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Macromedia Director MX 

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PCQ Bureau
New Update

A better-looking interface, better integration with Macromedia Flash MX and more accessibility options for the disabled best describe the new Director MX. Macromedia is bringing everything under its MX umbrella, and Director is no different.

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Director is one of the most commonly used development environments for multimedia on the Web through the shockwave player or as standalone applications on CDs/DVDs or public kiosks. It supports varied media to be incorporated in presentations, including most of the common image formats (jpg, bmp, gif), animations through Macromedia Flash, video through avi, Real and QuickTime and 3D. Most of the popular 3D tools (3DS Max, Maya) support Director 3D export. The power of Director is enhanced because of its support for third-party Xtras and its scripting language, ‘Lingo’.

The new interface of

Director MX is uncluttered and easier to use

From the developer’s point of view, 8.5 was a much bigger upgrade with the introduction of 3D lingo, et al. MX focuses more on the ease of use rather than on technical enhancements. The interface has been revamped with the floating panels (which, in the previous versions, used to come in the way of the workflow) being docked to the sides. They can now be easily sent to the sides at the click of a button, making the full workspace available. But, these changes are just cosmetic; multiple undo

would’ve been better.

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Next comes the long awaited tight integration of Flash MX with Director MX, but this is not as tight as the integration between Director and Fireworks. Director imports .png files directly, but not .fla files; it still imports .swf. You can double-click on the Cast Member that will open Macromedia Flash with the corresponding .fla file with a special Done button. Clicking on the Done button takes you back to Director after exporting the .swf file. A boon if you work with Flash and Director integration.

This version also has advanced accessibility options, such as drag and drop behaviors, which make developing applications for the disabled much easier. Traditionally, the disabled have had to use a screen reader to access the content on the screen. 

This version also supports long-format video, including QuickTime 6 with its Mpeg-4 streaming capabilities. But, this needs QuickTime 6 to be installed on the user’s machine. These QuickTime sprites have full Lingo support, too. The Lingo script editor is combined with the previously known debugging window. It also gives new drop-down lists of 3D Lingo and other extras included with the package. A neat enhancement indeed. 

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Director can create Flash MX objects on the fly to interact with Flash Communication Server. These objects serve as a bridge to the MX platform’s server-side capabilities through Flash Communication Server and Flash Remoting MX. These features are available through Macromedia Flash and these capabilities do not come into Director natively. Though it comes bundled with a personal copy of the Flash Communication Server.

Snapshot

Price Rs 59,950
Pros : Tight integration with Flash, good accessibility options
Pros : More user friendly
Cons : Some changes in interface are cosmetic rather than deep-rooted
Contact : Macromedia, Mumbai
Tel : 28201705/2824
E-mail : nchawla@macromedia.com

The Bottom Line Upgrade to MX if you work extensively with Flash and Director integration or have the need to create accessibility options. The product’s cost is totally justified by the unmatched features it offers.

Geetaj Channana

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