Taterboy.com: Graphics, Multimedia and Such

Product Review: SWF Protector

taterboy — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 03:11:55 +0000

Get 25% off of SWF Protector by using the coupon code: REFLPRTCT-RTW5 Though we try to encourage openness and sharing here at taterboy.com, there are some swf files that have to be protected. SWF Protector, by DECOMSOFT, is a very simple application for securing your code and assets within an SWF. The procedure could not be [...]

Intro to MVC Part 1: The Controller Class

taterboy — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 05:18:41 +0000

About a year ago, @devgirl, introduced me to the MVC framework and provided me with a stubbed out demo of everything working together. There were many more class files than I was used to, one for data and variables (Model), one for all the graphic elements and UI controls (View), and one to control all [...]

How to Build an Engaging Preloader in Flash

taterboy — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 01:01:53 +0000

The Importance of a Good Preloader: Everyone hates to wait, especially for websites to load. The only thing keeping a potential user sitting in their chair and staring at the screen, while your application loads, is the hope that eventually something great will happen. If that user is impatient, like [...]

Jump Back in TIme with HTML5

taterboy — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 16:58:53 +0000

UPDATE 6/23/10 Google released a great new HTML5 resource HTML5 Rocks for those looking to learn more about HTML5, complete with samples and tutorials. Some of the coolest stuff (animation, transitions) is webkit based, it will be interesting to see how IE 9 handles this. Chrome Frame is an interesting concept for dealing with IE until [...]

Building Custom Loaders in Flex

taterboy — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 20:49:51 +0000

In an earlier post I talked all about building Flex UI components with Flash. This example shows how to create a custom loader component, in Flash or Flex, and use it to replace the standard Flex progress bar. The Base Preloader: I found a preloader class online that implemented the [...]

A Microphone And A Baby - Flash AS3 Microphone Class

taterboy — Fri, 21 May 2010 23:16:37 +0000

Here is a little demo from some recent playing with Flash’s Microphone class. Real demo is below the fold. This is basically a microphone level meter that my son and I thought was pretty fun. Don’t wake the baby. Warning: If you are using a laptop (were your microphone is close to your speakers) you will have to turn [...]

Flash vs. HTML5

taterboy — Mon, 03 May 2010 15:52:29 +0000

Does It Have To Be One Or The Other? I have never been a “use Flash because I like Flash”, kind-of guy. I do like Flash, but believe very strongly that we should only use Flash when there is a good reason to use Flash opposed to other available technologies. I’m very proficient in javascript and [...]

Flash CS5 to iPhone? Not So Fast

taterboy — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 19:54:00 +0000

Updated Below Just days before the official announcement of Adobe’s suite of CS5 applications, Apple Inc, updated their iPhone Developer Agreement with a few lines like, “Applications must be originally written in Objective-C, C, C++…” and “Applications that link to Documented APIs through an intermediary translation or compatibility layer or tool are prohibited”. The web was [...]

How To Build Countdown Timer in ActionScript 2

taterboy — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 01:53:26 +0000

The Settings: The first thing in our code is deciding if our timer is going to blink every second or not. Blinking gives the impressing of time passing and is easier to notice then just one or two numbers incrementing. Just set “blinking” to true or false ?View Code [...]

Combining Flash Visual Components with Flex Classes

taterboy — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 14:55:54 +0000

Building Visual Flex Components using Flash swc Shared Libraries. I love building skins or visual components in Flash and doing all my coding in Flex. I also try to make all the code as component-ized as possible, so that it can be reused in future projects. So I have visual component classes from Flash and functionality [...]