We are beginning to see more and more 3D design idioms emerging, some of which make it into the collectively accepted norm (aka the 3D carousel) others which rapidly fade into obscurity. This example shown here is more of a test to see how easy it is to integrate video playback into a 3D environment using Flash Player 10 native capability. The answer, as usual, is that's it's fairly easy to get started and more difficult to produce a finished piece!

Still, it's great that some of the hitherto pain points have been solved in one fail swoop by the inclusion of native 3D functionality - in particular the rendering of video without the need to BitmapData.draw() each frame. In this example, a Flash Player 10 swf exploits the Brightcove Media API to retrieve the video stills and data required to build the 'video tower'. As a video is selected, an instance of the Brightcove player is loaded directly into the 3D environment. As you load the videos up you can toggle between them with a fairly dramatic transition (why? because 3D lets you do this stuff!). You can click on the background to return to the original state.

What's it all for, I hear you ask? The basic wow factor of an interactive 3D video environment prompts us to play and interact in a carefree way which is a major goal of interaction design - connecting an up-for-it user with your content. I'll be adding some code in the near future.



I've attached the code if you're interested in getting this up and running for yourself. You will need CS4, a Brightcove account and a Media API read token. You'll also need to host a simple proxy page for redirecting image loads as Flash Player 10 imposes security restrictions when it comes to manipulating images from servers that do not have explicit permissions set. A simple PHP version is included. The code is 'proof of concept' only and no warrantee is implied or given regarding robustness, fitness for purpose, being bug free etc! If you have any specific questions please do post a comment. Good luck!