Fowllowing that is free discussion and some Q&A.

Please RSVP through Facebook.

Schedule:

• 10:00-10:15: Welcome message
• 10:15-10:45: Augmented Reality by David & Kun
• 11:00-11:30: Introduction to JSFL by Danny
• 11:30-12:00: Flash tip and free discussiong by Ed

Venue:

35 Robinson Road, #03-01 the Ogilvy Centre

About the speakers

David & Kun

Crafted to engage, surprise and most importantly, to make an impression. This describes the work of this dynamic duo.

After previous stints with Kinetic and Proximity, David & Kun decided to strike out on their own with Make Studios in 2007. As the interactive director and creative director of this new found agency, they have fused cutting edge technology with creative ideas to create a new breed of digital experiences. From mobile, social, gesture based interaction, multi-touch to collaborative experiences, their exploratory journey for innovative forms of interaction pushes on.

Apart from having the privilege of working with world renowned brands, they have left their mark at numerous creative award shows both locally and on the international scene including the One Show, Clio, Cannes, Adfest, Media Spikes, Asia Interactive Awards, Singapore Creative Circle Awards and more. In the past year, their handmade work has found their way to clients such as Samsung, Calvin Klein, SingTel, HP, Canon, Nokia and Sony Ericsson.

Cheers,

Shang :: Feb.18.2009 :: news :: No Comments »

Company Name : Halcyon Global

Role : Flash Developer / Web Developer (2 positions)

This role will be a contract role for 3 months leading to a full time role at the end of 3 months (Depending on how good candidate is, it may start off as full time role). The team will handle websites for local and overseas clients covering South East Asia, Middle East and UK.

Some of our clients include an English Soccer Club, a Royal Family in Middle East and Aviation.

Please send resumes to ivan.tan{@}planethalcyon.com titled “Flash/Web Developer”

We will contact all applicants.

Shang :: Feb.16.2009 :: news :: No Comments »

A-SFUG now has a page on the Adobe Groups site found at http://groups.adobe.com/groups/cbadf5695a/summary. 

We will be having our next meet up soon so we will keep you all updated on the date and time.

Ed :: Feb.13.2009 :: about, adobe, news :: No Comments »

Godlike Joshua Davis has updated his website with his new project of year 2009, space. It’s a detailed walk through of how he come out with the new design. Besides that, there are also some experimental stuff from his lab. It’s a good source of visual inspiration.

Shang :: Feb.02.2009 :: news :: 1 Comment »