AS3 Glow/blur effect

I've come across several AS3 movies using what looks like a special kind of blending glow or blur effect. As I'm relatively new to AS3 I haven't come up with a similar effect.

The effect looks like the one used here:
http://www.playauditorium.com/

Does anyone know how they do it?

I assume you're asking about the slow dropoff of the fade while the objects move (everything else is done with soft blur filters). They're using a bitmapdata object to draw the stage every frame, then they move the particles and show the bitmap underneath at a low alpha - then redraw all of that (including the bitmap) back into the bitmap again - which gives you the trail and the effect of the blur fading out as it gets redrawn over and over at a slightly lower alpha each time.

Yes, that's the effect I meant. But I'm didn't really follow you there. As said, I'm a bit new to AS3. An example or more in-depth explanation would be greatly appreciated :)

Thank you

OK, so I got it basically working, but there's a problem. Once's the script starts blurring out the trail, a big black blob starts growing, which creates a weird effect. Looks like this:

http://www.imigin.org.uk/img/3b84c470.png

And here's the code:

Code:

---

var bmd:BitmapData = new BitmapData(550, 400, true, 0x151515);
var bm:Bitmap = new Bitmap(bmd);
addChild(bm);

var bf:BlurFilter = new BlurFilter(2, 2, 3);

var particle:Particle = new Particle();
addChild(particle);
particle.x = stage.stageWidth / 2;
particle.y = stage.stageHeight / 2;
particle.vx = particle.vy = 0;
var friction:Number = .95;

function mover():void
{
        particle.vx += Math.random() * 4 - 2;
        particle.vy += Math.random() * 4 - 2;
        particle.x += particle.vx;
        particle.y += particle.vy;
        particle.vx *= friction;
        particle.vy *= friction;
        if(particle.x < 0){
                particle.x = 550;
        } else if(particle.x > 550){
                particle.x = 0;
        }
        if(particle.y < 0){
                particle.y = 400;
        } else if(particle.y > 400){
                particle.y = 0;
        }
}

addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, loop);

function loop(e:Event):void
{
        mover();
        bmd.draw(this);
        bmd.applyFilter(bmd, bmd.rect, new Point(0, 0), bf);
}

---

I'd like to know the solution to this as well. It's no problem if the background is black, but that's not always the case.

My only guess would be blend modes.

Ye, but how would I do that, I'd really like to know how to create this effect!

The easiest way is to use TweenMax - this is a free package that you can use to tween whatever you'd like.

Tween Max

There's a plug in explorer and you can see the 'glow filter' line. Just hit example, and it'll show you the effect and even some code on how to achieve it.

ok, so i tried the package out, and honestly, i don't know how that plug-in could achieve the effect im looking for..

Could you go a bit more in depth as to what effect you're looking to achieve?

well, as i said in my very first post, the somewhat 'organic' blur that seems to melt together and fade away, as made by the particles in this game: http://www.playauditorium.com/