Macromedia Director 8
Foundation Level Course
What is Director?
Director is a challenging program for creating animation and
multimedia productions for CD-ROM development and the Web
Director File Types
• In Director 8 you can use many file types.
• We will cover the most important ones:
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Movie Files
Shockwave Files
Protected Movie Files
Projector Files
Movie Properties
Setting up Movie Properties:
• List View Mode
• Movie Palette
• Stage Size
• Stage location
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Stage Fill
Score Channels
RGB and Palette Index
Remap Palettes If needed
Enable Edit Shortcuts
About
Copyright
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Save font Map
Load Font Map
The Authoring Environment
The Toolbar
The Tools
Palette
The Stage
The Score
The Cast
The Cast
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Choose Cast
Cast View Style
Drag Cast Member
Previous Cast Member
The Cast window holds
everything that would
go into the development
of your multimedia
production.
Cast Member Script
Cast Member Number
Cast Member Name
Next Cast Member
Cast Member Properties
The Score
• The score tells the cast members what they should do and when
they should do it. The score provides a frame by frame record of
all the components that form your movie.
Markers
Hide/Show
Effects
Channels
Button
Effects
Channels
Time
Channel
On/Off Channel
Button
Zoom
Menu
Sprites
A sprite is an object within your movie that contains a cast member
Sprite
Sprite
Behaviors
• Using Director’s Behaviors allows you to add interactive
features to movies without having to either write or even
understand Lingo scripting language
Frames and Channels
• The vertical columns in the Score are called
Frames. They represent small slices of time for
your movie.
• The horizontal columns in the Score are called
Channels.
Frames
Channels
Inspectors
• Director Inspectors
give a glimpse of the
various details of
elements and relevant
properties in a movie
The Toolbar
• The Toolbar is a shortcut to often-used commands.
• The Toolbar cannot be edited to remove commands, add new
ones, or re-arrange preset button order.
• The Playback controls alone are valuable. In most cases, they
can be used as a compact substitute for the Control Panel.
Arrow Tool
• The Arrow tool is used
to select, move and
place objects on the
stage.
Rotate and Skew Tool
• The Rotate and Skew
tool is used to rotate
and manipulate
objects on the stage.
Hand Tool
• The Hand tool is used to
move around the stage in
your movie .
Magnifying Glass Tool
• The Magnifying Glass
tool allows you to
enlarge or reduce the
screen view.
Text Tool
• The Text tool is used to
create and edit text
elements on the stage.
Line Tool
• The Line tool is used
to draw lines on the
stage.
Line Thickness
Filled Rectangle and Rectangle Tool
• The Filled Rectangle
tool is used to draw
Filled Rectangle
shapes on the stage.
• The Rectangle tool is
used to draw
Rectangle shapes on
the stage without a fill.
Filled Round Rectangle and
Round Rectangle Tool
• The Filled Round
Rectangle tool is used
to draw filled round
edged rectangle
shapes on the stage.
• The Round Rectangle
tool is used to draw
round edged rectangle
shapes on the stage
without a fill.
Filled Ellipse and Ellipse Tool
• The Filled Ellipse tool
is used to draw filled
oval shapes on the
stage.
• The Ellipse tool is
used to draw oval
shapes on the stage
without a fill.
Check Box Tool
• The Check Box tool
enables you to create
a check box selection
button with ease.
Radio Button Tool
• The Radio Button tool
enables you to create
a radio selection
button on the stage.
Field Tool
• The Field tool enables
you to create the input
text field on the stage.
Push Button Tool
• The Push Button tool
enables you to create
an already configured
Push Button within the
movie.
Pattern Tool
• The Pattern tool in the
Tool Palette allows
you to change the fill
of a sprite to a
selected pattern.
The Paint Window
• The Paint
Window is used
to create or to
change bitmap
cast members .
Paint Tools
• Paint Window has a
complete set of Paint
Tools and inks for
creating and changing
bitmap cast members.
The Paint Toolbar
Flip Horizontal Tool
Smooth Tool
Darken Tool
Free Rotate Tool
Rotate Left Tool
Rotate Right Tool
Warp Tool
Invert Color Tool
Switch Colors Tool
Perspective Tool
Lighten Tool
Skew Tool
Trace Edges Tool
Fill Tool
Flip Vertical Tool
Importing Bitmaps
• Importing Bitmaps
copies the
contents of the file
into the movie, so
you won’t need to
provide the file
when distributing
the movie.
The Vector Shape Window
The Vector Shape Window is used to draw vector shapes
Vector Tools
• Vector Shape Window
has a complete set of
Vector Tools for
creating and changing
vector cast members.
The Vector Toolbar
Gradient Type
Gradient Cycles
Gradient Spread
Gradient X Offset
Gradient Angle
Gradient Y Offset
Color Depth
• Color Depth is
sometimes called Bit
Depth, and it relates to
the number of colors
that a computer can
display at the same
time.
Color Mode
• Director offers a
choice of two basic
color modes for your
movies and
authoring process:
• RGB
• Palette Index
Color Choices
• Whenever it is
necessary to specify
a color in Director,
the selection is made
from the color menu.
Color Palettes
• A Color Palette is a set of colors to choose among when
working with graphics in Director.
Text and Field Windows
• The Text and Field
Windows allow you to
create:
• Text Cast Members
• Field Cast Members
Adding Cast Members to the Score
• Adding the Cast to the
Score begins the
development process of
your Interactive movie.
Adding Behaviors to the Score
• The Behavior Inspector is
what contains the controls
to create and customize
behaviors (Lingo
scripting).
The Projector
• The Projector
embeds the
Director movie to
make it a stand
alone player.
Projector Options
• The Projector
Options window
contains General
Settings that will
affect the movie or
movies combined
in a Projector.
Publish Settings Formats
Publish Settings General
Publish Settings Shockwave
Publish Settings Compression
Publish Settings Shockwave Save
Publish Settings Image