Scripting filters, part 2

In part one of the Scripting filters in Flash Professional 8 series, I showed you how to use ActionScript to work with filters. We covered how to add, modify and delete filters. I also covered the Bevel and Blur filters in detail and gave you an example of how to use each one.

In this article, I want to cover the remaining filters included in Flash Professional 8.  We’ll look at the following filters.

• ColorMatrix
• Convolution
• DisplacementMap
• DropShadow
• Glow
• Gradient Glow
• Gradient Bevel

We’ll see examples of how to work with these filters. We’ll work through a couple of examples so you can see some uses. You’ll need a copy of Flash Professional 8 and Flash Player 8 to work through this article. You can download a trial copy from the Macromedia Web site. Note that the code samples within the article all use AS2.0.

You can download the files referred to in the tutorial from the blue Properties box that contains the article PDF. There's a heading titled Code Download and you can click the Details link next to it to get the zip file.

We’ll start by looking at the ActionScript only filters - the ColorMatrix, Convolution and DisplacementMap filters. These are advanced filters that contain complicated calculations.

This article is part of the new interactive e-book; Out of my mind: Flash 8 Power