Inspirational Site

Tag Galaxy

As I continued my explorations of Flash Sites I returned to Tag Galaxy. I remember how cool I thought it was the first time I saw it. It's still cool! It is a beautifully conceived and produced web site. The 3D effects work extremely well and are seamlessly incorporated into the use of the images. It accesses the over 5 billion images on Flicker through their metadata tags. The user can either choose from a menu of tag categories or manually input keywords into a search box. Then the animation starts revealing a solar system-like interface which the user can endlessly explore. The user can spin the globe of images and click one which will then scale up for viewing.

Steven Wood created Tag Galaxy in 2008 as a thesis project at the Geirg-Simon-Ohm University of Applied sciences Nuremberg.  He created it using Papervision3D and the Flickr API. Another place to explore developing with Flicker is code.flickr.net. Papervision3D can be explored at the tutorial site, maximized. It is definitely a programmer's province, so settle in for a steep learning curve if you are new to JavaScript.

Papervision3D is a 3D engine which can be used in tandem with Flash. 3D models can be imported into Flash or can be made in Flash using Actionscript. It is just like using MovieClip symbols. Once a model has been created or imported, it can be controlled with Actionscript. This makes it possible to create 3D games, interfaces and apps in Flash.





So it is possible to go 3D with Flash. Just be prepared to put your left brain to work so that your right brain can follow its inspiration.