Implementing 3d in Flash.

As you know there is no build-in tool in Adobe Flash to create and animate 3D objects. But there are two major ways to deal with this problem.

The first one and the easiest way is to use supplementary software to render 3D objects, animate them and export them to Flash. In my opinion the best example of this software is Swift3D by Electric Rain.

Swift 3D is the industry-leading 3D software for quickly and easily creating high quality 3D animations for Adobe Flash, video, print and Papervision3D projects.

This company also has two plug-ins in their production line, allowing 3ds MAX and LightWave 3D users “to render their 3D scenes as high-quality, low-bandwidth vector or raster Flash animations viewable by more than 97% of the entire Web audience”.

Here is a good example of pre-rendered 3D animation for Flash: producten.hema.nl
But this way of 3D rendering is limited because it is almost impossible to create interactive 3D objects.

That’s where the second way may help. Scripting 3D in Action Script requires a good base in Mathematics and programming, but you may also find a load of good tutorials online. One example – tutorials on kirupa.com. The material covers the basics; articles are accompanied with examples of code and results.