User manual MACROMEDIA DIRECTOR MX 2004 - USING DIRECTOR

DIRECTOR MX ® 2004 Using Director Trademarks ActiveEdit, ActiveTest, Add Life to the Web, Afterburner, Aftershock, Andromedia, Allaire, Animation PowerPack, Aria, Attain, Authorware, Authorware Star, Backstage, Blue Sky Software, Blue Sky, Breeze, Bright Tiger, Clustercats, ColdFusion, Contents Tab Composer, Contribute, Design In Motion, Director, Dream Templates, Dreamweaver, Drumbeat 2000, EDJE, EJIPT, Extreme 3D, Fireworks, Flash, FlashHelp, Flash Lite, FlashPaper, Flex, Flex Builder, Fontographer, FreeHand, Generator, Help To Source, HomeSite, Hotspot Studio, HTML Help Studio, JFusion, JRun, Kawa, Know Your Site, Knowledge Objects, Knowledge Stream, Knowledge Track, LikeMinds, Lingo, Live Effects, MacRecorder Logo and Design, Macromedia, Macromedia Action!, Macromedia Central, Macromedia Flash, Macromedia M Logo and Design, Macromedia Spectra, Macromedia xRes Logo and Design, MacroModel, Made with Macromedia, Made with Macromedia Logo and Design, MAGIC Logo and Design, Mediamaker, Movie Critic, Open Sesame!, RoboDemo, RoboEngine JFusion, RoboHelp, RoboHelp Office, RoboInfo, RoboInsight, RoboPDF, 1-Step RoboPDF, RoboFlash, RoboLinker, RoboScreenCapture, ReSize, Roundtrip, Roundtrip HTML, Shockwave, Sitespring, Smart Publishing Wizard, Software Video Camera, SoundEdit, Titlemaker, UltraDev, Web Design 101, what the web can be, WinHelp, WinHelp 2000, WinHelp BugHunter, WinHelp Find+, WinHelp Graphics Locator, WinHelp Hyperviewer, WinHelp Inspector, and Xtra are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Macromedia, Inc. and may be registered in the United States or in other jurisdictions including internationally. Other product names, logos, designs, titles, words, or phrases mentioned within this publication may be trademarks, service marks, or trade names of Macromedia, Inc. or other entities and may be registered in certain jurisdictions including internationally. Third-Party Information This guide contains links to third-party websites that are not under the control of Macromedia, and Macromedia is not responsible for the content on any linked site. If you access a third-party website mentioned in this guide, then you do so at your own risk. Macromedia provides these links only as a convenience, and the inclusion of the link does not imply that Macromedia endorses or accepts any responsibility for the content on those third-party sites. Apple Disclaimer APPLE COMPUTER, INC. MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, REGARDING THE ENCLOSED COMPUTER SOFTWARE PACKAGE, ITS MERCHANTABILITY OR ITS FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES IS NOT PERMITTED BY SOME STATES. THE ABOVE EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. THIS WARRANTY PROVIDES YOU WITH SPECIFIC LEGAL RIGHTS. THERE MAY BE OTHER RIGHTS THAT YOU MAY HAVE WHICH VARY FROM STATE TO STATE. Copyright © 2004 Macromedia, Inc. All rights reserved. This manual may not be copied, photocopied, reproduced, translated, or converted to any electronic or machine-readable form in whole or in part without prior written approval of Macromedia, Inc. Part Second Edition: September 2004 Macromedia, Inc. 600 Townsend St. San Francisco, CA 94103 CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 About Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 What's new in Director MX 2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Guide to instructional media. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 CHAPTER 2: Score, Stage, and Cast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Using the Tool palette with the Stage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Setting Stage properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Using multiple Score windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Changing Score settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Selecting and editing frames in the Score. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 About Cast Members. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Creating new casts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Creating cast members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Using the Cast window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Naming cast members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Using Cast List view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Using Cast Thumbnail view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Moving cast members within the Cast window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Organizing cast members within the Cast window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Setting Cast window preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Changing Cast properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Viewing and setting cast member properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Finding cast members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Importing cast members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Launching external editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Managing external casts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Creating libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Setting cast member properties using Lingo or JavaScript syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Setting Xtra cast member properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 3 CHAPTER 3: Sprites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Creating sprites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Setting sprite general preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Selecting sprites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Naming sprites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Finding sprites. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Creating sprite channel names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Layering sprites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Displaying and editing sprite properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Locking and unlocking sprites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Positioning sprites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Changing the appearance of sprites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Using sprite inks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Assigning a cast member to a sprite with Lingo or JavaScript syntax . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Exchanging cast members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 CHAPTER 4: Animation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 About tweening in Director. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 Tweening the path of a sprite. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Accelerating and decelerating sprites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Tweening other sprite properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Suggestions and shortcuts for tweening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Changing tweening settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Switching a sprite's cast members. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Editing sprite frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Frame-by-frame animation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 Shortcuts for animating with multiple cast members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Using film loops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Setting film loop properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Step-recording animation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Real-time recording animation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Linking a sequence with Paste Relative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Animating sprites with Lingo or JavaScript syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 CHAPTER 5: Bitmaps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 About importing bitmaps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 Using animated GIFs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 Using the Paint window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 Changing selected areas of a bitmap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 Flipping, rotating, and applying effects to bitmaps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 Using Auto Distort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 Changing registration points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 Changing size, color depth, and color palette for bitmaps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Controlling bitmap images with Lingo or JavaScript syntax. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 Using gradients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 Using patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 Creating a custom tile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 Using Paint window inks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 4 Contents Using bitmap filters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Using onion skinning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . About the Paste as Pict option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Setting bitmap cast member properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Setting PICT cast member properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Setting Paint window preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Compressing bitmaps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Working with Macromedia Fireworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHAPTER 6: Vector Shapes . 123 125 127 128 128 129 129 131 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 Drawing vector shapes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 Editing vector shapes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 Defining gradients for vector shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 Controlling vector shapes with Lingo or JavaScript syntax. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 Setting vector shape properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 Using shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 Setting shape cast member properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 CHAPTER 7: Color, Tempo, and Transitions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 145 155 157 160 Controlling color. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Setting palette cast member properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . About tempo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Using transitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHAPTER 8: Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 Embedding fonts in movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164 Creating text cast members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 Editing and formatting text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 Creating a hypertext link . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 Working with fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 Using editable text. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 Converting text to a bitmap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 Mapping fonts between platforms for field cast members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 Setting text or field cast member properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174 Formatting chunks of text with Lingo or JavaScript syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176 Formatting text or field cast members with Lingo or JavaScript syntax . . . . . . . . 178 Controlling scrolling text with Lingo or JavaScript syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 Checking for specific text with Lingo or JavaScript syntax. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 Modifying strings with Lingo or JavaScript syntax. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 Contents 5 CHAPTER 9: Using Flash, Flash Components, and Other Interactive Media Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 Using Flash Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 Adding a Flash content cast member . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182 Editing a Flash cast member . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184 Controlling Flash content with Lingo or JavaScript syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185 Controlling Flash content appearance with Lingo or JavaScript syntax . . . . . . . . 185 Streaming Flash content with Lingo or JavaScript syntax. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187 Playing back Flash content with Lingo or JavaScript syntax. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188 Using Lingo or JavaScript syntax to set and test Flash variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 Sending messages from Flash content using getURL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190 Sending XML Data from Flash to Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 Using Flash objects in script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 Using the Flash local connection object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 Using Flash Communication Server MX 2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198 Using the Flash Settings panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 Playback performance tips for Flash content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201 Using Director movies within Director movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202 Setting linked Director movie properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 Using ActiveX controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204 Using Flash components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207 Button component . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210 CheckBox component . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 DateChooser component. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212 Label component. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214 List component . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216 NumericStepper component . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218 RadioButton component. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220 ScrollPane component. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222 TextArea component . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224 TextInput component . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225 Tree component . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227 CHAPTER 10: Sound and Synchronization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231 Importing internal and linked sounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231 Setting sound cast member properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232 Controlling sound in the Score . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233 Looping a sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234 Using sound in Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234 Playing sounds with Lingo or JavaScript syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235 About Shockwave Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237 Compressing internal sounds with Shockwave Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237 Streaming linked Shockwave Audio and MP3 audio files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238 Playing Shockwave Audio, Windows Media Audio, and MP3 audio with Lingo or JavaScript syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239 Synchronizing media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240 Synchronizing sound with Lingo or JavaScript syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241 Accessibility. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241 6 Contents CHAPTER 11: Using Digital Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243 244 245 245 246 247 248 250 252 254 257 258 259 259 272 About digital video formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Using the video windows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Playing digital video direct-to-Stage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Controlling digital video in the Score . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Playing digital video with Lingo or JavaScript syntax. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Setting QuickTime digital video cast member properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Controlling QuickTime with Lingo or JavaScript syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Using Windows Media files in Director. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Using DVD media content in Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cropping digital video. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . About using digital video on the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Synchronizing video and animation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Using RealMedia content in Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Using Lingo or JavaScript syntax sound elements with RealMedia. . . . . . . . . . . . CHAPTER 12: Behaviors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275 275 278 278 279 281 282 282 283 284 285 285 287 289 Attaching behaviors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Changing the order of attached behaviors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Getting information about behaviors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating and modifying behaviors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Writing behaviors with Lingo or JavaScript syntax. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Setting up a Parameters dialog box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Setting behavior properties with script. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Customizing a behavior's property. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating an on getPropertyDescriptionList handler. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Including a description for the Behavior inspector. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Example of a complete behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sending messages to behaviors attached to sprites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Using inheritance in behaviors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHAPTER 13: Navigation and User Interaction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291 Creating basic navigation controls with behaviors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291 Adding push buttons, radio buttons, and check boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292 Jumping to locations with Lingo or JavaScript syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293 Detecting mouse clicks with Lingo or JavaScript syntax. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294 Making sprites editable and draggable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295 Making sprites editable or moveable with Lingo or JavaScript syntax. . . . . . . . . . 295 Checking which text is under the pointer with Lingo or JavaScript syntax. . . . . . 296 Responding to rollovers with Lingo or JavaScript syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296 Finding mouse pointer locations with Lingo or JavaScript syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . 297 Checking keys with Lingo or JavaScript syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297 Equivalent cross-platform keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298 Identifying keys on different keyboards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298 About animated color cursors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298 Creating an animated color cursor cast member . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299 Using an animated color cursor in a movie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301 Contents 7 CHAPTER 14: 3D Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303 What you need to know . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303 About 3D in Director MX 2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304 The 3D Xtra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305 Using the Shockwave 3D window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306 Using the Property inspector for 3D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308 Using rendering methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309 Using 3D Anti-aliasing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310 3D behaviors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312 3D text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312 The 3D world . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313 CHAPTER 15: The 3D Cast Member, 3D Text, and 3D Behaviors. . . . . . . . . . . 315 About the 3D cast member . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315 Model resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316 Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318 Shaders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319 Textures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320 Motions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321 Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321 Cameras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322 Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323 Creating 3D text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324 Modifying 3D text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324 Script and 3D text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325 Using 3D behaviors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327 CHAPTER 16: Working with Models and Model Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335 About models and model resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335 Model resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336 Primitives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337 Cast member methods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345 Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346 Shaders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352 Textures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360 Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363 Modifiers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366 Animation modifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372 Motions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381 About lights and cameras. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382 Light properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383 Light methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384 Cameras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386 8 Contents CHAPTER 17: Controlling the 3D World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393 393 394 397 399 403 3D Lingo or JavaScript syntax events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Collisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vector math. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Transforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rendering functionality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHAPTER 18: Movies in a Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409 410 410 410 412 413 416 416 417 417 About MIAWs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating or declaring a MIAW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Opening and closing a MIAW. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Setting the window size and location for a MIAW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Controlling the appearance of a MIAW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Controlling MIAW layering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MIAW events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Listing the current MIAWs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Controlling interaction between MIAWs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHAPTER 19: Using the XML Parser Xtra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419 About XML . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419 Using XML parser objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420 Using XML document nodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422 Accessing attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424 Parser objects and XML nodes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424 Treating white space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425 XML and character sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425 CHAPTER 20: Making Director Movies Accessible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427 427 427 428 434 435 About government requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Making Director movies accessible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Using the Accessibility behavior library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Accessibility scripting with Lingo or JavaScript syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Deploying accessible movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHAPTER 21: Managing Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437 How Director unloads items from memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437 Loading and unloading individual cast members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439 Preloading digital video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439 CHAPTER 22: Managing and Testing Director Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441 441 443 444 445 Managing Director projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . About testing movies to avoid problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Printing movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Contents 9 CHAPTER 23: Packaging Movies for Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447 About distributing movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447 Shockwave browser compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 448 Previewing a movie in a browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 448 About Xtra extensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449 Managing Xtra extensions for distributed movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 450 About distribution formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451 Creating Shockwave content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 452 Using default Publish settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 452 Changing Publish Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453 Using dswmedia folders and the support folder to publish Shockwave content . . 459 Using linked media when testing Shockwave content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459 Converting movies created in previous versions of Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459 About projectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 460 Creating projectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 460 About cross-platform projectors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463 Processing movies with Update Movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 464 Exporting digital video and frame-by-frame bitmaps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 465 Setting QuickTime export options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 466 About organizing movie files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 468 CHAPTER 24: Using Shockwave Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 469 About streaming movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 469 About network operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 470 Setting movie playback options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 471 Setting Shockwave playback options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 471 About creating multiuser applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 472 About streaming with the Score and behaviors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473 Checking whether media elements are loaded with Lingo or JavaScript syntax . . 474 Downloading files from the Internet with Lingo or JavaScript syntax . . . . . . . . . 474 Retrieving network operation results with Lingo or JavaScript syntax . . . . . . . . . 476 Using Lingo or JavaScript syntax in different Internet environments . . . . . . . . . . 477 Testing your movie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 479 About downloading speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 480 INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481 10 Contents CHAPTER 1 Introduction Welcome to Macromedia Director MX 2004. With Director, you can develop high-performance multimedia content and applications for CDs, DVDs, kiosks, and the Internet. This guide, Using Director, includes comprehensive descriptions and detailed step-by-step instructions that explain how to use all of the features in Director. In this chapter, you can get an overview of Director, learn about the features that are new in this release of Director, and find additional sources of information. About Director With Director, a proven multimedia authoring tool for professionals, you can develop highperformance content and deploy it anywhere: on CDs, DVDs, intranets, kiosks, or the Internet. Whether you are creating enhanced CD/DVD-ROM content, educational content, or entertainment applications, Director handles the widest variety of media, letting you unleash your creativity and build rich, interactive experiences that deliver measurable results. Director provides all the tools you need to maximize productivity, including a choice of scripting languages and cross-platform publishing. With Director, you can now do all of the following: · Embed most major media formats in your multimedia projects, including DVD-Video, · · · · Windows Media, RealMedia, QuickTime, and Macromedia Flash content, in addition to audio, bitmap, and 3D formats. Work seamlessly with other Macromedia MX products, including Macromedia Flash MX 2004. Extend the authoring environment and playback engine with the Xtra extension plug-in architecture in Director. Use third-party Xtra extensions or write your own to control external devices, such as joysticks and cameras, and perform sophisticated operating system-level tasks. Write scripts to add interactivity and automation to your projects, using the Lingo scripting language, JavaScript syntax, or a combination of the two. Publish content across platforms and to different formats, including Macintosh and Windows projectors. 11 Users view your completed Director movies in one of the following ways: · In a projector, which plays on your user's computer as a stand-alone application. · In the Macromedia Shockwave Player format, which plays in Shockwave-enabled web browsers. Millions of web users already have the Shockwave Player on their computers, browsers, or system software. Others have downloaded Shockwave Player, which is free, from the Macromedia website at www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/. Tip: To see some of the exciting and varied ways in which developers use Director, visit the Director showcase at www.macromedia.com/go/discreet_inspiration. You can also see great examples of Shockwave content at www.shockwave.com. What's new in Director MX 2004 Director MX 2004 introduces many new features, designed to save time during authoring or to improve integration with other software, media types, and multimedia development processes. Importing Macromedia Flash MX 2004 content You can now access Macromedia Flash MX 2004 from within Director. Scripting in JavaScript syntax Director now supports scripting in JavaScript syntax, in addition to Lingo. You can use whichever language is more familiar to you or use both languages in the same movie to develop interactive features and functionality. Prebuilt Macromedia Flash MX 2004 components are now available to reduce your scripting time. You can drop components, such as calendars and user interface elements, into movies to cut the time that it takes to develop interactive features. Using prebuilt components Adding DVD-Video You can now embed, control, and play back the popular DVD-Video format inside Director movies. This feature makes DVD possible and affordable for a wide variety of developers--including entertainment studios, distance learning professionals, DVD authors, and corporate presentation specialists. Publishing to Mac and Windows in one step After you complete a movie, you can now publish across platforms in one step, creating either stand-alone applications or web-based Shockwave content that runs on Mac and Windows. The new projector publishing feature eliminates extraneous dialog boxes, saves projector settings on a per-project basis, and eliminates redundancies. Sprites and channels can now have custom names, and absolute references to sprites are no longer necessary. This feature is an advantage when you make lastminute changes to your movie. With absolute references, your Lingo or JavaScript syntax scripts might break. But with sprite names, you can move sprites on the Score without worrying about broken scripts. Naming sprites and channels You can arrange your workspace in multiple configurations and save each workspace for later use. As a new part of this feature, you can now create workspace settings that include Movie in a Window (MIAW) windows that are docked alongside your other windows. These docked MIAW windows can extend Director functionality. Integrating with other Macromedia Studio MX 2004 products Customizing your workspace If you already use other Macromedia Studio MX 2004 products, such as Macromedia Flash MX 2004 and Macromedia Fireworks MX 2004, then the Director interface is already familiar to you. In addition to a common interface, you can now start and edit other Macromedia Studio MX 2004 files from directly within Director. 12 Chapter 1: Introduction Integrating with Macromedia server technologies You can now choose to integrate Director with Macromedia server technologies, such as Macromedia ColdFusion MX 6.1 and Macromedia Flash Communication Server MX. For multi-user games, distance learning content, and other server-controlled content, this link between your Director content and IT infrastructure extends your interactivity options. A new reference panel is now available in Director to simplify getting help with using Director, behaviors, Xtra extensions, and application programming interfaces (APIs) for both Lingo and JavaScript syntax. Getting help from the reference panel Guide to instructional media Director contains a variety of information sources to help you learn the program quickly and become proficient in creating multimedia. This information includes several printable PDF files and online help. The Director workspace contains tooltips and context-sensitive help, and additional help is available on the Director website at www.macromedia.com/go/ director_support. Getting online help As you use Director, you can get immediate online help by opening Director Help. You can also get help with the specific item in Director that you are currently using. This feature is called context-sensitive help. To access Director Help: 1 Select Help > Director Help. 2 Browse for a topic on the Contents tab, or type a keyword on the Search tab. Guide to instructional media 13 To access context-sensitive help, do one of the following: · If you are working in a window, display the Options menu for that window and select Help. · If you are working in a dialog box, click the Help button. Director Help opens and displays a topic that relates to the window or dialog box that you are using. Sources of information Getting Started with Director This printed manual contains the essential information that you need to get started, including information about installing the latest version of Director. This manual also guides you through the workspace and offers a tutorial, designed for those who are new to Director. Director Help Panel This online help system is the comprehensive information source for all Director features. It includes overviews of the features, examples, how-to procedures, descriptions of interface elements, and a reference of all scripting objects in both Lingo and JavaScript syntax. Topics are linked and indexed to make finding information and jumping to related topics quick and easy. To view the Director Help Panel, select Help > Director Help while you are working in Director. Using Director This manual is available in printable PDF format from the Director Documentation Center at www.macromedia.com/go/director_docs. It explains how to use all of the features and functionality offered in Director. Information in the manual is also available in the online Director Help. 14 Chapter 1: Introduction Director Scripting Reference This manual is available in printable PDF format from the Director Documentation Center at www.macromedia.com/go/director_docs. It provides a complete reference of the Director application programming interfaces (APIs), including both Lingo and JavaScript syntax. Information in the manual is also available in the online Director Help. Creating Your First 3D Movie in Director This tutorial is available in printable PDF format from the 3D tutorial page on the Macromedia website at www.macromedia.com/go/ drmx2004_3d_tutorial_en. It takes you step by step through creating a simple 3D movie. When you place your mouse pointer over a Director tool or another item in the Director workspace for a few seconds, a small tooltip appears that explains what you can do with the item. The Director Support Center website (www.macromedia.com/go/ director_support) contains the latest information about Director, plus additional topics, examples, tips, and updates. Check the website often for the latest news and how to get the most out of Director. Tooltips Director Support Center Document conventions Director Help and the Director product manuals all follow a few basic conventions: · The term Director typically refers to the most recent version of Director. · Lingo refers to a scripting language that is shipped with Director. JavaScript syntax refers to the · · · · Director implementation of JavaScript. How-to procedures are identified with bold headings that begin with "To..." and end with a colon. For example, if To access Director Help: appears in a heading, then the heading is followed by a set of steps. Examples of Lingo and JavaScript syntax are shown in a fixed-width font. For example, answer = 2 + 2 is a sample Lingo statement. Variables used to represent parameters in Lingo and JavaScript syntax appear in italics. For example, whichCastMember is commonly used to indicate where you should insert the name of a cast member in Lingo or JavaScript syntax. Text that you should type in a window or dialog box is shown in a bold font. Guide to instructional media 15 16 Chapter 1: Introduction CHAPTER 2 Score, Stage, and Cast If you are new to Macromedia Director MX 2004, see the Getting Started topics in the Director Help Panel to become familiar with the Director workspace and features. (In Macromedia Director MX 2004, select Help > Director Help to view the Getting Started topics.) These topics include overviews and basic definitions of the primary windows and tools in Director, some of the basic tasks that you need to know how to do, and a tutorial that guides you through the process of creating a simple movie. The topics presented here go into greater detail about how to use three of the most important windows in Director: the Score, the Stage, and the Cast windows. Using the Tool palette with the Stage The Tool palette contains useful tools for creating and manipulating sprites on the Stage. It also contains drawing tools and elements you can place directly on the Stage. There are three views that you can access: Default, Classic, and Flashcomponent. Each view of the Tool palette contains some of the same tools; for example, they each contain the arrow, hand, and magnifying glass tools. The Flashcomponent view contains primarily Flash components, while the Classic view has no components at all. The Default view combines elements from the other two: some Flash components but also some Classic items. 17 To change Tool palette views: 1 If the Tool palette is not already available, select Window > Tool Palette. The default Tool palette appears. 2 Click on the Tool palette view menu and select the view you want: classic, flashcomponent, or default. The Tool palette changes to display the tools available for each view. In Windows, you can also dock the Tool palette to the docking channels contained by the application window. (There are no docking channels on the Macintosh.) · To dock the Tool palette (Windows only), click and drag the palette by the palette gripper over a docking channel. A placement preview line or rectangle appears when the palette can be docked. How to use each tool in the Tool palette is covered in topics that relate to that specific tool. For example, to find out how to use the Flash component tools, see "Selecting components using the Tool palette" on page 208. Setting Stage properties When active, the Stage has three tabs in the Property inspector available at all times: Guides, Movie, and Display Template. · The Display Template tab lets you set properties for Movies in a Window. For more · information, see Chapter 18, "Movies in a Window," on page 409. The Movie tab lets you set the properties of the movie on the Stage. These properties include color definitions, size, and location of the Stage while the movie plays and channels in the movie's Score. For more information about setting movie properties, see "Setting movie properties" in the Getting Started topics in the Director Help Panel. (In Director, select Help > Director Help to view the Getting Started topics.) The Guides tab lets you control the guides and grid that appear on the Stage to assist with movie authoring. The bottom half of the Guides tab contains grid settings. · Setting guides and grid properties Guides are horizontal or vertical lines that you can either drag around the Stage or lock in place to assist you with sprite placement. The Guides tab also lets you activate the grid. The grid contains cell rows and columns of a specified height and width that you use to assist in visually placing sprites on the Stage. Moving a sprite with the Snap to Grid or Snap to Guides feature selected lets you snap the sprite's edges and registration point to the nearest grid or guide line. (For more information about sprites, see Chapter 3, "Sprites," on page 51.) You must create guides before they become available; you do this by using the Guides tab on the Property inspector. The grid is always available. Guides and the grid are visible during authoring only. When you are not using the guides or the grid, you can hide them. 18 Chapter 2: Score, Stage, and Cast To create and set guide properties: 1 With the Property inspector open, click the Guides tab. The top half of the tab contains settings for Guides. 2 Click the Guide Color box to select a different color. 3 Select the options you want to make the guides visible, lock them, or to make the sprites snap 4 5 6 7 to the guides. To add a guide, move the cursor over the new horizontal or vertical guide, and then drag the guide to the Stage. Numbers in the guide tooltip indicate the distance, in pixels, the guide is located from the top or left edge of the Stage. To reposition a guide, move the pointer over the guide. When the sizing handle appears, drag the guide to its new position. To remove a guide, drag it off the Stage. To remove all guides, click Remove All on the Guides tab in the Property inspector. To set grid properties: 1 With the Property inspector open, click the Guides tab. 2 3 4 5 The bottom half of the Guides tab contains grid settings. To change the grid color, click the Grid Color box and select a different color. Select the desired options to make the grid visible and to make the sprites snap to the grid. To change the width and height of the grid, enter values in the W and H text boxes. Select the desired options to display the grid as dots or lines. Using multiple Score windows You can view and work in different parts of a movie at the same time by opening additional Score windows. If your sprite spans occupy many frames in the Score, for example, you can open a second Score window to work on another place in the movie without scrolling. You can also drag sprites from one Score window to another. To open a new Score window: 1 Activate the current Score window. 2 Select Window > New Score Window. You can scroll in this window to a different location in the Score. Using multiple Score windows 19 Changing Score settings To control the appearance of the Score and the information that appears in numbered sprite channels, you set preferences for the Score. By doing so, you can display a script preview and cast member information. To change Score settings: 1 Select Edit > Preferences > Score. Note: If you are using a Macintosh OS X operating system, select the Director menu, instead of the Edit menu, to access Preferences. 2 The Extended display option lets you display information about sprites in the Score. For more information, see "Displaying sprite labels in the Score" on page 62. To specify what information appears in the numbered sprite channels when Extended display is on, select from the following options: Name displays sprites by name, if they have names assigned to them. Cast Member displays the cast member number, name, or both. Behaviors displays the behaviors attached to the sprite. Ink Mode displays the type of ink applied to the sprite. Blend displays the blend percentage applied to the sprite. Location shows the sprite's x and y screen coordinates. Change in Location shows the change in x and y coordinates relative to the previous cast member in that channel. 3 To display the first few lines of the selected script in a box at the top of the Score, select Script Preview. 4 To display the cast member's name and number when the pointer is over a sprite for a few seconds, select Show Data Tips. You can also change when a sprite span starts in the score (different frames or a marker, perhaps) by setting it through Edit > Preferences > Sprite. For more information, see "Sprites" on page 51. Note: If you are using a Macintosh OS X operating system, select the Director menu, instead of the Edit menu, to access Preferences. 20 Chapter 2: Score, Stage, and Cast