dusty particle effect

[MichaelJ]

How do i do that dusty looking effect, where you can kind of see dust particles or something (like little white specs, almost like snow but not exactly) and they just float around?

[bart4president]

At 8/28/10 11:31 AM, Animator1mike wrote: How do i do that dusty looking effect, where you can kind of see dust particles or something (like little white specs, almost like snow but not exactly) and they just float around?

2 Ways.

AS Method - Create your dust specs in flash, such as little gradient spheres and make them into movie clips. Then build out some code that will duplicate that movieclip and add its own OnEnterFrame listener to move itself in a random pattern or with wind etc. If you want to get even deeper, you can adjust the blur filter with some math to get Depth of Field (which really sells the idea).

Advantages: You can create random dust indefinitely. Ultra small filesize.
Disadvantages: Might chew your CPU. Takes a little while to code and tweak.

Raster Method - Get yourself a copy of After Effects to create some amazing realistic dust effects with particle systems in that. Or some stock footage of it. Export it and convert it into an FLV, then import it into flash. If you can find a way in AE to loop it (which isn't too hard), you can have it run indefinitely. You can also play with raster effects such as lighting, depth of field and all those goodies that flash might not have access to.

Advantages: You can create ultra realistic dust particles. Can make it rather quickly.
Disadvantages: High filesize.

There are various tutorials around that can get you started. If you choose the AE method, videocopilot.net should be your first stop. If you choose the AS method, spend the time to learn it. Don't just copy and paste and be done with it. Make your own, its a great advantage to have that knowledge of how to.

Good Luck :)