Flash is a great environment for interactive graphics and with the recent addition of the ActionScript 3 programming language, it just became a lot more powerful and efficient. While a complete introduction to AS3 is beyond the scope of this tutorial, here are some resources you will find useful:
Run the new version of the application. You should see a line of ten circles in the middle of the application.
We can now modify the container to update all the circles within it. Try playing with setting different visual variables on the container sprite. For example, modify the x, y, scaleX, scaleY, rotation, and alpha properties.
Before proceeding, make sure you have the flare libraries loaded as projects within Flex Builder. You should have already unzipped the flare files into your main Flex Builder workspace directory. The next step is to import them into the Flex Builder environment:
This creates four tweens: t1, t2, t3, and t4. It then creates two parallel transitions that run t1 and t2 together and run t3 and t4 together. The parallel transitions are then run one after the other in a sequence. In this way, it is easy to build more complicated animations.
For more advanced composite animations, take a look at the FlareLogo and flare.demos.Animation classes in the flare.demos project.
Typically, NodeSprites and EdgeSprites are created and stored in the flare.vis.data.Data class, which manages all the visual items for a single visualization. The Data class provides methods for creating new visual objects for data tuples and for representing a graph structure.
The Data class also provides methods for traversing and updating the contained data items. The nodes and edges properties return lists of the nodes and edges contained within the data. Each of these lists includes a visit method that allows you to pass in a function that will then be called with each node or edge. Also, the setProperty and setProperties methods allow you to set property values for all nodes or edges at once. These methods optionally take a Transitioner as an argument, so you can animate the property update.
For example, the following code results in a one second animation in which the line color for all nodes is set to blue. (Note that the hex notation for DataSprite color values include the alpha as well as red, green, blue channels).
You should now know enough to make sense of the demos in the flare.demos package. Feel free to play with, modify, copy, paste, and build upon the demos to gain a better understanding of how Flash and Flare work.
Just curious if the endless cries for a lens flare tool have actually been heard and acted upon. I've been waiting soooooooooooooo long for this essential feature, but all we get are worthless makeshift brushes.
Yes thankyou for the links. What Affinity Photo really needs is a fully customizable lens flare tool like Photoshop has. Wonderfully powerful, and extremely easy to use and customize. Brushes are a work-around at best, as they only offer one fixed solution per brush, and customizing them is not at all a fun task to undertake.
They are swamped with requests right now and for the foreseeable future. As far as an explanation as to why a rather specialized tool of limited utility isn't available, I wouldn't know. But hey, they made a whole bunch of stuff for stargazers so maybe this too will appear unannounced. That is how they work, they do take notice of suggestions but never comment on them.
I cannot comment on why a feature has not be implemented or if/when it may be implemented in a future version. Your feedback has been heard and all I can advise is to use the resources given in my previous post.
You have done everything you can to dance around putting in a real lens flare tool, which is what is desperately needed. I know brushes are there, but they are a totally sad and desperately inadequate answer to not adding in a much needed customizable lens flare tool.
I just did a full switch over to Affinity Photo from Adobe Photoshop. For the most part I am much happier using Affinity Photo. But the lack of lens flares does suck. Photoshop had them and that was great when they were needed, but for the most part I really don't need them in most of my work so I won't cry about it. Still it would be nice to have them back. Fortunately there is one solution to this that I think is acceptable. Gimp. Gimp has the lens flare filter native to it. Affinity Photo and Gimp are both able to read and export psd files perfectly fine, so it shouldn't be too hard to do most of your work in Affinity Photo, then save it as a PSD file, and reopen it in Gimp just to do the lens flare or use some of the other features of Gimp, then resave it again as a PSD and switch back to Affinity Photo. It's not the most convenient way to work, but it's effective. What's more is Gimp is free, so it's not like you're having to fork out more money for yet another art program.
While the immediate focus of the group will be related to information being evaluated by the Flare Task Force, the stakeholder group will be maintained to help keep stakeholders informed and solicit comments on potential future agency actions related to flares.
The Flare Task Force Stakeholder Group is an open participation group; therefore, anyone who wishes to join the group may attend the meetings. The Flare Task Force Stakeholder Group member list will be updated periodically.
For more information, or to suggest topics for future meetings, please call the Stationary Source Programs Team or send an e-mail to sipr...@tceq.texas.gov with "Flare Task Force Stakeholder Group" in the subject line.
A flare, also sometimes called a fuse, fusee, or bengala,[1][2] bengalo[3] in several European countries, is a type of pyrotechnic that produces a bright light or intense heat without an explosion. Flares are used for distress signaling, illumination, or defensive countermeasures in civilian and military applications. Flares may be ground pyrotechnics, projectile pyrotechnics, or parachute-suspended to provide maximum illumination time over a large area. Projectile pyrotechnics may be dropped from aircraft, fired from rocket or artillery, or deployed by flare guns or handheld percussive tubes.
In the civilian world, flares are commonly used as signals, and may be ignited on the ground, fired as an aerial signal from a pistol-like flare gun, or launched from a self-contained tube. Flares are commonly found in marine survival kits.
Distress rockets (aka "rocket-propelled parachute flares"[6]) have been mentioned in the modern era for civilian maritime emergencies since at least 1856. The U.S. Nautical Magazine of that year mentions the use of "rocket stations" for ship related emergencies.[7] White rockets were solely used until 1873, when commander John Yorke of the Royal Navy suggested that rockets for distress should have a distinctive color. The request was made to help ease confusion between ships in distress and rockets used by pilot ships.[8] By 1875, the Board of Trade (UK) had issued regulations for Captains in regards to night signals. Rockets containing at least 16oz of composition were only to be used as a sign for a ship in distress. Passenger ships at the time were required to carry 12 of these rockets.[9] The Merchant Shipping Act of 1894 further stated that these rockets were to be fired one at a time in short intervals of approximately one minute apart.[10] Distress rockets continued to be used in different colors as was the case with RMS Titanic. At the time shipping companies had "a particular kind of distress rocket (that differed by color)". Each ship was also given a guide of colors to use depending on what signal was to be sent.[10][11]
Modern red distress signals are mentioned by the United States Bureau of Mines as early as 1925, where they state "12 handheld rocket-propelled parachute red flare distress signals" are to be used by ocean going ships.[12] The color red was eventually incorporated for use in the United States on December 17, 1979 as part of a "Universal color language".[6] Red distress rockets and/or flares are now internationally recognized symbols that indicate a ship in distress.[13][14] The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) has standards for visual signals, including both handheld and aerial flares. Handheld flares must burn for at least one minute at an average luminosity of 15,000 candelas, while aerial flares must burn for at least 40 seconds with a 30,000-candela average luminosity.[15]
While rockets and flares are still an option for signaling distress, they have since been surpassed by improved technology. Distress signals can now be sent using automated radio signals from a search and rescue transponder. Other internationally recognized methods include the radio message SOS, which was used during the Sinking of the Titanic, and/or the emergency procedure word "MAYDAY" which dates to the 1920s.[13][16][17]
Fusees used for rail are known as railroad flares, they are commonly used to perform hand signals or used as torches in rail transport applications.[18][25] Railroad flares can burn for at least 10 minutes, are not fastened to train cars, and are handheld by railroad personnel for protection at night.[18] It was argued during an Appeals case that railroad flares are much more visible than lanterns.[18] In general: trains that encounter a lit railroad flare are required to stop until it burns out.[26] Fusees made specifically for railroad use can be distinguished from highway fusees by a sharp steel spike at one end, used to embed the fusee upright in a wooden railroad tie.
In forestry and firefighting, fusees are sometimes used in wildfire suppression and in the ignition of controlled burns. They ignite at 191 C (376 F) and burn as hot as 1,600 C (2,910 F).[27] They are especially effective[according to whom?] in igniting burnouts or backburns in very dry conditions, but not so effective when fuel conditions are moist.[citation needed] Since controlled burns are often done during relatively high humidity levels (on the grounds that they could not be safely contained during periods of very low humidity), the driptorch is more effective[according to whom?] and more often used.[citation needed] Fusees are also commonly carried by wildland firefighters for emergency use, to ignite an escape fire in surrounding fuels in case of being overrun by a fire if no other escape routes are available.[citation needed]
7fc3f7cf58