Director in a Nutshell (Nutshell Handbook)

Macromedia Director 6 is the premier authoring tool for delivering interactive content on both the Internet and the desktop. It is the dominant multimedia package for Windows 95/NT, Windows 3.1, and the Macintosh. A quarter million developers use Director(R) to incorporate animation and audio into dynamic Web pages, and to create engaging interactive corporate presentations, multimedia advertising, entertainment CD-ROMs, enhanced music CDs, and even DVDs. Director 6 is a complete multimedia authoring environment that integrates graphics, video, sound, and 3D images into compelling interactive products.

Director in a Nutshell is the most concise and complete guide available for Director. It also covers the use of Director on the Internet with Shockwave, Netscape Navigator, and Microsoft Internet Explorer. Java in a Nutshell and WebMaster in a Nutshell have established themselves as indispensable developer references, and Director in a Nutshell continues this family tradition. Like all In a Nutshell books, it takes the Director topic and drills down, expands, and delights the reader by providing useful information that the reader didn't even expect to find.

Director in a Nutshell condenses hundreds of Director tips and techniques into a desktop quick-reference format that is a must-have addition to every Director developer's library. The book begins with an overview of Director's interface and the new features in version 6. It covers the use of video, audio, graphics, text, buttons, menus, and 3D images in Director. It highlights cross-platform differences for developers under both Windows 3.1/95/NT and the Macintosh. It also includes a detailed chapter on optimizing performance and memory usage. Director in a Nutshell is an indispensable companion book to Lingo in a Nutshell.

Each chapter is devoted to topics such as palettes, sound, or digital video.Director in a Nutshell is the only book to integrate Director's multiple facets into a comprehensive discussion of each topic. The reader gets both the nitty-gritty details and the bigger context in which to use them.

Director in a Nutshell also covers:

Covers the latest features of Director 7, including the 7.0.2 maintenance release.
New Sprite operations, Behaviors, and Inspectors in Director 6
All commands and options in the Score, Cast, Paint, Text, Palette, and Video Windows
Animation techniques and shortcuts
All supported file formats and media types for both import and export
Lists of palettes, transitions, cursors, ink effects, and window types
Video playback and manipulation, including QuickTime, Video for Windows, and QTVR
Creating run-time Projectors and optimizing playback on all platforms
Comprehensive command summaries by topic
Hundreds of Director shortcuts
Shockwave and Internet-enabled Projectors
Sound playback, including Shockwave audio and cue points
Browser scripting, media control, and performance optimization
Analyzing the Score and Cast, the run-time environment, and anlyzing performance and memory usage

This book will benefit a very large audience of Director 6 users. Beginners will value the concise and complete coverage of every topic and function. Intermediate users will appreciate the explanations that illuminate the big picture surrounding every operation. Advanced users will find the book an indispensable reference tool to remind them of the proper syntax, commands, and shortcuts in Director. This book will even help content-providers understand how proper graphics, audio, and video preparation can eliminate repetitious revisions and save programming time.

Director in a Nutshell is a high-end handbook, at a low-end price -- an indispensable desktop reference for every Director user.

Director in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference helps Director users uncover little-known but vitally important details about using Macromedia's multimedia program effectively. It supplies ample guidance on troubleshooting common difficulties and insight on avoiding the most common problems.

This is a well-organized book--progressing from developing your understanding of how Director works, which should enrich your productivity, to showing you how to best handle audio and video. In particular, you learn how to use the Score and create animations tools as well as work with Cast members, libraries, and the Stage. You get to set up coordinates, alignment, and registration points; tackle cross-platform delivery issues; and create projectors and runtime files. Those out to optimize their system performance will find sections on managing memory.

You get plenty of help using Lingo and Director's scripting tool, as well as in working with limitations in the various versions of Director. (The book covers versions 6, 6.5, and 7 for both Windows and Macintosh.) Users of every level should be able to glean a lot of useful tips from this book, though most parts are of a technical level best suited to proficient users rather than newcomers to the program. --Kathleen Caster