Work with Flash 10 in Flex Builder 3
UPDATE: you can also read the new "Build Flash 10.1 applications with Flex Builder 3 or Flash Builder 4" tutorial.
Flash 10 Beta is a good occasion to test some of the new features that the next version of this incredible piece of software will provide. This short step-by-step "how to" tutorial will teach you how to install the new Flex SDK and configure Flex Builder 3 in order to use it.
DirectFlex : a new Flash 10 3D API
The next version of the Flash player will introduce a lot of new cool/useful features. One of them is the brand new 3D API. Of course, a lot of people are talking about the cool new "3D effects" that use this 3D API, but in the end those do not allow "real" and "complex" 3D such as real-time 3D games. So basically, yeah, drawing 3D spinning planes is "cool", but that's not how you're gonna create some "ass-kicking" RIA...
In order to render complex 3D geometry, you'll have to use the underneath 3D API itself. This 3D API is mainly about three classes : Matrix3D, Vector3D and Utils3D. Those implements data types and methods to transform vertices data from a space to another in order to render actual 3D geometry on our very 2d flat screens. And... that's it. We also have the new "Graphics.drawTriangles" method and hardware acceleration, but all of this does not provide what we could call a user-friendly 3D API. But here comes...
