• No objects are created in runtime (memory usage)
• The SampleDataEvent is receiving a static blocksize (steady latency)
• Linear interpolation (sound quality)
• Speed can go down to zero

{source code}

(no preloader - music by basic channel) - Thanks Lee for pointing me!

Here is how we handled sound creation before in the AudioTool
We simply passed 2048 samples (minimum amount) every time the SampleCallbackEvent was fired. The playback was stable - even when scrolling the desktop with a lot of devices. For processes that would block the CPU for some time (e.g. create new plugin instances), we passed 8192 sample (maximum amount) to remain stable playback and execute the processes after. So we dynamically increased the latency once to have more space for heavy computation. Afterward we went back to normal (2048 samples). In fact this worked great!

The Release Player changed all that
With the latest player, every time you increase the number of samples you will increase the overall latency. And there is no way of decreasing it again without stopping the SoundChannel. So now we just pass 3072 samples (~160ms latency) all the time. Meaning that critical processes won't be caught and will cause gaps in playback.

Again we now have 4 times more latency, but playback is overall less stable.

The worst thing is, that nobody told us and I am still not sure, what that is all about. The new sound feature was great and worked great for all release candidates. And all the sudden they changed it - again - without telling anyone. If we had this information before, it would not have been so hard to accept it. And of course we may have found some workarounds.

Read also Joe Berkovitz post | Joa Ebert post | Kai-Philipp Schöllmann post

In my understanding an inverted matrix can neutralize an already applied transformation to a Vector3D. So having a Vector3D transformed by a matrix and afterward to the inverted one returns the original Vector coordinates, right?

Check out this simple test.

Can anyone explain this or should I log a bug?

Update: If I use transformVectors instead - the computed values are as expected.

Thinking of a simple 3d viewing pipeline, you have something like

• Setup geometrie, textures and lights
• Transform local coordinates to camera space
• Clipping against Frustum
• Project and render

They are a lot of helpers that helps you doing the transformation and projection, especially

• flash.geom.Matrix3D
• flash.geom.Utils3D

I assume that Matrix3D.transformVectors and Utils3d.projectVectors are lightning fast, cause you can pass a Vector (sources and targets) to them. A single(!) Vector could contain the entire 3d world geometry as a list of (x,y,z,x,y,z,x,y,z,x,y,z,...). That is why I am thinking that the Flashplayer is able to execute this well formatted list extremely fast! Much faster than calling the methods to transform several Vector3D objects in a AS3 loop.

So far so good. Where is the problem?
The worst thing from the memorys point of view is the clipping part, cause vertices are added and just valid for a single frame (if the Camera or Geometry is moving). A big case for the garbage collection.
Trying to figure out the best data structure for a 3d engine in Flash, I thought of something like this: All 3d world vertices are stored in a single Vector. Furthermore I would also leave some extra space for the expected vertices in the clipping process (increase the Vector length). With this setup, you reserve memory space and there is no reason for the garbage collection to remove used clipping data. You can easily access the clipped vertices with an offset in the Vector.

Note: The Vector would stay fixedSized. It is on you to allocate enough space for the clipping process when you setup.

But it won't work for now
Imagine you already clipped geometry: Next time you transform the Vector into a new coordinate space, all the clipped data from the last frames will be transformed as well. Two simple optional parameter would change that.

Solution
Matrix3D.transformVectors(vin:Vector, vout:Vector, startIndex: uint, endIndex: uint):void
Utils3D.projectVectors(m:Matrix3D, verts:Vector, projectedVerts:Vector, uvts:Vector, startIndex: uint, endIndex: uint):void

Thats it! That simple!
Now you could force the Flashplayer only to transform the necessary range. You simply overwrite the new clipped data in the Vector every frame, project and draw them. If you know the region, where a 3d-object has allocated its vertices you could use the startIndex and endIndex value to transform it at once.

Too late? I guess so. Too bad I started so late...

Update
I created an official feature request at Adobe bugbase. It would be a great feature!
Please vote. It may not be too late.

Read on at Adobe, MAKE SOME NOISE | Countless more delightful features in FP10

Away3D | Papervision3D

Source code 909 GUI | Source code Popforge package (including 909 processor)

Furthermore I have updated the AIR version of the 909. You can now stream a Wavefile to disk while playing your session. If AIR will be some day as distributed as the FlashPlayer, we will have good times. I like it. Joa is also preparing FUI, a smart and simple GUI Creationset to build UIs in actually no time. This will be a huge timesaver for creating and debugging synthesizer and effect devices.

Rock'N'Roll!

Make sure you have the Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR) installed.

Install Air909 and share your beats!

Please update to the latest version. There was a serious playback bug, that causes clicks.
NEW: Hold SHIFT while clicking START to save a WAV - stream directly to your harddrive!

Note: Make sure you save the file with the *.909 extension.

David Rowald captured me while playing around with the 909 and put it on youtube. Damn you ;)

via Jens Franke

So lets try:

 
trace( getQualifiedClassName( uint( 0 ) ) ); // int
trace( '28bits', getQualifiedClassName( uint( 0x0fffffff ) ) ); // int
trace( '29bits', getQualifiedClassName( uint( 0x1fffffff ) ) ); // Number
 

Above all check this:

 
			var num: uint;
 
			for( var i: int = 0 ; i < 64 ; i++ )
			{
				num = 1 << i;
 
				trace( i, getQualifiedClassName( num ) );
			}
 

From 0 to 27 it is int
From 28 to 31 it is Number
From 32 to 59 it is int (again)
From 60 to 63 it is Number (again)

The disadvantage of this is that Numbers are slower in computation as well as reading, writing in an Array. And however it doesn't make any sense at all. Bram has already sent a note to adobe. I'll keep you updated.

source code + sample application

Any change to get some official notes on this?

Worth a visit!

cubicVR

Make sure you have a fast computer, since I adjust a very small latency to get almost immediately feedback on you movements.

Scratch My Back !

Just 25KB and a stereodelay with short offsets for super-sonic-super-mario-sound :)
Believe it or not, I could easily mix a 909 drumset into the stream. Stay tuned...

digg this

I know, there are many wonderfull things to do with AS3, but hey, it was is still a dream...

Solid and unchanged FPS in any enviroment (which has the power to)

Of course a slow computer cannot play a movie with 50 FPS, if he cannot compute every frame in the given timeframe. But I have movies, that can be played with (over) 120 FPS in a standalone player, where the IE constrained FPS to 63 and the Firefox is just dithering about 35. This seems to me improvable. There is a workaround for firefox, but it sucks all CPU and isn't recommended for every os and browser.

I had some new findings today about firefox, which has to be proofed. Please go through these steps:

Make sure you have a fast computer (+2.5Ghz).
Open a study with IE on my lab, e.g. F8: MATRIX/mode7.
You should have easily about 63 FPS.
Close IE and switch to Firefox to open the same study.
Watch the FPS decreasing to about 35 after 2 seconds.
Open a bookmark in another TAB (make sure, its a big website, which takes some time to load > flashkit).
Switch back to the TAB with the study and watch the FPS increasing to 120 (regarding to mode7 study) while loading another site.
Be suprised. (?) (I tried to fake this behavior by loading and/or requesting files from the swf, but it doesn't act the same way)

I could imagine, that it is a lot a work to change, cause you have to test a lot of systems, but it worth to do, it is the heart of any project.