- Flash has always been a powerful and easy to use tool for graphics, animation and interactivity. With the introduction of
ActionScript, it has also become a powerful development tool. When paired with the Make Controller Kit, ActionScript
developers have an excellent resource to easily create beautiful and complex visuals coupled with physical interaction.
The Make Controller Kit can connect to Flash via OSC (Open Sound Control), a popular protocol used to communicate between otherwise disparate environments and devices. For more info, check the OSC tutorial on makingthings.com.
The Make Controller library consists of just a few classes:
- McFlashConnect - our connection to mchelper. This provides many of the methods for sending and receiving messages.
- OscMessage - the kind of message that we'll be sending to and receiving from the Make Controller.
- Board - a representation of one of the Make Controller Kits connected to mchelper.
Getting Started
If you haven't already, check the MakingThings getting started guide. This will walk through the tools you need to download and give a quick overview on how to set them up to get up and running.Architecture
mchelper is a separate application that must be run simultaneously with your Flash application. Because Flash can't connect to external devices by itself, mchelper is a necessary intermediate step - it can connect to the Make Controller over the network and USB, and then it formats communication with the board into XML that can be fed in and out of Flash.OSC
Open Sound Control (OSC) is the protocol the Make Controller uses to communicate with other devices and software environments. For a description of how it works, check the OSC tutorial on the MakingThings site. The reference for all the OSC modules on the Make Controller can be found at http://www.makingthings.com/ref/firmware/html/group___o_s_c.html