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In today's video tutorial, I'll show you how to create an ActionScript 3D particle effect that causes multiple stars to animate out in all directions in 3D space. Here is the ActionScript for this tutorial:

var container:MovieClip = new MovieClip();
addChild(container);
 
root.transform.perspectiveProjection.fieldOfView = 120;
 
addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, addStar);
 
function addStar(e:Event):void
{
	var mc:star = new star();
	mc.x = stage.stageWidth / 2;
	mc.y = stage.stageHeight / 2;
	mc.z = 0;
	mc.xVel = Math.random() * 4 - 2;
	mc.yVel = Math.random() * 4 - 2;
	mc.zVel = Math.random() * 4 - 2;
	mc.count = 0;
	container.addChild(mc);
	mc.addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, animate);
}
 
function animate(e:Event):void
{
	e.currentTarget.x += e.currentTarget.xVel;
	e.currentTarget.y += e.currentTarget.yVel;
	e.currentTarget.z += e.currentTarget.zVel;
	e.currentTarget.count++;
	if (e.currentTarget.count >= 100)
	{
		e.currentTarget.removeEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, animate);
		container.removeChild(MovieClip(e.currentTarget));
	}
}

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Inverse Kinematics! The feature we've all been waiting for! IK is going to make character animation a lot easier than it once was. With IK, you can build a bone structure to link different pieces of a character or object together in order to make it easier to animate.

In today's video, Craig will discuss how to create and animate bone structures using Flash's Bone Tool.

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If you're familiar with using motion paths in Flash CS3, then you might be a little confused when trying to create your own custom path using Flash CS4. In Flash CS4, a motion path is automatically created any time you create a motion tween, and there is only so much you can do to customize the path that is created for you.

What if you want to create a motion path from scratch in Flash CS4? Well, in this video, I'll show you exactly how to do it, and you'll discover that it has become easier than ever!

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In today's tutorial, you'll learn how to use Flash CS4's new 3D Rotation tool in order to transform the stroke of a circle into easy-to-edit planet rings.

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I usually restrain myself from personal posts on School of Flash, but this time, I couldn't help myself. I took this picture earlier today, and it was too precious not to share!

In this tutorial, you'll learn all about the new 3D features included with Flash CS4. The latest release of Flash supports the ability to rotate and move flat objects (movie clips) around in 3D space. In the tutorial, you'll also learn how to animate the 3D rotation of an object using ActionScript's new rotationX, rotationY, and rotationZ properties.

Here is the code for this tutorial:

addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, rotate3D);
 
function rotate3D(e:Event):void
{
   sof_mc.rotationX += 4;
   sof_mc.rotationY += 4;
}

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This morning, I joined hundreds of thousands of people around the world for an online streaming presentation of Adobe Creative Suite 4. My overall impression . . . Well, I guess I'm hard to impress.

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For the most part, the button symbol has gone the way of the dodo for many Flash developers. Because movie clip symbols are so much more flexible than button symbols, most developers have completely stopped using button symbols. Instead, they opt to use movie clip symbols AS buttons.

But What About the Hit State?

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So drop by the forums, register, create your first post, and then drop me a line and let me know what you think.