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Getting
started with Macromedia Director
Feb
14, 2000
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Q:
I've been involved in digital video,
shooting/editing, for awhile - my goal is to now
create a project, to distribute on CD, that would
consist of 7 compressed video (Sorenson?) clips -
30 seconds to several minutes in length - and
accessible thru a menu with buttons.
I'm
new to multimedia and have downloaded a trial
version of Director 7. I've worked thru the
tutorial and am trying to find out more....(a
manual would be nice). If I can create this project
in Director, would I need additional plug-ins or
software to stick it on a CD in playable fashion?
I'm using a Mac G3 - I have a Lacie CD burner and
toast.
-JF, WA
A:
You're using Director 7, and I must confess that I
haven't yet upgraded from 6.5 (I don't need the new
functions yet so are saving the cash!) Anyway, I'm
going to assume that for the basics I'm going to
talk about Director 7 hasn't changed drastically
from 6.5, but if the following doesn't seem to ring
true let me know...
Director
uses Xrtas to play QuickTime (and do some other
things too) so you will either have to package the
appropriate Xtra(s) when you create a Projector for
it, or include a copy of the Xtras folder that
contains the appropriate file(s.) A Projector is a
Director movie that has the application code
attached to it so that it will run without Director
being present. If you create a Projector and try
running it the program will tell you what it's
missing so you should find this out during
testing!
If
you are going to distribute this on a CD-ROM then
you should probably include the QuickTime installer
so that users without QuickTime can install it.
Check with Apple about licensing (it's free, but
you do have to fill out a form.)
Are
you planning to create a cross-platform disc? If so
you are going to need a copy of the Windows version
of Director to create a projector for your project
that runs on the PC. Floating around on the net
there are "stub" projectors that you can download
and use. These are Projector files that point to
another Director file. Just change the name of your
movie to that name and the Projector will play it.
Or, maybe you have a friend or know a consultant
who will make a Projector for you?
Continuing
on this theme, you will have to learn how to make a
cross-platform CD. The Toast software manual
explains how to do this. You end up essentially
creating two sets of files on the CD; one in ISO
format for PCs, and the other with the Macintosh
File System. Mac users won't see the PC stuff, and
vice-versa, so no one will see applications for the
other platform. You can duplicate all of your data,
or more efficiently, you can actually share the
same files across the two file systems as well.
You'll want to do this with the video, but can also
do it with the Director file if you don't package
it with the Projector. If the file is only a couple
of MB it probably doesn't matter either way. Again,
the software for your burner should explain how to
do this. Just make sure that you add the Windows
file extensions to all your file names. Put ".mov"
at the end of the video and ".dir" at the end of
Director files (or ".dxr" if you plan to protect
the files.)
Finally,
if you are doing a cross-platform disc, make sure
you test your project on both OS's as early and as
often as possible. Though the differences are
getting smaller, there are differences between the
two, which seem to most often come up when working
with digital video.
Q:
Thank you very much for the speedy reply! That
gives me some direction. I'm wondering about
learning Lingo? I've got some programing background
(Way back in the early 80s, learned some COBOL in a
tech. school)...and I can see some definite
benefits for doing some 'if' 'then' type options.
Can you do that in Lingo? Is there a good book you
could recommend on Lingo?
I'm
doing a Multi-language project for parents and
teachers who speak English as a second language
(I've done a previous video only version.) I
thought I could incorporate it into a multimedia
deal so that when a clip is done playing, the
program can check several parameters before making
the next move.
Maybe
you can do that with the non-demo version without
programing code - but the demo version has a pretty
limited library palette.
-JF
(Again!), WA
I
started programming with COBOL (well, actually
Pascal, but I then did a fair bit of COBOL), so I
think you will be able to master Lingo(!) It's a
scripting language, and a pretty complete one at
this point. I was kind of fortunate that I first
learned the scripting language for HyperCard, and
switching to Director back when Director was at
version 1.0 wasn't too hard. Now it's a much more
complex application!
You
can do all the if then else stuff, set up global
variables, etc., etc. I imagine that you can
probably find quite a bit of Lingo documentation on
the web; maybe even check Macromedia's
site!
I
can't personally recommend a Director book as I
haven't read any of them! I'm sure there are good
ones out there. Again, maybe a search of the web
will turn up some reviews. Or check Amazon.com and
read the reader reviews; just be aware that some
Director books don't really cover Lingo.
Lingo
in a Nutshell by Bruce A.
Epstein
seems to be rated well there (I've never seen the
book myself, so this is not a recommendation!) You
probably want to get to a good book store and check
the books in person.
Director
itself comes with manuals; though I use the online
help reference most of the time. Is the on-line
help not included with the trial version?
Director's on-line help contains a complete
dictionary of Lingo commands with examples of how
to use them. Good for when you kind of know what
you need to do. It's like a regular dictionary;
great if you know the word you are looking for, but
no help if you don't speak the language.
I
think the biggest difference between Director and
other script tools (like Visual Basic etc.) is the
concept of PuppetSprites. In Director you typically
set up an animation over a series of frames, or you
have a loop (while you're waiting for the user to
do something.) In either case, you can make things
on screen change or appear to move by changing the
frame, or you can use Lingo to move or change
elements on screen. To use Lingo to move something
you must first "puppet" a sprite track. You issue
the PuppetSprite command, and now that track is
controlled by Lingo. Once a track is a puppet you
can switch cast members or move them using Lingo,
and they will be updated on screen (provided you
tell Director to update the screen, which it will
do on entering a new frame, or if you use the
updatestage command.)
Once
a track is puppeted, whatever has been set up in
that track in the Score will be ignored until the
puppetsprite property is turned off. Once you get
this concept, and master some of it's finer points,
you're on your way to creating very complex
projects.
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