Multiuser Pictionary - How can I share the drawing?

Hi there!

I'm trying to make a multiuser (Flash Media Server 3 compatible) version of Pictionary in AS3. (Using Flash CS3).

The part that is particularly confusing me is "how can I refresh the drawing on the screen of the user who is not currently drawing?"

Examples of shared drawing behavior are:

Lunchtimers.com Scratchpad

And iSketch.net

Looking at them both they are not drawing "real time" but instead refreshing the drawing every second or so. That would be fine for me... I just can't figure out how to share the drawing. (Essentially taking a snapshot of the current state of the drawing and sending it to the other players.)

I'd appreciate all theories and suggestions. Currently I'm trying to send mouse position data to the SharedObject and then back to the drawing tool but this just creates a data lag and it doesn't show on the other player's screen.

Take a look at Flash Media Server (FMS) or Red5.

I'm already using Flash Media Server. My question is about what code to use to share the drawing.