A couple of guys on Twitter asked me if I would write-up how I generate PNG files from MovieClips in my SWF, at run-time. So I put this example together and am sharing it here.
We use this technique in our virtual world WebbliWorld to save a PNG version of the users avatars after they have customised them. But there are all kinds of other reasons you may need this. My example includes two methods: Saving the PNG locally using the local file system, and Saving the PNG to a web server using AMFPHP.
This technique requires Flash Player 10 and the Adobe AS3 Core Lib.
Here's a very simple example (included in the zip download below):
Essentially it all boils down to this:
1) When you are ready to save your image, create a Bitmap version of your MovieClip.
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private function getMovieClipAsBitmap():Bitmap
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{
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var bounds:Rectangle = theMovieClip.getBounds(theMovieClip);
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// The * 2 is because we're scaling the clip up by a factor of two, to result in a larger PNG
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// If you don't need this, remove it and comment out the m.scale call below
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var theBitmap:Bitmap = new Bitmap(new BitmapData(bounds.width * 2, bounds.height * 2, true, 0x0));
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var m:Matrix = new Matrix(1, 0, 0, 1, -bounds.x, -bounds.y);
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// Simply scale the matrix to make a bigger PNG. Here we are doubling it. Comment this out if you don't need it.
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m.scale(2, 2);
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// Need to crop the PNG to a given size? Pass it a Rectangle as the 5th parameter to draw()
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//var r:Rectangle = new Rectangle(0, 0, 50, 40);
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theBitmap.bitmapData.draw(theMovieClip, m, null, null, null, true);
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return theBitmap;
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}
2) Convert this Bitmap to a ByteArray.
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private function getMovieClipAsByteArrayPNG():ByteArray
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{
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var data:Bitmap = getMovieClipAsBitmap();
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var ba:ByteArray = PNGEncoder.encode(data.bitmapData);
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return ba;
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}
3) Send this ByteArray to either the local filesystem, or AMFPHP.
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// Uses FileReference to save the PNG locally to the hard drive (see "saveToServer" for an alternative)
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private function saveLocalPNG(event:MouseEvent):void
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{
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var ba:ByteArray = getMovieClipAsByteArrayPNG();
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file.save(ba, "BirdyNamNam.png");
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}
Complete source code is included in the zip file including an AMFPHP PHP script for saving on a web server.
Hope someone finds this useful.
