GAE SWF

• Tweener
• TweenLite (and flavours)
• Boostworthy Animation System
• FuseKit
• Go
• and KitchenSync 1.1

Note: After some helpful feedback from readers (THANK YOU!) I added TweenLite to the list of libraries I reviewed. I should add here that these are fairly superficial observations about how things work and don’t go into incredible detail. If I steal any features, I’ll look closer ;-D

Keep the comments coming!

Tween Engine Comparisons (updated)

i’m dispatching an event from a sprite after it fades in completely
dispatchEvent(new Event(Main.ENTER_SCREEN_COMPLETE));

i’m trying to listen for to this event but for some reason it doesn’t get picked up when the capturing parameter is set to false.. that is for bubbling and the target phase.

This works
container.addEventListener(Main.ENTER_SCREEN_COMPLETE, screenTweenComplete, true, 0, true);

This does NOT work
container.addEventListener(Main.ENTER_SCREEN_COMPLETE, screenTweenComplete, false, 0, true);

Where container, is an ancestor to everything on the screen. Essentially its the the stage.

Any clues why this is happening?

Answer after the jump.
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Changes in 1.1:

• ADDED jumpToTime() method to Tween (this may be moved to AbstractSynchronizedAction in a later release)
• ADDED getTimestampFromFrames() and getTimestampFromMilliseconds() to TimestampUtil
• ADDED Timecode to TimeStringParser. Now “:ss”, “mm:ss;ff”, and “dd:hh:mm:ss;ff” are supported.
• ADDED ActionDefaults class for storing default initialization values.
• ADDED easeOutIn() to most of the easing functions (buggy. seems to overshoot target in some cases)
• ADDED version check in Synchronizer.initialize()
• CHANGED type of Numbers within Timestamp to int.
• REFACTORED all actions to contain super() in the constructor.
• REMOVED errors that are thrown when pause() and start() are called at the wrong times.

Hey KS Fans,

KitchenSync version 1.0.1 was released last week. This version is just a patch that fixes a few minor issues. Here’s the change log for this version.

===== v1.0.1 (2008.02.04) ======
Fixed Cubic.easeOut bug.
Made getters for Tween's toValue and fromValue.
Added source code to main download.
Added metadata for events.
Updated docs and added summaries to all wiki pages.

I received some feedback from people who were having trouble setting up KitchenSync for use with Flash CS3. I didn’t know this before but you cannot use .swc files compiled with the Flex SDK in a .fla file (WTF, Adobe!) Also, some people were confused by having to use SVN to get the source. To help solve these problems, I’ve added the latest source code as its own download.

I’ve also written EVEN MORE documentation including help for downloading and setting up the source code.

Finally, if you’re using KS, drop me a line or post to the mailing list. I’d love to hear any feedback you may have!

KitchenSync is more than an animation library

KitchenSync is more than an animation library. Tweens are a major part of KitchenSync but that is not the end. It also allows you to sequence sounds, functions, and event dispatches among other actions. The framework is open-ended allowing you to come up with new ways to work with the virtual timeline.

KitchenSync was designed with developers in mind

KitchenSync was designed for developers who want a smart way to handle animation or other time-based functionality with code. Written from the ground up in ActionScript 3.0, KitchenSync relies on smart object-oriented architecture rather than complicated shorthand. It includes a number of features and shortcuts, such as the clone() method, that save effort for developers. KitchenSync makes extensive use of events and informative runtime errors and is quite flexible when it comes to extending the functionality.

KitchenSync aims to…

• offer a well-architected, extensible framework for working with time-based animations and events.
• take advantage of the power of ActionScript 3.0 while using OOP best practices and design patterns and without requiring the Flex framework.
• respond to the needs of developers with a rich set of features.
• be a full-featured library for animation and timeline based actions.

Links

• Getting started
• Types of synchronized actions
• Units of time, parsing time strings, and sync mode
• API Reference

The Problem

Ben H. writes…

I’ve been trying to get familiar with a “best practice” on [looping through the display list]. The trouble is, when I enter the following on the first frame of a blank .fla file:

trace("Number of Children in a blank SWF:"+stage.numChildren);
trace("Child 1:" + stage.getChildAt(0));

I get this:

Number of Children in a blank SWF:1
Child 1:[object MainTimeline]

Now that may seem grand, but I’ve drawn several shapes and have a text field and named movieclip instances on stage as well – so why [does it only count one child?]

Solution after the jump.
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FlexBuilder may have its ups and downs but it still remains my pick for best AS3/MXML editor on the market (with TextMate not far behind). Part of the beauty of FlexBuilder is that it’s built on the Eclipse SDK, one of the most versatile and powerful IDEs available, which is not only free and open source, but boasts a wealth of third party plug-ins for every kind of (mostly Java) development. This article will take a look at some must-have plug-ins for doing Flex development as well as some tips for tricking out your development process.

As with all of our entries, your feedback, suggestions, corrections and additions are all more than welcome.

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AIR public beta is out.

and while you’re at it…

Flash Lite 3

New Flash Player

and BlazeDS, whatever that is. (Hint: despite the name, this is not Flash CS3 for Gameboy)