Adobe Director

Infobox Software
name = Adobe Director



caption = Director 11 running on Windows XP.
developer = Adobe Systems, formerly Macromedia
latest release version = 11.0.0.426
latest release date = release date|2008|03|25
operating system = Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows
genre = Multimedia Content Creator
license = Proprietary
website = [http://www.adobe.com/products/director/ Adobe Director Homepage]

Adobe Director (formerly "Macromedia Director") is a media application created by Macromedia—now part of Adobe Systems. It allows users to build applications built on a movie metaphor, with the user as the "director" of the movie. Originally designed for creating animation sequences, the addition of a powerful scripting language called Lingo made it a popular choice for creating CD-ROMs and standalone kiosks. Adobe Director supports both 2D and 3D multimedia projects.

Features

Its scripting language motivated some to use this application. Many companies deliver demonstrations or use it as a user interface (UI) for content on CDs and DVDs. It can incorporate many different bitmap, audio and video file formats making it possible to integrate media. It also supports vector graphics and 3D interactivity (via Shockwave 3D). Since Version 8, Director also natively incorporates Flash animation files.

Director's functionality can be extended through plug-in applications named Xtras. These can be created by users or purchased from third party vendors. They are created using Macromedia's XDK (Xtra Development Kit), a C++ SDK.

One type of file created by Director can be viewed in a web browser using the Shockwave plugin. These files have a .DCR extension.

Director can also create stand-alone executable applications from a project, called projectors, which can be compiled for Macintosh or Windows operating systems.

History

Director started out as MacroMind "VideoWorks", an application for the original Apple Macintosh. Its name was changed to "Director" in 1987, with the addition of new capabilities and the Lingo scripting language in 1988. A Windows version was available in the early 1990s.

Product Timeline

*1985: VideoWorks
*1988: Named Director 1.0
*1993: Macromind Director became Macromedia Director (v 3.1.3)
*1993: Macromedia Director 4 was released
*1996: Macromedia Director 5 was released
*1997: Macromedia Director 6 was released
*1997: Macromedia Director 6.5 was also released later that year
*November 16, 1998: Macromedia Director 7 was released
*2000: Macromedia Director 8 was released
*2001: Macromedia Director 8.5 was released (Shockwave3D)
*2002: Macromedia Director MX was released (Also known as Director 9)
*January 5, 2004: Macromedia Director MX 2004 was released (Also known as Director 10)
*March 25, 2008: Adobe Director 11 (announced on February 19)

Adobe Director 11

The first Director release under the Adobe brand features DirectX 9 and Unicode support and extended 3D capabilities based on the NVIDIA PhysX engine, as well as bitmap filters, enhanced video, audio and image file formats support, and Adobe Flash CS3 integration. Shockwave Player 11 was also announced.

ee also

*Runtime Revolution

External links

* [http://www.adobe.com/products/director/ Official site of Adobe Director]
* [http://director-online.com/ Director Online]
* [http://www.directorforum.com Adobe Director User Group]
* [http://www.deansdirectortutorials.com/ Dean's Director Tutorials]
* [http://director.magicgate.com The Director Podcast]
* [http://veerle.duoh.com/blog/comments/macromedias_history/ Macromedia History]
* [http://www.ieee.org/web/aboutus/history_center/biography/thompsonj.html IEEE History Center: John Thompson, inventor of Lingo Programming Language]
* [http://www.deansdirectortutorials.com/survey/DirectorRoadmap/ Director Next Roadmap Survey]

References