Quick IE Test

By Zevan | July 8, 2010

Found this today, not related to actionscript but rather nice. It allows you to take a screen shot of your website in IE… if your on a mac without windows this is a quick way to test in a pinch:

http://ipinfo.info/netrenderer/index.php

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Circle Fitting

By Zevan | June 5, 2010
CLICK HERE TO COPY
Actionscript:
  1. var circs:Array = []
  2. var circNum:int = 600;
  3. addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, onAdd);
  4. function onAdd(evt:Event):void {
  5.     if (circs.length <circNum){
  6.         makeGrowable();
  7.     }
  8. }
  9.  
  10. function makeGrowable(){
  11.    
  12.     var s:MovieClip = MovieClip(addChild(new MovieClip()));
  13.     s.x = Math.random() * stage.stageWidth;
  14.     s.y = Math.random() * stage.stageHeight;
  15.     with(s.graphics){
  16.         lineStyle(0,0);
  17.         drawCircle(0,0,10);
  18.     }
  19.     s.scaleX = s.scaleY = 0;
  20.     circs.push(s);
  21.     s.addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, onScaleUp);
  22. }
  23.  
  24. function onScaleUp(evt:Event):void {
  25.     var c:MovieClip = MovieClip(evt.currentTarget);
  26.     c.scaleX = c.scaleY += 0.05;
  27.     for (var i:int = 0; i<circs.length; i++){
  28.         var circ:MovieClip = circs[i];
  29.         if (circ != c){
  30.             var amt:Number = circ.width/2 + c.width/2;
  31.             var dx:Number = circ.x - c.x;
  32.             var dy:Number = circ.y - c.y;
  33.             var dist:Number = Math.sqrt(dx * dx + dy * dy);
  34.             if (amt> dist){
  35.                 c.removeEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, onScaleUp);
  36.                 if (c.scaleX <0.1){
  37.                     if (contains(c)){
  38.                     removeChild(c);
  39.                     }
  40.                 }
  41.             }
  42.         }
  43.        
  44.     }
  45. }

Circle fitting is one of those things I've never bothered to do... today I figured I'd give it a try and this is what I came up with. I posted it on wonderfl:

Posted in Graphics, misc, motion | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Fill in the Blank

By Zevan | June 4, 2010
CLICK HERE TO COPY
Actionscript:
  1. var story:String = "Fill in the _____.";
  2.  
  3.  
  4. var txt:TextField = new TextField();
  5. txt.defaultTextFormat = new TextFormat("Georgia", 20);
  6. txt.width = stage.stageWidth;
  7. txt.multiline = true;
  8. txt.wordWrap = true;
  9. txt.text = story;
  10. addChild(txt);
  11.  
  12. var alph:Array = "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz".split("");
  13. var keys:Object = {};
  14. for (var i:int = 0; i<alph.length; i++){
  15.     keys[65 + i] = alph[i];
  16. }
  17. stage.addEventListener(KeyboardEvent.KEY_DOWN, onKeyPressed);
  18. function onKeyPressed(evt:KeyboardEvent):void{
  19.      
  20.     if (evt.keyCode == Keyboard.ENTER){
  21.         story = "Fill in the _____.";
  22.         txt.text = story;
  23.     }
  24.    
  25.     for (var i:int = 0; i<story.length; i++){
  26.         if (story.charAt(i) == "_"){
  27.             var head:String = story.substr(0, i);
  28.             var tail:String = story.substr(i + 1);
  29.             var letter:String = keys[evt.keyCode];
  30.             if (!letter) return;
  31.             story = head + letter + tail;
  32.            
  33.             txt.text = story;
  34.            
  35.             break;
  36.         }
  37.     }
  38. }

I needed to do a fill in the blank for a personal project that I'm working on and this is what I came up with. Have a look at the swf here:

(you need to click first so you can type with the keyboard):
Fill in the blank

Posted in TextField, UI | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Epicycloid Again

By Zevan | May 14, 2010
CLICK HERE TO COPY
Actionscript:
  1. var xp:Number = 0;
  2. var yp:Number = 0;
  3. var t:Number = 0;
  4. var a:Number = 100;
  5. var b:Number = 10;
  6. x = stage.stageWidth / 2;
  7. y = stage.stageHeight / 2;
  8.  
  9. graphics.lineStyle(0,0x000000);
  10. addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, onRun);
  11. function onRun(evt:Event):void {
  12.     var p:Number = ((a + b)/b)*t
  13.     xp = (a + b) * Math.cos(t) - b * Math.cos(p);
  14.     yp = (a + b) * Math.sin(t) - b * Math.sin(p);
  15.     if (t == 0){
  16.       graphics.moveTo(xp, yp);
  17.     }else{
  18.       graphics.lineTo(xp, yp);
  19.     }
  20.     t += 0.05;
  21. }

I've messed with Epicycloids in the past - browsing mathworld I decided to create this snippet. It will draw a curve like this:

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Fish Curve

By Zevan | May 13, 2010
CLICK HERE TO COPY
Actionscript:
  1. var xp:Number = 0;
  2. var yp:Number = 0;
  3. var t:Number = 0;
  4. var a:Number = 200;
  5. x = stage.stageWidth / 2;
  6. y = stage.stageHeight / 2;
  7.  
  8. graphics.lineStyle(0,0x000000);
  9. addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, onRun);
  10. function onRun(evt:Event):void {
  11.     xp = a * Math.cos(t) - (a * Math.pow(Math.sin(t),2))/Math.sqrt(2);
  12.     yp = a * Math.cos(t) * Math.sin(t);
  13.     if (t == 0){
  14.       graphics.moveTo(xp, yp);
  15.     }else{
  16.       graphics.lineTo(xp, yp);
  17.     }
  18.     t += 0.05;
  19. }

While surfing mathworld I stumbled upon the equation for something called the Fish Curve. This snippet will draw something like this:

Posted in Math, misc | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Astroid Pedal Curve Variation

By Zevan | May 12, 2010
CLICK HERE TO COPY
Actionscript:
  1. var xp:Number = 0;
  2. var yp:Number = 0;
  3. var t:Number = 0;
  4. var r:Number = 200;
  5. x = stage.stageWidth / 2;
  6. y = stage.stageHeight / 2;
  7.  
  8. graphics.lineStyle(0,0x000000);
  9. addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, onRun);
  10. function onRun(evt:Event):void {
  11.     r = 200 * Math.cos(t / 10);
  12.     xp = r * Math.pow(Math.cos(t), 3);
  13.     yp = r * Math.pow(Math.sin(t), 3);
  14.     if (t == 0){
  15.       graphics.moveTo(xp, yp);
  16.     }else{
  17.       graphics.lineTo(xp, yp);
  18.     }
  19.     t += 0.1;
  20. }

While browsing mathworld I decided to do a variation on this curve . The above snippet will draw something like this:

Posted in Math, misc | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Color Project

By Zevan | May 11, 2010

I've been working on a project for the led facade at medialab prado. The project has an online component that allows users to name colors, these names are then searched on twitter and displayed on the led facade. Right now our color database has about 530 colors about 20% of which are in spanish. We're lookiing to get more colors named particularly in spanish. If you feel up to it, you can enter and name colors, simply pick a color, enter your name and name the color... here for spanish
and here for english.

If you did it correctly you'll see your color show up in our list of colors here

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

3D Ring

By Zevan | May 3, 2010
CLICK HERE TO COPY
Actionscript:
  1. [SWF(width = 500, height=500)]
  2. var ring:MovieClip = createRing();
  3. ring.x = stage.stageWidth / 2;
  4. ring.y = stage.stageHeight / 2;
  5. addChild(ring);
  6.  
  7. function createRing(sectionNum:int = 30):MovieClip{
  8.     var container:MovieClip = new MovieClip();
  9.     container.circles = [];
  10.     container.theta = 0;
  11.     container.thetaDest = 0;
  12.     var step:Number = (Math.PI * 2) / sectionNum;
  13.     for (var i:int = 0; i<sectionNum; i++){
  14.         var c:MovieClip = new MovieClip();
  15.         with (c.graphics){
  16.             lineStyle(0,0x000000);
  17.             beginFill(0xCCCCCC);
  18.             drawCircle(0,0,20);
  19.         }
  20.         c.thetaOffset = step * i;
  21.         container.addChild(c);
  22.         container.circles.push(c);
  23.     }
  24.     container.addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, onRun);
  25.     return container;
  26. }
  27. function onRun(evt:Event):void {
  28.     var container:MovieClip = MovieClip(evt.currentTarget);
  29.     var num:int = container.circles.length;
  30.     for (var i:int = 0; i<num; i++){
  31.         var c:MovieClip = container.circles[i];
  32.         var angle:Number = container.theta + c.thetaOffset;
  33.         c.x = 200 * Math.cos(angle);
  34.         c.y = 100 * Math.sin(angle);
  35.         c.scaleX = (100 + c.y) / 120 + 0.2;
  36.         c.scaleY = c.scaleX;
  37.     }
  38.     container.circles.sortOn("y", Array.NUMERIC);
  39.     for (i = 0; i<num; i++){
  40.         container.addChild(container.circles[i]);
  41.     }
  42.     if (container.mouseX <-100){
  43.         container.thetaDest -= 0.05;
  44.     }
  45.     if (container.mouseX> 100){
  46.         container.thetaDest += 0.05;
  47.     }
  48.     container.theta += (container.thetaDest  - container.theta) / 12;
  49.    
  50. }

This snippet shows how to create a 3D ring navigation using sine and cosine. Have a look:

Posted in 3D, Graphics, MovieClip, UI, arrays, motion, sortOn | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Propeller Sketch

By Zevan | May 3, 2010
CLICK HERE TO COPY
Actionscript:
  1. makeFlyer();
  2.  
  3. function makeFlyer():void{
  4.     var thing:MovieClip = new MovieClip();
  5.     thing.x = 200;
  6.     thing.y = 200;
  7.    
  8.     addChild(thing);
  9.    
  10.     var prop:Shape = new Shape();
  11.     with (prop.graphics){
  12.         lineStyle(0,0x000000);
  13.         beginFill(0x000000);
  14.         moveTo(-100,0);
  15.         curveTo(-100, -30, 0, 0);
  16.         curveTo(100, 30, 100, 0);
  17.         curveTo(100, -30, 0, 0);
  18.         curveTo(-100, 30, -100, 0);
  19.     }
  20.     prop.scaleX = prop.scaleY = 0.5;
  21.     var container:MovieClip = new MovieClip();
  22.     //container.x = -50;
  23.     container.addChild(prop);
  24.     container.scaleY = 0.6;
  25.     thing.addChild(container);
  26.    
  27.     var body:Shape = new Shape();
  28.     with (body.graphics){
  29.         lineStyle(0, 0x000000);
  30.         beginFill(0x000000);
  31.         lineTo(0,80);
  32.         drawCircle(0,80,10);
  33.     }
  34.     thing.addChild(body);
  35.     thing.velX = 0;
  36.     thing.velY = 0;
  37.     thing.posX = thing.x;
  38.     thing.posY = thing.y;
  39.     thing.theta = 0;
  40.     thing.prop = prop;
  41.     thing.addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, onRun);
  42. }
  43. function onRun(evt:Event):void{
  44.     var t:MovieClip = MovieClip(evt.currentTarget);
  45.     t.prop.rotation += 10
  46.     t.velY = 3 * Math.cos(t.theta);
  47.     t.velX = 3 * Math.sin(t.theta / 2);
  48.     t.theta += 0.05
  49.     t.posX += t.velX;
  50.     t.posY += t.velY;
  51.    
  52.     t.x = t.posX;
  53.     t.y = t.posY;
  54. }

This snippet creates a small flying object that moves with sine and cosine.


Have a look at the swf...

Posted in motion | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Drawings and Animations

By Zevan | April 30, 2010

So there are 434 posts on this site to date. I hope to keep posting but it isn't always easy to come up with new ideas. Another project I've been working on is a series of drawings and interactive animations over at my other website (shapevent). I've been creating entries for this part of shapevent pretty regularly - go have a look:

http://www.shapevent.com/log/

Posted in Announcements, projects | Tagged , , | Leave a comment