Question

I’m pretty much the rookiest rookie when it comes to Flash.

Here’s the actionscript (3):

// Here's the dumb-dumb:
/*****************************************************************/
/*****************************************************************/
function captureImage(e:MouseEvent):void {
    // The video still-image is captured and drawn...but at 320x240? Oh, and the real kicker is that it gets squeezed (resized), not cropped.
    bitmapData.draw(video);
}
/*****************************************************************/
/*****************************************************************/


// Here's the other relevant code...
/*****************************************************************/
var bandwidth:int = 0;
var quality:int = 100; 

var myWidth:int = 320; // the width for camera, video, and bitmaps.
var myHeight:int = 320; // the height for camera, video, and bitmaps.

var cam:Camera = Camera.getCamera();
cam.setQuality(bandwidth, quality);
cam.setMode(myWidth,myHeight,30,false); // (width, height, FPS, favorSize)

var video:Video = new Video();
    video.attachCamera(cam);
    video.x = 20;
    video.y = 20;
    // setting the video.width and video.height here makes the video appear in the desired aspect-ratio (1:1). If this is not set it defaults to 320x240.
    video.width = myWidth;
    video.height = myHeight;
addChild(video);

// 0xff0000 sets a red background just so I can see that the BitmapData "element" is 320x320 like it should be.
var bitmapData:BitmapData = new BitmapData(myWidth, myHeight, false, 0xff0000);

var bitmap:Bitmap = new Bitmap(bitmapData);
    bitmap.x = 360;
    bitmap.y = 20;
    bitmap.width=myWidth;
    bitmap.height=myHeight;
addChild(bitmap);


// capture_mc is my take-a-picture button. :-)
capture_mc.buttonMode = true;
capture_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK,captureImage);

So, what am I missing here. I know the makers of Flash don’t insist that all images should be displayed in a 4:3 aspect ratio, right? :o)

Anyway, thanks for helping out a “n00b”.

p.s. The fact that Flash uses Ctrl+Y to “redo” instead of Ctrl+Shift+Z (like Photoshop) makes me want to flash.events.destroy(flash), or something.

UPDATE:

I figured out how to stretch the video from 240 to 320. But there is a significant reduction in quality in doing that. Here is the code with the updated parts in BOLD:

var bitmapData:BitmapData = new BitmapData(myWidth,240, false, 0xff0000);

var bitmap:Bitmap = new Bitmap(bitmapData);
bitmap.x = 360;
bitmap.y = 20;
bitmap.width=myWidth;
bitmap.height=240;
bitmap.scaleY=1.333; // ADDED scaleY
addChild(bitmap);

So I’d still like to find a solution that maximizes the quality.

Answer 1

I was asked if I had found a solution to the problem and the answer is yes. I’m just copy+pasting the actionscript from my .fla so I’m not going to explain the code below (I actually can’t remember what everything does). And obviously there are objects on the stage so you won’t be able to plug and play…sorry. Feel free to explain whats going on in the comments. 🙂

import flash.display.Bitmap;
import flash.display.BitmapData;
import com.adobe.images.PNGEncoder;
// for javascript
import flash.external.ExternalInterface;

var snd:Sound = new camerasound(); //new sound instance for the "capture" button click

var bandwidth:int = 0; // Maximum amount of bandwidth that the current outgoing video feed can use, in bytes per second.
var quality:int = 100; // This value is 0-100 with 1 being the lowest quality. 

var myWidth:int = 240;
var myHeight:int = 240;

var hiderD:BitmapData = new BitmapData(myWidth+4,myHeight+4,false,0xffffff);
var borderBox1:Bitmap = new Bitmap(hiderD);
borderBox1.x = 22;
borderBox1.y = 52;
borderBox1.width=hiderD.width;
borderBox1.height=hiderD.height;

var borderBox2:Bitmap = new Bitmap(hiderD);
borderBox2.x = 287;
borderBox2.y = 52;
borderBox2.width=hiderD.width;
borderBox2.height=hiderD.height;


addChild(borderBox1);
addChild(borderBox2);






var cam:Camera = Camera.getCamera();
cam.setQuality(bandwidth, quality);
cam.setMode(320, myHeight, 30, true); // setMode(videoWidth, videoHeight, video fps, favor area)

var video:Video = new Video();
video.attachCamera(cam);
video.x = -500;
video.y = -500;
addChild(video);

// display mode ONLY
var video2:Video = new Video();
video2.attachCamera(cam);
video2.x = -16;
video2.y = 54;
video2.width=320;
video2.height=myHeight;
var m:Shape = new Shape();
m.graphics.beginFill(0x0);
m.graphics.drawRect( 24, 54, 240, 240 ); // draw the mask
m.graphics.endFill(); // end the fill
video2.mask = m;

addChild(video2);


// used for sending
var bitmapData:BitmapData = new BitmapData(320,myHeight,false,0xFF0000);

// used for display
var bitmapData2:BitmapData = new BitmapData(320,myHeight,false,0xAAAAAA);
var bitmap2:Bitmap = new Bitmap(bitmapData2);
bitmap2.x = 249;
bitmap2.y = 54;
bitmap2.width=320;
bitmap2.height=myHeight;
var m2:Shape = new Shape();
m2.graphics.beginFill(0x0);
m2.graphics.drawRect( 289, 54, 240, 240 ); // draw the mask
m2.graphics.endFill(); // end the fill
bitmap2.mask=m2;
addChild(bitmap2);

capture_mc.buttonMode = true;
capture_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK,captureImage);

function captureImage(e:MouseEvent):void {
    snd.play();

    bitmapData2.draw(video);

    bitmapData.draw(video);

    warn.visible = false;

    save_mc.buttonMode = true;
    save_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, onSaveJPG);
    save_mc.alpha = 1;
}

save_mc.alpha = .5;


function onSaveJPG(e:Event):void{

    saving.visible = true;

    var byteArray:ByteArray = PNGEncoder.encode(bitmapData);

    var header:URLRequestHeader = new URLRequestHeader("Content-type", "application/octet-stream");

    var saveJPG:URLRequest = new URLRequest("/utilities/saveImage.aspx");
    saveJPG.requestHeaders.push(header);
    saveJPG.method = URLRequestMethod.POST;
    saveJPG.data = byteArray;

    var urlLoader:URLLoader = new URLLoader();
    urlLoader.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, sendComplete);
    urlLoader.addEventListener(IOErrorEvent.IO_ERROR, onIOError);
    urlLoader.dataFormat = URLLoaderDataFormat.VARIABLES;
    urlLoader.load(saveJPG);

    function sendComplete(event:Event):void{
        var loader:URLLoader = URLLoader(event.target);
        ExternalInterface.call("updateImageInputWithFileName",loader.data.filename);
        warn.visible = true;
        saving.visible = false;


        setTimeout(function(){warn.visible=false},10000);
    }
    function onIOError(event:Event):void{
        saving.visible = false;
        ExternalInterface.call("error", "Error", "Could not save image." ,"There was a problem saving the image. You can try again or contact an administrator for assistance.");
    }
}

warn.visible = false;
saving.visible = false;