Adobe Director Basics

ADOBE DIRECTOR BASICS
3D: Controlling action
v = randomVector()
trace(v.length)
-- 1.0000
trace(v.magnitude)
-- 1.0000
trace(v.x * v.x + v.y * v.y + v.z * v.z)
-- 1.0000
v[1] = 3
v[2] = 4
v[3] = 12
trace(v)
-- vector( 3.0000, 4.0000, 12.0000 )
trace(v.mag
nitude)
-- 13.0000
Position and translation vectors
A vector is essentially used to express a position in space or a translation through a given distance in a given direction.
A position or translation vector is only meaningful within a parent frame of reference (see “Frames of reference” on
page 202).
A translation expressed as vector(x, y, z) can be thought of as the following movement:
1 A translation of x units parallel with the xAxis of the parent frame of reference
2 A translation of y units parallel to the yAxis of the parent frame of reference, starting from the point arrived at in
step 1
3 A translation of z units parallel to the zAxis of the parent frame of reference, starting from the point arrived at in
step 2
The actual order of the steps is not in fact important.
A position vector can be thought of as the result of a translation that starts from the origin of the parent frame of
reference.
The vector methods and operations described at “Vector methods and operations” on page 364 are only meaningful
when vectors are used to express positions or displacement.
Other uses of vectors
The vector format of (float, float, float) is also useful for expressing quantities other than positions or
translation. For example:
transform.rotation: the x, y and z properties indicate a sequential rotation around each axis. In other words, a
rotation vector says: “Rotate x degrees around the xAxis, then y degrees around the yAxis, and then z degrees
around the zAxis, in that order”.
transform.scale: the x, y and z properties provide a shorthand for transform.xAxis.length,
transform.yAxis.length and transform.zAxis.length.
spotLight.attenuation: the x, y and z properties provide a shorthand for the components of a quadratic
equation used to calculate how the illumination for a spotlight decreases with distance. This can be expressed as
follows:
intensity = attenuation.z * attenuation.z * distance + attenuation.y * distance +
attenuation.x
Last updated 8/26/2011
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