Adobe has indeed talked about compiler support for CS3 however it isn’t available at the moment. Well Grant (gskinner) Skinner has developed an AIRCompiler for CS3. It is (as he mentions) a little difficult to get running, but once you do you can compile and test AIR applications inside Flash CS3. Hats off to gskinner for putting this one together.
Essential ActionScript 3 is now out in your local stores should be soon, but this copy just arrived to my door from O’REILLY. I had the chance to edit and beta test this book and it was a great experience. The book is recommended for anyone that wants to get serious with ActionScript 3 and it very easy to follow while still making sure you learn advanced topics.
Being able to help out the book was cool for sure, but seeing your name in the credits is 10x cooler! Thanks Colin, it was a great time.
After getting about 50 (not kidding) emails and comments I have decided the contact form needs an update. At the same time I wanted to let everyone know that the contact form in the How To WOW with Flash book is feature complete and ready to go.. so go pick up the book. 
Back to the new form, not many details being discussed at this point, but here is a screen shot and a partial list:
Please note this is ONLY being developed in my free time which as you may or may not know isn’t very frequent.
If you have questions or comment please post, I will be building this based on user response.
I was browsing on over to Amazon for some new release content and noticed the header has been given a “winter” theme. They achieved this with a simple snow animation that does eventually transition to no snowflakes falling.
You can check it out here.
Edit: Amazon has taken down the cool snow, it seems to have been a lead in to their winter weekly savings.
If snow is your thing then you may want to check out Kirupa’s series of snow tutorials, this being the latest one.
Also wanted to let everyone know my work is now behind and visually in the latest releases from the PhotoshopCafe Video Training series.
While working on a comp for SLRPlayground I came up with a few ideas. One of which is reflections in Flash automatically generated in code so I can keep the galleries dynamic.
A side benefit to working on this experiment was getting a chance to use the Matrix Class in Actionscript. I got a lot of help from this article by the one and only Senocular.
Here is some example code from this experiment which basically takes a clip and flips it over to create a reflection. I then use a Gradient mask (created entirely in Code) to blend in the reflection and add to the realism.
import flash.geom.*
var matrix = {a:1.0, b:0, u:0, c:0, d:-1.0, v:0, tx:0, ty:(image._height*2)+2, w:0};
var reflectionTrans:Transform = new Transform(mcReflectionHolder);
reflectionTrans.matrix = matrix;
I will be adding more code from this project and also look out for a tutorial on Scriptplayground covering some of these techniques.
Matt has finished his first book. The Flash and PHP Bible! This book can be found on Amazon or wherever fine books are sold.
The Flash and PHP Bible explains the process of working with PHP in Flash, while creating real world examples and learning how everything works together.
