There’s not much else I can add to this… Just watch the video.
Great work, Dave! ;-)
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How to stand out as a freelance web developer
As an ex-freelancer I know how hard it can be to stand out from the crowd. Dave Berzack, a freelance web developer, created this music video about web development.
Stripgenerator: Online cartoon generator
I absolutely love how you guys keep sending me the coolest links to Flash based apps (Keep ‘em coming!). Stripgenerator is one of those apps.
Stripgenerator (built in Slovenia) just got a fresh new update that adds a bunch of new features, new graphics, and a new interface. The Flash based application is incredibly easy to use. You set up the frames you want to use, drag and drop characters, add items, add the text balloons and you’re done. After you click “Publish” you can easily share your cartoon with your friends and followers.
I built this little cartoon in literally 2 minutes. I know… It’s not very funny and I’m sure you guys will do a much better job at creating a cartoon with Stripgenerator. ;-) Have fun!
Create your own online AR 3D storybooks
Thanks to Flash augmented reality has become accesible to anyone with a browser and a webcam without the need to download anything extra. There are some pretty amazing examples and apps out there but this one is pretty unique.
ZooBurst is a new service where kids can write their own stories and create their own pop-up books. The 3D book builder is built on top of the Flash Platform and lets you add images, animations, speech balloons, and more in an easy to use interface. When you’re done creating your book you can share it on your blog or social network pages. The coolest part of ZooBurst is the reading mode. When you click on a book it shows you the 3D world you created. The real fun starts when you enable the webcam mode. In webcam mode you control the 3D view with an AR marker. It also allows you to use gestures to flip pages. Just wave your hand from right to left to flip the page.
Check out the videos below. Flash on!
Flash For Life
Music For Life is a project by Dutch radio station “3FM”. This is now the fourth year in which Belgian radio station “Studio Brussel” joins this project in which they collect money for the Red Cross. Three of their DJs live in a glass house in the city center of Gent and ask their listeners for donations. This year they are collecting money in an effort to stop malaria. Every year malaria directly kills 1 million people. Another million die because of complications from the disease. The Red Cross will buy mosquito nets to prevent mosquito bites. Each net costs 5 euro but can save a human life!
This year the team (led by Wim Vanhenden) at (recently founded) Little Miss Robot created an online project to help collect money for Music For Life. The site is built with Flash and it has a couple of really cool interactive features. The site shows a live feed from a webcam pointed at a plasma screen, a Christmas tree and a whiteboard. Every visitor gets their chance to switch on the lights, draw something on the whiteboard and leave a message on the plasma screen. The lights (100 LED lights) are connected to an Arduino board which is communicating with a Flash application. Every time someone switches on the lights Adecco donates 1 euro to Music For Life.
The site is completely in Dutch but very easy to figure out. So even if you don’t speak Dutch, you should be able to switch on the lights and support the project. What are you waiting for? http://www.odenneboom.be/
Great job, Little Miss Robot!
The power of the Flash Platform part 4: Online gaming
There’s a good chance you immediately recognized the game in this screenshot. Over 28 million people played Farmville yesterday. Another 10 million played Cafe World. 6 million for FishVille Mafia Wars (Mafia Wars is not a Flash Game. Thanks Robert for pointing that out!). In fact, Zynga alone (maker of these games) serves 60 million players every single day… And all these games are built with the Flash Platform. I might as well stop this blog post right here because that’s a very impressive number.
There are also a ton of Flash games available on the web that are used to launch or promote a new product. Check out these games by Red Bull, Coca-Cola, and Cheetos.
There are many many many games like these out there. Know a cool one? Feel free to share the link in the comment section!
Other posts in this series:
The power of the Flash Platform Part 1
The power of the Flash Platform Part 2 – Augmented reality
The power of the Flash Platform Part 3 – Video
The future of magazines?
I came across this video on Ubergizmo and I wish this was real today…! The video demonstrates a multi-touch tablet to read magazines in full color with video, audio and online capabilities. The video is created by The Wonder Factory and other than that, there really isn’t any more information out there. While it’s only a concept today, I really do hope we’ll see some of this in the future. Maybe we’ll even see it on an Apple tablet in the not too distant future?
UPDATE: Wow… I’ve just read that this is actually a real product. They’ve even showed a working prototype to the press last week. What’s even cooler is that it’s built with AIR & Flex!
Starship Enterprise runs on the Flash Platform
“Space… The final frontier.”
Have you ever wondered how all those cool graphics and animations on TV-shows and in movies are built? Well… I was pleasantly surprised to hear that they actually use Flash to create those.
Lee Brimelow just published an interview with OOOii, a visual effects company based in Hollywood who actually created all the visuals used on the new Star Trek movie. By the way, if you haven’t seen the new Star Trek movie, I can really recommend it. The effects are great and the movie is action packed. Aaaaaand… to top it off: The Starship Enterprise runs on the Flash Platform! ;-)
Flash on!
Update May 28th: Updated with the link to the full interview
The power of the Flash Platform part 2: Augmented reality
Augmented reality has been around for quite some time but now that it is available for the Flash Platform (and thus available to just about everyone) it is really booming. I was recently looking for some AR examples and came across some really cool applications. I hope these will give you a bit of an idea of the immense possibilities this technology has. It’s not even that difficult to build. Check out Lee Brimelow’s tutorial video and you’ll be building applications like this in no time.
LIVING SASQUATCH
This one really blows people away. You can completely animate the sasquatch while still being able to control it in 3D space. You really need to play with it yourself to believe it. Check it out on http://www.livingsasquatch.com/
RONALD CHEVALIER
This one is very funny to demo. You stick the black and white pattern on your forehead and when you launch the application, your face is replaced with the one from Ronald Chevalier. Good fun! ;-) Check it out on http://ronaldchevalier.com/mindportal/
GE SMARTGRID
This was the first augmented reality Flash application that I saw and you’ve probably seen it as well. But if you haven’t, go check it out on http://ge.ecomagination.com/smartgrid/#/augmented_reality
MICROSOFT SQL SERVER
I think this is the first augmented reality campaign in Belgium. Obviously the agency and the client chose the best platform to do this. The Flash Platform is also the only cross OS and cross browser platform that allows you to bring AR to the widest possible audience. Check it out on http://sqlug.be/augmentedreality/activate/activate/
I’m sure you’ll agree that augmented reality is pretty cool but what do you do with it? In Brazil, Doritos actually put the black and white pattern on the Doritos bag. When you go to their site and show the bag, you get access to exclusive content. (via http://kiss-the-future.blogspot.com/2009/04/augmented-reality-in-doritos-sweet.html)
Lego even created an in-store display with augmented reality. Just hold up the box to the camera and the display shows you what the finished project looks like. See http://www.notcot.com/archives/2009/01/legos_digital_b.php for more.
I’m sure there are more AR cases out there. If you know of any or are building one yourself, please leave a comment.
The power of the Flash Platform
Flash Player 10 is now on 75% of all Internet connected PCs. It’s amazing to see it reached that number just 6 5 months after it was released. And it’s even more amazing to see what developers are building on top of the Flash Platform these days.
Sumo Paint
When I first saw Sumo Paint, I was completely blown away. It was just a couple of weeks ago, on April 1st. I remember mailing out a link to their main page and getting replies from colleagues asking if this was an April Fools joke. ;-) Sumo Paint is actually very easy to describe. Think Photoshop in a browser window. I thought these guys were also using Pixel Bender to do some of the effects but when I met them earlier this week in Helsinki (where they are based), they told me it’s all ActionScript 3.0. Even though Sumo Paint’s feature set is extremely close to Photoshop, it’s all built using ActionScript 3 and the Flex framework.
Hobnox Audiotool
You’ve probably seen this one before but this German based company just keeps adding new features and new instruments and it just keeps amazing me every time I see or demo it. The Hobnox Audiotool is basically a complete studio to create electronic music. The Hobnox team made Flash versions of a bunch of popular electronic drum computers and synthesizers that you can easily add to your composition. Additionally, you can also add effect modules and even record your performance to share with your friends. And all this is done using ActionScript.
Aviary
Aviary is a suite of online creative tools. Where Sumo Paint is “just” an image editor, Aviary has a vector editor, image editor, visual laboratory and a colour palettes application. All built on the top of the Flash Platform. I can’t even begin to imagine the amount of code behind this application suite and it all runs smoothly in a browser window using the Flash Player.
These are just 3 great examples that nicely demonstrate the power of the Flash Platform and there are many more out there. If you know of a cool example, make sure you leave a comment with the link(s).
Now… If you’re a web developer, just ask your self this question: “Can the platform I’m building applications on do this?”. If the answer is yes, chances are you are already a Flash Platform developer. If the answer is no, it’s not too late for you. ;-)
