Fundamentals of 3D Space - Flash 3D: Animation, Interactivity, and Games - page 206

Tip 3: If you prefer a more free-form rotation of objects about the y-axis, here is a
simple change you can make to 6_5_xzRotation3_DONE.fla . First, comment out line
38, which puts all of the objects on one plane.

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// put it on the circle
thisObj.x = xc + r * Math.cos(a);
// thisObj.y = yc;
thisObj.z = zc + r * Math.sin(a);

Next, set the y-coordinate of the objects to be chosen at random within some range
of values when being created. In the example below, the range of vertical values lies
between -350 and -100. Since the vertical origin yo is set to 0, this range places
the objects conveniently on the screen. Open xzFreeRotation.swf to see the effect
(Figure 6.34).

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// create the objects for the circular motion
for (var i:Number = 0; i < numberOfObjects; i++)
{
object_mc.duplicateMovieClip("object"+i, i);
this["object"+i].gotoAndStop(i+2);
this["object"+i].y = 250*Math.random() - 350;
}

Figure 6.34 Tip 3 output