Depth Management in AS3 = Z Order

I had a bit of trouble trying to figure out how to move the depth of an object on the stage in AS3 today. Its actually called Z-order in AS3, not Depth. Instead of just using the AddChild function, which put the Movie Clip on the top of the display list, I used AddChildAt, which set the depth of the Movieclip while it was adding it.

So instead of adding the child this way:

global.base.bgSprite.addChild(whiteTriangle);

where the movieclip was just dumped on top of everything

I used this

global.base.bgSprite.addChildAt(whiteTriangle, 1);

The 1 moved the depth of the movieclip to the base.

p.s. this was an external ActionScript file.

Iphone Apps + The Gadget Show = AWESOME!

Last month I got a call from one of the producers from North One Television, asking weather I wanted to help out on developing an IPhone App for the Gadget Show.  They found me through my mate Ben who has developed an app before with Phillip Parr, a lovely little metal detector you can check out here.  I don’t even have an Iphone so the whole thing was a learning curve for me.

I developed the interface in Photoshop at the following sizes:

• 320 x 460 pixels at 72 ppi - (when you hold the Iphone up to your screen this size will seem larger), this is because the actual iphone resolution is actually 163 ppi.
• Its 480-by-320-pixels in to total but you need to minus the size of the header with the coverage and power status (-20 Pixels).
• I exported all the images as high quality PNG’s.

So 2 Iphone apps were developed, Social Beacon and Biker Blast Off!.  Both equally awesome.  Here’s some more info:

Social Beacon:

We worked on Social Beacon. The gadget show presenter, Jason Bradbury came up with the idea for a social networking tool which lets you create super quick status updates for leading social networks.  I have played it as a demo and it’s SWEET!, the status updates are so funny and really imaginative.

Biker Blast Off

Suzi Perry came up with Biker Blast-OFF!.  Its a bike jumping game where you’ll need to use every trick on your iphone to achieve a record breaking jump.  Developed by Media Tonic.

Both apps use the IPhone accelerometer feature and are available at the app store FOR FREE!!.

Accessing the stage in Gaia Framework

I have had alot of trouble trying to access the stage from Gaia Framework, but thanks to David, I’m finally getting the hang of it.

I needed to access the stage width (when resized) to create a a bar to sit behind the navigation on my site.

First I had to add this to the class constructor:

addEventListener(Event.ADDED_TO_STAGE, onAddedToStage);

Then create the following 2 functions:

private function onAddedToStage(event:Event):void
{
removeEventListener(Event.ADDED_TO_STAGE, onAddedToStage);
stage.addEventListener(Event.RESIZE, onResize);
onResize();
}

private function onResize(event:Event = null):void
{
navBackBar.width = stage.stageWidth;
navBackBar.x = 0 - ((stage.stageWidth - Gaia.api.getWidth()) / 2);
}

navBackBar is the name of the movieclip on the stage.  You can see it behind the navigation on my site.

Extreeme Staxx

This was a great Job for me to get my head around Final Cut Pro, I had used it before to edit a corporate video, but i did this really fast as a xmas special of our snowbording trip last year.

Man I wish I bought a HD camera when I had the chance, I’m the one wearing JEANS.