<s>
Stage3D	B-Operating_System
(	O
codenamed	O
Molehill	O
)	O
is	O
an	O
Adobe	B-Operating_System
Flash	I-Operating_System
Player	I-Operating_System
API	B-General_Concept
for	O
rendering	O
interactive	O
3D	O
graphics	O
with	O
GPU-acceleration	O
,	O
within	O
Flash	O
games	O
and	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Flash	B-Operating_System
Player	I-Operating_System
or	O
AIR	B-Operating_System
applications	O
written	O
in	O
ActionScript	B-Operating_System
3	O
may	O
use	O
Stage3D	B-Operating_System
to	O
render	O
3D	O
graphics	O
,	O
and	O
such	O
applications	O
run	O
natively	O
on	O
Windows	O
,	O
Mac	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
X	I-Operating_System
,	O
Linux	B-Application
,	O
Apple	O
iOS	B-Application
and	O
Google	B-Application
Android	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Stage3D	B-Operating_System
is	O
similar	O
in	O
purpose	O
and	O
design	O
to	O
WebGL	B-Library
.	O
</s>
<s>
Stage3D	B-Operating_System
was	O
introduced	O
in	O
Adobe	B-Operating_System
Flash	I-Operating_System
Player	I-Operating_System
11.0	O
and	O
AIR	B-Operating_System
3.0	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
facilitate	O
GPU-acceleration	O
of	O
3D	O
content	O
in	O
Flash	O
applications	O
In	O
Flash	B-Operating_System
Player	I-Operating_System
10	O
and	O
earlier	O
,	O
3D	O
Flash	O
applications	O
had	O
to	O
render	O
3D	O
graphics	O
completely	O
on	O
the	O
CPU	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Flash	B-Operating_System
Player	I-Operating_System
10	O
supported	O
a	O
limited	O
form	O
of	O
GPU	B-Architecture
acceleration	O
support	O
for	O
materials	O
,	O
in	O
an	O
API	B-General_Concept
called	O
Pixel	B-General_Concept
Bender	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
GPU	B-Architecture
Shaders	O
in	O
Stage3D	B-Operating_System
are	O
expressed	O
in	O
the	O
Adobe	O
Graphics	O
Assembly	B-Language
Language	I-Language
(	O
AGAL	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Stage3D	B-Operating_System
objects	O
depart	O
from	O
the	O
traditional	O
SWF	O
rendering	O
model	O
in	O
that	O
they	O
cannot	O
be	O
added	O
to	O
SWF	O
's	O
display	O
lists	O
;	O
instead	O
they	O
must	O
be	O
instantiated	O
via	O
ActionScript	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
Stage3D	B-Operating_System
is	O
a	O
low-level	O
library	O
that	O
may	O
be	O
tedious	O
to	O
use	O
directly	O
,	O
it	O
has	O
seen	O
some	O
higher-level	O
3D	O
and	O
2D	O
libraries	O
built	O
on	O
top	O
of	O
it	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
benefit	O
from	O
the	O
higher	O
performance	O
that	O
it	O
provides	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
incomplete	O
list	O
of	O
libraries	O
and	O
game	O
engines	O
using	O
it	O
includes	O
:	O
Unreal	B-Operating_System
Engine	I-Operating_System
3	O
,	O
Away3D	B-Application
4	O
,	O
CopperCube	B-Application
,	O
Flare3D	B-Operating_System
,	O
Starling	B-Language
,	O
ND2D	O
or	O
Adobe	O
Labs	O
 '	O
Proscenium	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Similarly	O
,	O
WebGL	B-Library
3D	O
applications	O
may	O
be	O
built	O
with	O
three.js	B-Language
,	O
a	O
higher-level	O
library	O
similar	O
to	O
these	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Away3D	B-Application
and	O
Starling	B-Language
have	O
been	O
christened	O
as	O
official	O
components	O
of	O
the	O
Adobe	O
Gaming	O
SDK	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2011	O
,	O
Flash	B-Operating_System
Player	I-Operating_System
11	O
was	O
released	O
,	O
and	O
with	O
it	O
the	O
first	O
version	O
of	O
Stage3D	B-Operating_System
,	O
allowing	O
for	O
GPU-accelerated	O
3D	O
rendering	O
for	O
Flash	O
applications	O
and	O
games	O
,	O
on	O
desktop	O
platforms	O
such	O
as	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
and	O
Mac	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
X	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
March	O
2012	O
,	O
Flash	B-Operating_System
Player	I-Operating_System
11.2	O
was	O
released	O
,	O
which	O
enabled	O
Stage3D/GPU	O
support	O
on	O
Android	B-Application
and	O
iOS	B-Application
platforms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Games	O
utilizing	O
Stage3D	B-Operating_System
APIs	B-General_Concept
would	O
work	O
with	O
no	O
changes	O
on	O
these	O
mobile	O
platforms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
June	O
2012	O
,	O
Flash	B-Operating_System
Player	I-Operating_System
11.3	O
was	O
released	O
,	O
enabling	O
progressive	O
streaming	O
of	O
Stage3D	B-Operating_System
texture	O
maps	O
,	O
allowing	O
for	O
faster	O
performance	O
and	O
startup	O
times	O
for	O
games	O
and	O
applications	O
utilizing	O
Stage3D	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
August	O
2012	O
,	O
Flash	B-Operating_System
Player	I-Operating_System
11.4	O
was	O
released	O
,	O
which	O
raised	O
the	O
supported	O
hardware-accelerated	O
video	B-Device
cards	I-Device
count	O
to	O
2006	O
,	O
and	O
allowed	O
alpha-channels	B-Algorithm
for	O
Stage3D	B-Operating_System
compressed	O
textures	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
March	O
2012	O
,	O
Adobe	O
announced	O
that	O
Stage3D	B-Operating_System
will	O
be	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
premium	O
features	O
of	O
the	O
Flash	B-Operating_System
Player	I-Operating_System
(	O
stating	O
with	O
Flash	B-Operating_System
Player	I-Operating_System
version	O
11.2	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
thus	O
not	O
available	O
completely	O
free	O
of	O
charge	O
to	O
developers	O
,	O
but	O
based	O
on	O
a	O
revenue	O
sharing	O
scheme	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
September	O
2012	O
,	O
Flash	B-Operating_System
Player	I-Operating_System
11.4	O
was	O
released	O
allowing	O
games	O
to	O
target	O
"	O
constrained	O
profiles	O
"	O
which	O
included	O
older	O
graphics	O
chips	O
,	O
that	O
did	O
not	O
support	O
all	O
the	O
features	O
of	O
Stage3D	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
April	O
2013	O
,	O
Flash	B-Operating_System
Player	I-Operating_System
11.7	O
was	O
released	O
,	O
which	O
supported	O
16-bit	O
texture	O
maps	O
for	O
Stage3D	B-Operating_System
content	O
,	O
which	O
allowed	O
reduced	O
memory	O
usage	O
and	O
improved	O
memory	O
management	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
July	O
2013	O
,	O
Flash	B-Operating_System
Player	I-Operating_System
11.8	O
was	O
released	O
,	O
which	O
increased	O
the	O
maximum	O
texture	O
map	O
size	O
to	O
4096	O
x	O
4096	O
,	O
in	O
addition	O
to	O
supporting	O
rectangular	O
(	O
non-square	O
)	O
texture	O
maps	O
for	O
Stage3D	B-Operating_System
content	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
of	O
2014	O
,	O
GPU	B-Architecture
acceleration	O
was	O
removed	O
in	O
Flash	B-Operating_System
Player	I-Operating_System
11.8	O
onwards	O
for	O
Pixel	B-General_Concept
Bender	I-General_Concept
scripts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Pixel	B-General_Concept
Bender	I-General_Concept
was	O
an	O
older	O
technology	O
for	O
writing	O
high-performance	O
CPU-based	O
image	O
processing	O
filters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
has	O
disrupted	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
less	O
well-endowed	O
projects	O
,	O
including	O
MIT	O
's	O
Scratch	B-Language
,	O
which	O
could	O
not	O
find	O
the	O
manpower	O
to	O
rapidly	O
recode	O
their	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Stage3D	B-Operating_System
consists	O
of	O
the	O
following	O
components	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Unified	O
API	B-General_Concept
-	O
Unified	O
ActionScript	B-Operating_System
3	O
API	B-General_Concept
for	O
managing	O
texture	O
memory	O
,	O
vertex	O
shading	O
,	O
pixel	O
shading	O
,	O
and	O
mesh	O
rendering	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Transparently	O
executed	O
using	O
OpenGL	B-Application
(	O
on	O
Mac	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
X	I-Operating_System
and	O
Linux	B-Application
)	O
and	O
DirectX	B-Application
(	O
on	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Accelerated	O
GPU	B-Architecture
Rendering	O
-	O
Integrated	O
support	O
for	O
graphic	B-Device
cards	I-Device
built	O
by	O
NVidia	O
,	O
AMD	O
and	O
Intel	O
,	O
Blacklist	O
for	O
incompatible	O
graphic	B-Device
cards	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Accelerated	O
CPU	B-Device
Rendering	O
-	O
Integrated	O
software	O
renderer	O
fallback	O
using	O
SwiftShader	O
,	O
for	O
systems	O
with	O
missing/incompatible	O
graphics	B-Device
cards	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
AGAL	O
(	O
Adobe	O
Graphics	O
Assembly	B-Language
Language	I-Language
)	O
-	O
A	O
language	O
for	O
writing	O
Shaders	O
(	O
programs	O
that	O
run	O
on	O
the	O
GPU	B-Architecture
)	O
such	O
that	O
they	O
can	O
be	O
converted	O
to	O
OpenGL	B-Language
GLSL	I-Language
Shaders	I-Language
and	O
DirectX	B-Language
HLSL	I-Language
Shaders	I-Language
by	O
Flash	B-Operating_System
Player	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
ATF	O
(	O
Adobe	O
Texture	O
Format	O
)	O
-	O
A	O
texture	O
format	O
such	O
that	O
textures	O
can	O
be	O
converted	O
to	O
appropriate	O
platform-specific	O
texture	O
formats	O
such	O
as	O
DXT	O
on	O
Windows	O
and	O
MacOS	B-Operating_System
,	O
PVRTC	O
on	O
iOS	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Stage3D	B-Operating_System
is	O
supported	O
by	O
the	O
following	O
components	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
XC	O
APIs	B-General_Concept
-	O
the	O
"	O
premium	O
features	O
"	O
for	O
Flash	B-Operating_System
Player	I-Operating_System
,	O
consisting	O
of	O
high-speed	O
memory	O
manipulation	O
opcodes	B-Language
(	O
known	O
as	O
"	O
Alchemy	B-Language
"	O
)	O
and	O
Stage3D	B-Operating_System
APIs	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
CrossBridge	B-Language
-	O
A	O
cross-compilation	O
toolkit	O
to	O
compile	O
OpenGL-based	O
3D	O
games	O
or	O
game	O
engines	O
to	O
run	O
within	O
Flash	B-Operating_System
Player	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Adobe	B-Language
Scout	I-Language
-	O
A	O
visual	O
profiler	O
for	O
Flash	O
content	O
running	O
on	O
desktop	O
or	O
mobile	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Scout	O
enables	O
in-depth	O
profiling	O
of	O
Stage3D	B-Operating_System
content	O
with	O
the	O
following	O
integrated	O
features	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Stage3D	B-Operating_System
Program	O
Editor	O
-	O
Interactively	O
modify	O
recorded	O
Stage3D	B-Operating_System
commands	O
and	O
see	O
what	O
effect	O
this	O
has	O
on	O
rendering	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Adobe	O
Graphics	O
Assembly	B-Language
Language	I-Language
(	O
AGAL	O
)	O
is	O
an	O
assembly	B-Language
language	I-Language
for	O
writing	O
GPU	B-Architecture
Shaders	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
AGAL	O
programs	O
are	O
written	O
by	O
hand	O
with	O
low-level	O
opcodes	B-Language
and	O
registers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
AGAL	O
bytecode	O
is	O
automatically	O
compiled	O
into	O
OpenGL	B-Language
GLSL	I-Language
Shaders	I-Language
and	O
DirectX	B-Language
HLSL	I-Language
Shaders	I-Language
by	O
Adobe	B-Operating_System
Flash	I-Operating_System
Player	I-Operating_System
,	O
depending	O
on	O
the	O
platform	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
AGAL	O
,	O
developers	O
can	O
write	O
shaders	O
that	O
transform	O
3D	O
models	O
on	O
the	O
GPU	B-Architecture
(	O
vertex	O
shader	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
shaders	O
that	O
render	O
complex	O
dynamic	O
lighting	O
effects	O
on	O
the	O
GPU	B-Architecture
(	O
pixel	O
shader	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
AGAL	O
also	O
allows	O
high-quality	O
texture	O
rendering	O
with	O
mip-mapping	B-Data_Structure
.	O
</s>
<s>
AGAL	O
is	O
used	O
extensively	O
in	O
Flash	O
game	O
engines	O
such	O
as	O
Away3D	B-Application
and	O
Flare3D	B-Operating_System
for	O
various	O
effects	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
AGAL	O
is	O
commonly	O
used	O
to	O
provide	O
dynamic	O
lighting	O
,	O
high	O
dynamic	O
ranging	O
(	O
HDR	O
)	O
,	O
alpha	B-Algorithm
masking	I-Algorithm
,	O
multipass	O
rendering	O
,	O
displacement	O
mapping	O
,	O
and	O
environment	O
mapping	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Flare3D	B-Operating_System
extends	O
AGAL	O
with	O
a	O
proprietary	O
Shader	O
language	O
called	O
FLSL	O
(	O
FLare3D	B-Operating_System
Shader	O
Language	O
)	O
,	O
that	O
makes	O
writing	O
Shader	O
programs	O
easier	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
HLAG	O
is	O
another	O
example	O
of	O
a	O
high-level	B-Language
Shader	I-Language
language	I-Language
that	O
compiles	O
into	O
AGAL	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
porting	O
C++	B-Language
3D	O
video	O
games	O
for	O
playback	O
in	O
Adobe	B-Operating_System
Flash	I-Operating_System
Player	I-Operating_System
,	O
developers	O
must	O
translate	O
traditional	O
HLSL	B-Language
and	O
GLSL	B-Language
shaders	O
into	O
AGAL	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
C++	B-Language
video	O
game	O
code	O
can	O
be	O
converted	O
into	O
Flash-compatible	O
code	O
using	O
CrossBridge	B-Language
.	O
</s>
