A while back, I posed a challenge to devise a system that would let you save BitmapData objects to the server from Flash 8 (in AS2)… It uses down-sampling (to 12bit color) and run-length compression to convert a BitmapData object into a UTF-8 string and sends it to the server via Remoting. It can convert a 320×240 image in just over one second on my G5, resulting in 50-150kb of string data.

I’m here to happily announce a brand new Flash StartPage theme!

Not only did we fix some of the bugs that some of you may have found with the older version, but this one looks cool. 🙂

When Flash 8 dropped, we were excited about the new smarter custom swf panels, which detect changes in the swf, and refresh only when changes were made, but a bug in Flash 8 refreshes only the graphics in updated swfs, and not the external classes unless you restart Flash. This made panel development in Flash 8 impossible. Until today, we had been doing most panel work in MX04, and in the cases where we need to use Flash 8, multiple restarts were necessary. Here’s the solution…

I just learned that Gallery Incomplet is a finalist in the FlashForward Film Festival. Click on over and check out the amazing sites that are up for awards, and get some inspiration.

After a very successful run of my Flash 8 Bootcamp in Los Angeles (we oversold the event due to some very tenacious would-be attendees), I have decided to bring the workshop to London in cooperation with FitC and the London MMUG. Every run gets a little bit more polished and fun to deliver… One of the most popular aspects of the workshop so far has been…

As an experiment in extending existing filters, I decided to take a swing at creating a sharpen filter. It was very simple to do, and works exactly as you would expect. All I did was extend ConvolutionFilter and abstract the logic required to carry out sharpen operations with it. You can download it here to use in your own projects, or to learn from.

I have updated XML2 to work around a new “feature” in Flash 8, add support for onHTTPStatus, and separate timeout into connectionTimeout (time to begin loading data) and timeout (time to finish loading data).

I just got back from delivering my Flash 8 Bootcamp in Toronto, and speaking at the Spark conference in Amsterdam. Everyone seemed to have fun and learn a lot… I’m really looking forwards to the Los Angeles run. Here’s some of the feedback I’ve received so far…