Ask HN: 3D in Flash 10

[live_to_code]

I want to know the limits of 3D flat-shaded capabilities of flash 10.

In particular, I've found demos like: http://www.everydayflash.com/blog/index.php/2008/05/05/vertex-animation-papervision3d/ and http://www.yswfblog.com/blog/2008/11/12/3d-with-flash-10-part-2/

but I'm wondering if there is something more impressive around (like a 3D wireframe of a real object) ... or if flash 10's 3D capabitilites are inherently limited to these trivial demos.

Furthermore, if you have a good recommendation for learning flash 10, I'd love to hear that too.

Thanks!

[jrbedard]

Alternativa Platform has a cool 3D engine, Flash 10 powered: http://alternativaplatform.com/en/

But without GPU acceleration, Flash is rather limited for 3D transforms/rendering. Unity 3D and O3D are better choices for complex in-browser 3D experience, but require their respective plug-in installation.

[movix]

Unity is very cool in that you don't need to restart the browser after installing the plug-in

[jdowdell]

There are many, many examples, and I'm not sure what you've seen, what you seek to see. ("3D wireframe of a real object"?)

There are various libraries to make different types of "3D" faster to develop in Flash. Each has their proponents, their own best-uses.

Some of the other comments here are weird... better when you clearly bet on your words with your name!

[buymorechuck]

hi5 Networks has more advanced tech along the lines of what you're seeking, though still in private beta, but should be arriving "really soon now". It does a good job of pushing the limits of Flash 10.

If you know Flash 9 already, there is very little documentation that fully explains Flash 10's features other than the Adobe docs and a small number of expert Flash blogs. If no Flash 9 background, better to learn that first.

Flash 10's 3D support is fairly horrid for complex 3D stuff like game-like content without dedicated effort to get around things like lack of depth buffer and buggy matrix math libraries.

Papervision3D and Alternativa are some of the 3D engines out there, but the really good stuff is commercial.

[aac74]

Best thing to do is output a .swf animation from a 3d tool and import it into your flash project:

http://www.erain.com/Products/Swift3D/