The 2.3 update of Away3d has been released! This new version comes in two flavours, a legacy Flash 9 version for all people wishing to carry on using Away3d in their current projects, and a new Flash 10 version for those lucky enough to be already developing in cs4 and Flash 10.
Added features in the version are many and varied! Some highlights include:
- Frustum and nearfield clipping
- Object culling (using frustum calculations)
- Camera lenses
- Advanced normalmap tools
- Bezierpatch tool for creating smooth surfaces
- Improved memory management
- Improved extrusion tools
- Billboard mesh objects
The Frustum room demo shows the new frustum clipping class in action. The 3d room can be navigated with no clipping artifacts that are usually a common problem with interior scenes such as this. The frustum technique involves slicing triangles to the viewing window rather than removing them.
Use the mouse and cursor keys to navigate, and the keyboard shortcuts listed in the demo to see various different render options for a comparison between old and new.
As always, the source for the demo is available here, or by right-clicking in the demo window.
Frustum culling is only one of the new features on offer – for more information on others, head over to away3d.com!