Free Code: Classy Auto-Drop Shadows

programming flash
1

I posted this identical thread on Actionscript.org as well. I thought maybe someone here might find it useful at some point too perhaps. Free code never hurts.

This creates those kinds of thin drop shadows that stay at the base of an object and give a subtle bit of depth and realism.

See example and code here: http://mattkenefick.com/blog/2008/10/classy-drop-shadows-for-objects/

Code (uses two movieclips named item1_mc, item2_mc respectively):

function createShadow( item:MovieClip, offset = 10, fade:Number = 1, shadowHeight:int = 20 ){
    var itemShadow:Sprite   = new Sprite();
    var gfx:Graphics        = itemShadow.graphics;
    var matrix:Matrix     = new Matrix();
    var realDimensions   = item.getBounds(item.parent);
    
    matrix.createGradientBox( item.width, item.height );
    gfx.beginGradientFill("radial", [0x000000, 0x000000], [fade,0],[0,255],matrix);
    gfx.drawRect(0,0,item.width,item.height);
    gfx.endFill();
    
    itemShadow.y          =  realDimensions.y + item.height + offset;
    itemShadow.x          =  realDimensions.x;
    itemShadow.height     = shadowHeight;
    itemShadow.blendMode    =   "multiply"
    
    addChild( itemShadow );
}

createShadow( item1_mc, 50, .5, 10 );
createShadow( item2_mc, 20, .7, 15 );