Tag: flash particle effects

Desuade Partigen 2.5 Now Available

Whew, it’s been a long time coming, but 9 months after the first release of Desuade Partigen 2.0, Partigen 2.5 is now available and fully compatible with Flash CS5!

This is actually a HUGE update, with substantial new goodness that’s sure to blow you away. Building upon v2.0, 2.5 represents a complete integration of both the engine and the Flash plug-in, giving users of the UI access to some of the most powerful features provided by the AS3 API. This is a major refinement and evolution with 9 months worth of work and over 121 updates, to provide you with the best particle effects experience offered anywhere – ever.

The Desuade site has been largely updated to reflect the new version, with new effect reels, 4 new interactive demos, 7 new feature videos, and even a more streamlined purchasing experience.

Check out everything now: http://desuade.com/partigen

Oh yeah, speaking of which, I forgot to mention the best part…

It’s a FREE update.

That’s right, current users of Partigen 2 can grab this huge update at no additional cost, and anybody can grab the latest AS3 classes for free as well. Once you check it out now and realize the value, be sure to let me (and everyone else) know what you think!

Desuade Partigen 2.5 and DMP 1.5 AS3 Libraries Released

Yes it’s true, Desuade Partigen 2.5 and Desuade Motion Package 1.5 ActionScript 3 libraries have been officially released!

Whew, it’s been a long time coming.

This is huge update that brings some incredible updates to Partigen, and some of those innovations trickled down into the DMP v1.5 (like object pooling). This is the biggest update to Partigen since the original 2.0 release, and am stoked about all the improvements.

Let’s take a look at what’s new since the original 2.0 release:

  • pixel renderer and pixel-based effects
  • tremendously improved performance and memory management with new object pooling for particles, particle sources, and tweens
  • support for particle filters and XML filter support
  • renderers start/stop automagically without needing to do it manually anymore
  • caching particles as bitmaps
  • more rendering options such as predraw, removeAllParticles(), and clear()
  • improved custom Random class
  • prefetching allows you to start emitters as if the effect has already been running for a while
  • XML support for renderers
  • BitmapCanvas class allows for super easy use and duplication of Bitmap/PixelRenderers
  • blendmode support for particles
  • groupBitmaping to improve performance on particles with a high groupAmount
  • particles can now be any class, without having to extend Particle
  • all the improvements in the Desuade Motion Package
  • plus over 50 bug fixes, tweaks, changes, and minor enhancements

By now, you can tell this is huge – big enough to be a full new version release. If you’re interested, you can checkout the full changelog here: http://github.com/andrewfitz/desuade/blob/master/changelog.txt

Now the bad news.

Unfortunately, the developer helping with the backport to AS2 totally failed to come through… so no AS2 version. It’s actually an incredible amount of extra work, and I still decide to place my energy on the future instead of the past. So we’re still AS3 only, unless somebody else wants to give it a go.

Regardless, this release is has been incredible amount of work, and I really hope you try it out and share it with your friends because the more feedback I get, the more work I put into it for you.

The commercial Flash extension and plugin is almost done being upgraded to 2.5 as well, and will be released sometime in July. Trust me, it’s worth the wait.

So stop – and download the latest Partigen 2.5 library and examples now here:

http://desuade.com/partigen/download

Enjoy, and let me know what you think!

(PS. The docs have been updated with all the new additions to 2.5 – http://api.desuade.com/)

Desuade Motion Package 1.1 & Partigen 2.1 AS3 Engines Released

3 Months after the original release of the Desuade libraries (Desuade Motion Package 1.0 and Partigen 2.0), I’m pleased to announce the first major update to the package with DMP 1.1 and Partigen 2.1.

This release comes with lots of goodies, so let’s get straight to it and see the major changes in this release:

Motion:

  • MotionController.start(keyframe, startTime) – Allows you to start a controller at the given time as if it’s already been running
  • ClassSequence – duration, startAtTime(), getPositionInTime() for Tween-based classes only
  • Tween and BasicTween now have run() method to statically perform a tween instead of creating an object
  • BasicTween.position

Partigen:

  • Emitter prefetching – allows you to start an emitter as if it’s already been running
  • XML support for Renderers in Emitters – allowing bitmap effect presets
  • BitmapCanvas class for BitmapRenderer for easy management of BitmapRenderers
  • emitter.particleBlendMode – blendmode for particles
  • emitter.groupBitmap – lets particle groups be created as bitmaps
  • emitters now automatically start their renderers on start()
  • emitter.particle can now be any class, and does not have to inherit from BasicParticle
  • BitmapRenderer no longer asks for BitmapData (not backwards-compatible)
  • BasicParticle and Particle classes inherently use groups (removed BasicGroupParticle, GroupParticle)

As you can see, there’s some pretty awesome additions brought into the package, mostly refining and enhancing Partigen 2. These changes will soon be reflected in the upcoming Partigen 2.1 plugin as well, most importantly with XML support for BitmapRenderers and a BitmapCanvas component.

Download your copy now: http://desuade.com/partigen/download or http://desuade.com/dmp/download

Partigen 2.1 & DMP 1.1 In Progress – Plus AS2 Backport

It’s been a busy time the last few months after the launch; demos, tutorials, partnerships, and site redesigns. Now that the metaphorical dust has settled, it’s time for a little polish on the actual product.

So a few changes and updates that are expected to be tackled in Partigen 2.1 include:

  • Use any DisplayObject as particle without inheriting from Particle
  • XML-based renderers
  • BitmapCanvas class greatly simplifies BitmapRenderers
  • Improved particle grouping
  • Emitter.groupBitmap provides huge performance boost
  • Particle blendmodes
  • Misc performance improvements

These should provide some really nice improvements for the engine, and bubble up into the actual plugin. Those improvements are under the hood, and a few more interface improvements will also be expected.

Oh, and ActionScript 2… well it seems a large majority of users still use or are required to code in AS2. Desuade is all about focusing on the future, but leaving behind half a user-base is unacceptable. So, after the 2.1 codebase is complete, it will be ported back to AS2. There will be performance issues of course, but it will be better than no AS2 at all.

Expect some roll outs on the GIT server for you early adopters, and sometime next week for 2.1 release for the AS3 library!

Partigen Tutorials, Demos, Videos …Oh My!

I have just finished the last updates on the Partigen section of the site for a big design refresh. After weeks of work recording videos, taking screenshots, designing, and coding it’s finally done and live. Two new pages have been added for demos and buzz. You can check it out here now:

http://desuade.com/partigen

I have included many new demos, videos, tutorials, and lots of other good stuff to really show off the kind of Flash particle effects Partigen 2 is capable of. Most importantly, how quickly and easily it is to make them.

I hope this helps you make a more informed decision deciding how right Partigen 2 is for you, your company, and clients. Let me know what you think!

Again, you can check out the new pages here and here.