Chapter 9PIXEL BENDER

This is an interesting chapter because it introduces not only a whole new tool that can be used in conjunction with Flash CS4 (or whatever you use to compile Flash 10 Player-based SWFs) but also a whole new language used by this tool. The Pixel Bender Toolkit was prereleased under the code name Hydra in late 2007. If features a simple integrated development environment (IDE) for coding and compiling pixel shaders, which are like miniprograms that you can use within Flash, PhotoShop, and After Effects to create very powerful image processing and animation effects. This subject deserves a whole book, but in this one chapter I'll try to give you at least enough info to get you up and running and hopefully inspired to go forward ...

Get AdvancED ActionScript 3.0 Animation now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.