ActionScript, now in version 2 since Flash MX 2004, allows the Flash developer to do great things to their Flash movies, adding dynamic scripting for improved user interaction, and creating complex games and other applications. One of the most useful and sought-after skills within this area is animation - making things move using code. In this book, Keith Peters shows that all you need is a little Flash experience and some knowledge of very basic ActionScript concepts to get the most out of it.

The author first guides you through basic animation theory, and then does a great job of demystifying the math and physics behind creating realistic animation, looking at trigonometry, velocity and acceleration, and bouncing and friction. He then goes on to look at more advanced animation topics such as collision detection, particle attraction, and kinematics. For each of these subjects, he explains the theory involved and goes on to show how they can be implemented with practical ActionScript examples.

Finally, he demonstrates how to triumph, with 3D animation techniques, including building a basic 3D engine, 3D lines, fills and solids, and matrix math. Due to the release of Flash 8, around September 05, the book will cover Flash versions up to Flash 8.