Summary

Although Flash does not support streaming video, you still can get video-like effects by using a few tricks of the trade.

If you're going to be creating your own 3-D effects, remember to keep perspective in mind. You can create the illusion of perspective by using layering and color . Objects that are closer to the audience need to be higher in the layer stack than objects that are farther away (obviously). In addition, the farther in the background an object is supposed to be, the darker it should appear relative to the closer objects. That's another visual clue that helps create the illusion of perspective. A final perspective trick to keep in mind is that objects that are farther away from the audience should appear to be smaller than objects that are closer up.

If you're going to be importing video sequences into Flash, you have a whole series of options. They range from converting the bitmaps into vector sequences to tracing over the bitmaps by hand. The method you choose depends on the overall effect you're trying to achieve. Although tracing by hand might be the most tedious of the options, it does mean you are creating the new file natively in Flash. That almost always leads to a more efficient and compact file.

You continue your exploration of 3-D animation in Flash in the next chapter.