August 21, 2009

3D Rotate Tool : New ConfigUtility!

Filed under: 3D Rotate Tool — Matus @ 9:48 pm

New Adobe AIR based Config Utility is avaiable:

If you don’t have the Adobe AIR runtime installed, you can download it here: http://get.adobe.com/air/

The new ConfigUtility should work also on Mac, but till now it was tested only on Win. Also, it’s the very first version, still beta, so some bugs might occur.

Download:

- It is included in 3DRT Free: http://www.yofla.com/flash/3d-rotate/download.php
- or direct download:  http://www.yofla.com/down/3d-rotate/config-utility/ConfigUtility.air

Video tutorial:

- video tutorial on using the new ConfigUtility: http://www.yofla.com/flash/3d-rotate/tutorials/config-utility/

It has one really cool feature:

Adding hotspots using drag and drop!

Missing features:

- the previous ConfigUtility could export a .zip archive of the images and config.xml for easier integration. This is not supported yet.

- one can add only the “image” or “close-up” hotspot. If you want to add a “zoom”, “url” or “javaScript” hotspot you must edit the .xml in an editor

- the image hotspot can not be nested using the utility, again you need to edit the config.xml by hand to add nested hotspots.

Some notes:

- as metioned, it’s the first release. Many improvements can be done. I welcome your feedback so I know what features/improvements are the most wanted.

- the free/demo version has a limitation of 64images. For all PRO and Enterprise customers, I’ll set up a web-page where they can generate their license code to unlock the utility. (This code is auto-generated for every new purchase, so if you plan to switch to PRO version now, you will receive the key with the order. )
I am sorry that the license generator is not ready yet for the past customers. If your need the new config utility very urgent, and the 64image limit is limiting you, drop me an email and I generate you the code manually.

Update:
If you have purchased the 3DRT Pro Flexi or Enterprise befor the Config Utility was avaiable, you can get the unlock code using the client’s zone: http://blog.yofla.com/2009/09/download-area-for-yofla-clients/

3D Rotate Tool v.4.5.13 released

Filed under: 3D Rotate Tool, Software updates — Matus @ 9:20 pm

Version 4.5.13 of the tool was released.

Bugfixes:

- mouseWheelZooms option fixed (did not work due an error in the code)

New features:

- new ConfigUtility, free for PRO and Enterprise Users

- option to turn on displaying of version number in right click menu in the Enterprise edition. From now on the version number is hidden by default. Usage: set showVersionNumber=”true” in userInterface node to show the 3DRT version number in rightclick menu.

- when rotating an object using arrows in the zoom mode, the large images do not get loaded, until the arrow is depressed. This saves bandwidth and makes the rotating smoother.

- smooth zooming option (zooming goes not in steps), now by default turned on. Pressing a zoom button and holding mouse down continues to zoom until mouse is depressed.

Other:

- free version does not support zooming from now on

Download here: http://www.yofla.com/flash/3d-rotate/download.php


Existing Customers:

If you purchased the 3D Rotate Tool no more than 1 year ago (2 years for Enterprise Customers) you are eligible for a free update.

I’ll set up a page using which you can download the new version and get the license key for the ConfigUtility. Once this page is ready, I will let you know via this blog and Twitter: http://twitter.com/YoFLA

August 7, 2009

Build Flash CS3 Components with FlexiZoomer

Filed under: Examples, FlexiZoomer — Matus @ 4:00 pm

This article is for everyone who is interested in building AS3 Flash CS3 based components.

Writing AS3 components for Flash maight be not so straightforward. The tutorial which helped me the most can be viewed here: http://www.flexiblefactory.co.uk/flexible/?p=16

A very complete, maybe too comprehensive resource on Flash AS3 components is on Adobe devnet: http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flash/articles/creating_as3_components.html It’s useful when you want to understand the whole process in detail.

The last article is not so complete as the first or the second tutorial, but can be helpful. It’s here: http://www.jumpeyecomponents.com/blog/2007/07/13/create-fla-components-for-flash-cs3/

FlexiZoomer Educational version

For those who need to build a Flash CS3 component I do recommend to follow the above posted tutorials. Some of the come with example files.  If you follow the steps in the tutorials, you can create later components by your own. However it is very useful to take a look on a ready made component and compare how that comonent is built. For this reason I provide the source files of my FlexiZoomer component. I hope they help you learn how to build the flash components.

You can download the educational files here:
http://www.yofla.com/down/flexi-zoomer/FlexiZoomer-v1.1.0-Educational.zip

Please note, its a Educational license, if you want to use the FlexiZoomer in your website/project you need to use the Free version or the Pro/Enterprise/Developer version: http://www.yofla.com/flash/flexi-zoomer/download.php

The component is built with PureMVC (http://puremvc.org/), so it’s also a useful resource to see a PureMVC implementation.