A lot of big changes coming in my life! More updates soon.

I am at the same time hopeful, and worried about where this is headed, but don’t forget, all technology is neutral, it’s the application of said technology that determines if it’s negative or positively influencing the world.

Augmented (hyper)Reality: Domestic Robocop from Keiichi Matsuda on Vimeo.

Packing my bags right now to leave tomorrow morning for the Gem & Jam Music Festival in Tucson, AZ! Very excited for this, but one of my band-mates bags was left at the airport during a connecting flight! Hope it makes it.

Anyways, I’ve been up to tons of stuff, a brief overview follows:

• Learning Objective-C & iPhone/iPad Development
  This has been so much fun! I really enjoy learning cool new languages, especially after learning OOP…It’s just so simple to hop from Actionscript 3 to Objective-C..I will post a nice article showing the similarities as I find time.
• Working on tons of new music with my band!
• Hanging with my amazing family!
• Reading lots
• Exploring the caverns of my unconscious
• Working on TONS of cool new projects & products, including, but not limited to:
  • An AMAZING Illuminated project
  • A video portal
  • Open GL Music Visualization Software
  • JamMaps
  • A sharp underwater animal (hrmm…whats this?)
  • Re-branding DestroyYourComputer
  • Clothing line with my amazingly awesome funginearian buddy
  • Some video game building action…

Needless to say, LOTS of great times, which unfortunately makes me unable to post as much as I would like on the blog. As time opens up though, expect some cool new stuff here!

Until next time, blessings & love to you and your flow.

Come enjoy some amazing music & crazy gem and mineral displays! Happens Feb 4-6, 2010 in Tucson, AZ.

On a side note, I will be posting up a bunch of new work I’ve been doing at Microsoft in the next week or so, including a really awesome Glider (one of the products for MS I’ve been working on) execution for the movie Avatar!

I am in the middle of a bunch of really fun personal and professional projects that are taking up most of my time over the next few months. Some of the highlights include:

• My super amazing family
• Multiple new products for Microsoft
• An interactive visual toy called univerSOUL
• JamMaps.com + JamMaps Desktop, my maps based concert browser & tour-date management software
• 2 New Organic Collective albums
• The Art Of Creativity Book.
• Sleep

As you can see, I’m nearly overwhelmed on time, but I’m making it work! Most of my focus is on univerSOUL, my interactive visual toy! Basically, its a new way for fans to interact with the music at concerts…It’s being built in Adobe AIR 2.0, with full support for WiiMote & some motion detection action.

So, my blog will have to suffer. I would LOVE to have lots of free time to write good articles for everyone, but I just don’t right now. Someday, hopefully soon, I will be able to spend time on the blog again, but the old 5-10 posts a week is definitely over for now.

Check back for updates on the current projects & demos soon!

I am workin with my band on the mastering process for our new album, Bass Chakra. We are trying to get this finished up asap. The album will be released for free, via our website, www.organiccollective.net.

We are working on a few dates during the winter, and already have a few festival slots lined up for next summer.

Thanks for being patient during my post slowdown, I’ll have plenty of new stuff up soon!

Watching creative movies is a fun way to get inspired.They can take you on nearly fully-immersive experiences, into worlds you would’ve never imagined. Sometimes a good relaxing movie session is just the creative refresh you need.

Here are a few of my favorite movies to watch when I need some inspiration, share yours in the comments!

Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

This has to be one of my favorite movies of all time. It’s just great all around. The soundtrack is amazing, the art direction is amazing. Definitely one of the easiest movies to get inspired by.

Alice In Wonderland

A classic all around. My first introduction to mystic, esoteric wisdom. Pay close attention to this movie, and you’ll find plenty of divine inspiration. =)

I <3 Huckabee’s

This is another happy movie. I always feel great after watching it. Lots of great actors, and an amazing story/message. Can’t go wrong with this one.

The Fountain

The fountain gets you thinking about so many things! This one isn’t easy for people who haven’t experienced super deep movies, but I suggest it for everyone! You’ll come away from it feeling so lifted up on a soul level, it’s not even funny.

Yonder from Emilia on Vimeo.

You can’t do everything with Flash 10’s built-in 3D that you can do with the external 3D libraries, but it’s getting close!

Take a gander at the following video from AdobeTV, I’ve also attached some more resources below.

More resources:

Check out the Adobe Language Reference on the DisplayObject class, this is where all of the new 3D stuff exists.

The new properties are:

• rotationX : Number
  Indicates the x-axis rotation of the DisplayObject instance, in degrees, from its original orientation relative to the 3D parent container.
  
• rotationY : Number
  Indicates the y-axis rotation of the DisplayObject instance, in degrees, from its original orientation relative to the 3D parent container.
  
• rotationZ : Number
  Indicates the z-axis rotation of the DisplayObject instance, in degrees, from its original orientation relative to the 3D parent container.
  
• scaleZ : Number
  Indicates the depth scale (percentage) of an object as applied from the registration point of the object.

• z : Number
  Indicates the z coordinate position along the z-axis of the DisplayObject instance relative to the 3D parent container.

The new methods are:

Z-Sorting

The Z-Index represents the Layers in 3D space. Whatever has a higher z-index is on top.

If you are going to be constructing multiple objects in 3D space with Flash, I highly recommend you download the source files from the GotoAndLearn.com tutorial on the 3D Carousel. You only need the files in com.theflashblog.fp10 called SimpleZSorter.as. This file takes care of the z-sorting in your 3D space. Whatever object is closer to the user, is automatically put to the top of the z-index. It’s an extremely useful tool (Thanks Lee!).

To use it, just import the class, and run a loop (while your 3D objects are moving or changing) that does the sorting:

import com.theflashblog.fp10.SimpleZSorter;
addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, zSortLoop);
function zSortLoop(e:Event):void {
    // container is the DisplayObject that is the parent of the 3D Objects.
    SimpleZSorter.sortClips(container);
}

Don’t forget to removeEventListener() on the zSortLoop when you are not changing the 3D Objects. This is a best practice that should always be followed…never leave loops running unless they are being used.

I am happy to announce today that my Shop has gone live! I will be adding all kinds of fun stuff, including prints of my artwork, some of my screen-printed t-shirts and random other stuff.

Right now, you can pre-order your copy of my new book, The Art Of Creativity. I will be doing a limited hardcover print at the start of 2010.

Thanks so much to everyone for their support!