Recent site launches around the globe show Away3D is fast becoming the online 3D framework of choice for major international company content. Here are the highlights of what has been an inspiring first quarter of 2009.

Project dragonfly is an experimental Autodesk tool for designing room interiors. The name on the site pretty much say it all in terms of quality, but don’t take our word for it - take a look for yourself:

For those that don’t know, Autodesk are the creators of world renowned 3D Sofware such as Maya, 3D Studio Max, and Soft Image. The high quality of the room interiors in dragonfly is possible thanks to a custom built server-rendering system that allows extremely detailed models to be rendered direct into the 3D scene. More information on the process behind this and other dragonfly features can be found by visiting a ‘making of’ youtube video playlist here. We are honored to have Autodesk pick Away3D as their online 3D visualization tool.

The BBC celebrated their regain of F1’s sports coverage this year with a plethora of new and innovative content, including their very own Away3D application in the form of the F1 Circuit Guides. This is an in-depth tour of all tracks on the 2009 calendar, combining 3D flythroughs, driver lap videos, race comments, images and more.

The application was a BBC commission from Monterosa Productions, with Away Media providing Flash 3d production and consultancy services. The extensive extrusion and custom shape creation packages in Away3D gave a huge hand to the track creation process, and more tracks are being created over the course of the season so stay tuned! Read more about the project here and here.

Brazilian agency Gringo have released a surreal 3D playland in the form of Happy Me, a kids site commisioned for Coca Cola. The game plays exactly to the strength Away3D offers, with a cartoon world to explore and customisations you can perform on your slightly ogrish character.

To launch the new iQ car from Toyota, digital agency North Kingdom (with 3D assistance from Play With Motion) have created a beautiful minisite that can be seen here. Combining static video with 3D interaction in a captivating and seamless journey, you can put the iQ through various ‘test drives’ of it’s features.

Disney recently launched the American Idol Experience website as a precursor to their new attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park. The site uses a combination of pre-rendered 3D video sequences with interactive Away3D panels to create a virtual tour of the ride. The idea of a website that houses a virtual re-creation of a theme park attraction that allows participants the chance to pretend to be on a show intended for public participation is a little surreal, but the site’s subtle use of interactive 3D is executed flawlessly.

Finally, Norway’s largest online marketplace Finn.no have just launched a new Street-viewer service powered by Away3D. The application allows you to walk along the streets of the Norwegian cities Oslo and Trondheim, and consists of  more than 120.000 panorama locations. From the map interface, clicking on any one of the blue dots will open the viewer at that location.

We are grateful to everyone who sent in their links for inclusion in our showcase section! If you have a site that you would like us to showcase, please tell us more by getting in contact via our mailing list.

In 2008, “3D” was the new buzzword for Flash. We saw an increased use of Away3D as an engine for 3D flash games, as well as the use of Away3D for 3D graphics in applications. Huge improvements and additions were made to our API, and the size of the Away3D mailing list increased over threefold. Make sure you join our group to become a part of it all - it is the best place to ask questions, get tech support, keep up to date with API developments, showcase your Away3D work, and communicate directly with the Away3D team.

Last year, 3D in Flash took off, with the main 3D engines working hard to make commercially viable libraries, and even Flash itself taking a step into 3D land with the new native capabilities of Flash 10. Here are some recent publications of Away3D content that really stood out:

Fisherman’s Day has got to be one of the most polished Flash demos for a 3D game seen yet. You won’t see anything comparable made with any other Flash 3D Engine.

If you’ve played or seen Animal Crossing for the Nintendo DS or Wii, you may recognize the way the scenery and terrain scroll. It’s purely ingenious, and this demo has higher resolution than a DS screen, making the effect even more impressive.

Using your mouse to walk around, you’ll notice the precise collision detection, smooth movement, and highly detailed graphics in this Flash 3D mini-world. Congratulations to dangerous-rabbits.com on a superb use of Flash and Away3D!

Intel IT MANAGER is an isometric Sims-style game with up to 100,000 triangles, interactive and animated elements per screen in certain rooms! Do you have what it takes to manage the IT department in your own virtual company?

How does a Flash 3D game handle 100,000 triangles at once? It uses Away3D’s caching system, which makes these large scenes a piece of cake. The game also takes advantage of the Away3D scene exporter, which allows you to save hundreds of objects as one compressed ActionScript file. This saves download times and costly pre-processing, ensuring the loading of 3d assets does not slow down the gameplay.

Munchiegames.com has launched three new Flash games made with the Away3D engine.

How quickly can you make a BLT sandwich, serve up spicy fries, or stuff a box of Valentine’s Day treats? The games all have some kind of food theme, with a healthy injection of flavorful graphics and oddball humour. Munchiegames.com is serving up fresh 3D Flash games just for you!

Conflict is a RTS (Real Time Strategy) Tower Defense-type game that uses Away3D and the WOW 3D Physics Engine. As an added bonus, level maps can be created by users!

Registered users of Conflict can build maps, save their score, rate other peoples creations and so on. If you don’t want to register use the following word as the login/password : shirotokoro. Now go get ‘em soldier!

The CBBC’s Escape from Scorpion Island is an immersive game where you interact with a wild 3D world around you. With video clues to find and puzzles to solve, you’ll feel like you are the star of the show! Play it now - but don’t forget to put on your insect repellent! Shortcut links to the minigames will be available soon where you’ll find more games made with Away3D, such as Escape from the Ship.

Hotels and Events.com is a website that plots upcoming arts & theatre, music, and sport events onto a 3D globe. With their innovative 3D Interface fueled by Away3D they are giving users a new navigation experience for search-based apps.

Real Aquarium is a Facebook app where you can tend to your own 3D fish in a virtual aquarium. The first 3D virtual pet on Facebook is a big step for 3D Flash apps, it shows how people can develop and create simple applications with more graphical ‘depth’ ;).

Christmas Tree is a 3D (or should that be Tree-D?) Facebook app that lets you customize your own christmas tree and then adorn it with decorations. Pick different shapes, backgrounds and coloured ornaments to make your tree as jolly as you like!

Fukhaos.com is a showcase site that takes a peek into the future of 3D Flash websites. The simple, clean graphical style and navigation give you a feeling of space, while being immersed in a 3D environment. Why would you want your Flash site to be a crowded 2D mess, when you can aim for something like this?

Last but certainly not least is the awe-inspiring AUDI VDT website by ArtificialDuck that uses Away3D to plot 3D representations of various machined parts in Flash.

This has to be the one of the best Away3D websites we’ve seen so far. It’s informative and technical with slick, clean visuals. As an addition some really great interactive mouse effects add to the 3D look and feel. Experience it for yourself here.

If you’ve not yet tried it, we hope you get your 3D Flash groove on this year! The Away3D Flash Engine is becoming bigger and better with more capabilities, features and possibilities than any other 3D Flash engine available. We are looking forward to 2009 being another great year with yet more excellent Flash 3D creations!

The Away3D Team

As more and more people discover the potential of 3d in Flash, the versatility of the Away3D framework is beginning to show. Agencies and individuals alike are using it as their engine of choice, and producing some very cool content as illustrated by the following selection of projects!

Discovery Channel uses Away3D on a Flash Video Game “Solar Symphony”, where you interact with the Planets and sounds.

Away3D can be seen in use on the Square Enix (of Final Fantasy fame) members website. Now you can choose your avatar when you login in, and modify it realtime in 3D.

The Strangers Movie site uses a good dose of Away3D and video materials. Try the experience, it’s pretty spooky!

Cadbury’s “A Glass and a Half Full” website uses Away3D and 3D video renderings to drop you into a surreal world. A great concept for a 3D website, and the experience is pretty realistic!

As well as this, you can do some cool Truck modding in the Tricked Out Trucks section.

While we are on the subject of trucks, check out the revamped Brahmamobile.
A fantastic Away3D upgrade!

We’d like to thank Flashkit for the mention last month of the new Away3D 2.0 release on their homepage, and flashmagazine for running a great tutorial on their site for getting started with Away3D code. And of course, all of the people involved in the projects above for creating such cool showcase material!

The Away3D Team

Away3D has recently seen a sudden increase in commercial use - now including areas such as Education, Gaming, and Online Applications. The following content shows a sample of what’s currently being powered by the Away3d Engine.

EffectiveUI launchs an application for the Discovery Channel called “Discovery Earth Live” which lets you visualize different scientific data on an interactive 3D globe, as well as read about news stories around the world; the data is both images and video, and you can adjust layering and opacities of different layers in real-time as the globe spins.
In otherwords: Really Awesome.
http://www.discovery.com/discoveryearthlive

Newgrounds features 3D Sugar Glider on the front page and 3D Flash Games finally become a reality on the Web.
Newgrounds is the largest and most popular Flash site on the web, and the future of Web Entertainment. Now Away3D is pushing the3D Flash Game envelope.

Play 3D Sugar Glider !

Fusebox launches Empressr, the first web-based application that lets you create, share and store presentations online.

It uses Away3D for the 3D transitions, with many more features being made.
It’s nominated for a Webware 100 award for the Best Web 2.0 sites.
www.empressor.com

Away3D has many new things coming up, please JOIN THE AWAY3D GROUP to stay updated.

Here are a few Websites that use Away3D as it gains power, speed, and popularity.
Congratulations to everyone that made this possible.

B-Reel launchs the new Flash/Away3D site for the EA Games title FIFA Street 3.
www.fifastreet3.com

North Kingdom releases a site for Toyota Europe with a game that use the Away3D engine.

www.buildyouriq.com

TODESIGN completed their newest Internet interior arrangement application called Dekort3D.

Create any room and change walls colours, floor materials, furniture. It features object rotation, collision detection, snap to object, and save to local disk.
dekort3d.todesign.pl

Honey Agency creates a Flash/Away3D Interactive map of the local New York City area.
www.450park.com/map.php?startNode=1000