Adobe Director

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Adobe Director

Adobe Director v11 icon.png
Basic data

developer Adobe Inc.
(previously Macromedia )
Current  version 12.0
(February 11, 2013)
operating system Windows , macOS
category Authoring system
License proprietary
German speaking Yes
Adobe Director

Adobe Director (previously: Macromedia Director ) is an authoring system for creating complex, interactive, multimedia Internet , DVD, CD-ROM and kiosk applications. It has the individual object-oriented programming language Lingo (and JavaScript ) and integrates a large number of available media.

On January 27, 2017, Adobe announced that Director will no longer be sold as of February 1, 2017.

general description

With Director you can create programs for Windows and macOS (cross-platform development). This Director applications can also act as ".DCR" on the Internet streamed or Offline -use downloaded are platform independent and in Web browsers are used to the free Shockwave - plug-in installed. According to Adobe, this browser plug-in has a distribution of 406 million installations (as of 12/07).

Director can easily incorporate a plethora of audiovisual media types, including Flash movies. In contrast to authoring programs such as Adobe Flash , Director offers the possibility of importing real 3D objects and controlling them in real time. The increasingly high quality 3D games and applications offered on the Internet are usually implemented with Director, as Shockwave 3D . With Director you can also create interactive »enhanced DVDs«. Director accesses the DVD-ROM part of a hybrid DVD to the video-DVD part and can use it to present MPEG-2 videos in the interactive application intended for the computer. Video DVD content can also be linked to online information in the browser by exporting it to the Shockwave format.

Many audio CDs also have a data section which, when inserted into a PC, turns the audio CD into a multimedia product. Such advanced features are also very often developed with Director.

The immense range of functions can be expanded with additional modules. These additional modules are called Xtras . There are both free and paid Xtras. You can expand the range of functions of the Lingo programming language, make other media types ( e.g. PDF , QuickTime , databases , Photoshop image files) available or e.g. B. Enable access and control of special devices. In addition, there are Xtras that expand the functionality of the development environment. Xtras can be developed in the C ++ programming language, among other things; Even in the basic version, Director includes numerous Xtras. Due to this modular structure, the file size of the director programs is only as large as necessary for the application.

Director is still the standard tool for creating multimedia kiosk, CD-ROM and DVD applications. It was previously used for post-production in film and is now, in combination with the Flash program, a powerful tool for creating sophisticated online and offline multimedia programs. A major advantage of Director compared to Flash, which was previously unattainable, is, as mentioned, the possibility of integrating real-time 3D elements.

history

MacroMind was founded in 1984 by Marc Canter, Jay Fenton and Mark Pierce. This developed the animation software VideoWorks for the Apple Macintosh , which two versions later was renamed Director. Macromedia was created through the merger with Authorware .

Director was continuously developed until December 2005 under the umbrella of Macromedia. In December 2005, Macromedia was completely taken over by Adobe Inc. Director also appeared there in the product portfolio until the sale on February 1st, 2017.

Supported media formats

Director enables, among other things, the integration, playback and control of DVD-Video content. Since the 1990s may fonts (fonts) are involved; this enables text to be displayed with a character set that is not installed on the target computer .

text graphic Audio Video Special formats

Versions

Legend:
Old version
Older version; still supported
Current version
Current preliminary version
Future version
version Product name date Manufacturer Development platforms Notes and functions
Older version; no longer supported: I. VideoWorks 1985 MacroMind Apple The “Director” software will later emerge from this product. In this version only monochrome graphics.
Older version; no longer supported: II VideoWorks 1987 MacroMind Apple Multi-colored illustration. Later expansion to the product "VideoWorks Interactive", which was never sold. Integration of a simple script language based on Basic.
Older version; no longer supported: 1.0 Director 1988 MacroMind Apple The software "VideoWorks Interactive Pro" is renamed to "Director 1.0".
Older version; no longer supported: 2.0 Director 1990 MacroMind Apple John (JT) Thompson and Erik Neumann replaced the original "Tiny Basic" programming language developed by Jamie Fenton with "Lingo".
Older version; no longer supported: 3.0 Director 1991 MacroMind Apple Introduction of the "XObjects": plug-in model, with the help of which the functionality of Director could be extended by third parties. Finished products could be played on these platforms: Windows 3.1, OS / 2, Personal IRIS, fm towns, 3DO.
Older version; no longer supported: 3.1.3 Director 1993 Macromedia Apple Renaming of the MacroMind company to Macromedia. Integration of Apple Quicktime.
Older version; no longer supported: 4.0 Director 1994 Macromedia Apple Extension of Lingo in the form of lists and "parent" script types.
Older version; no longer supported: 4.0.1 Director 1994 Macromedia Apple PowerMac update.
Older version; no longer supported: 4.0.3 Director 1994 Macromedia Windows First publication of a development environment for Windows systems.
Older version; no longer supported: 4.0.4 Director 1994 Macromedia Apple, Windows First joint version for Apple and Windows. Last release of the development environment on 18 floppy disks. In December 1995 the Shockwave plug-in was released, with the help of which Director films could be played in the browser. The corresponding publishing module for Director is called "Afterburner".
Older version; no longer supported: 5.0 Director 1996 Macromedia Apple, Windows Further development of XObjects and renaming to " Xtra ". Introduction of a debugger, several occupations. 120 sprite channels. Introduction of the MOA ("Macromedia Open Architecture").
Older version; no longer supported: 6.0 Director 1997 Macromedia Apple, Windows Complete implementation of "Afterburner". No additional module has to be used to create Shockwave files. Introduction of behaviors .
Older version; no longer supported: 6.5 Director 1998 Macromedia Apple, Windows Update that fixed problems with the version of Quicktime 3 that was introduced in the meantime.
Older version; no longer supported: 7.0 Director 1999 Macromedia Apple, Windows Almost complete reprogramming of the product. Introduction of 1,000 sprite channels, sprite rotation, embedded fonts, vector shapes. The greatest innovation for the programming environment was the introduction of a point syntax and the multiuser server, which even made online role-playing games possible.
Older version; no longer supported: 8.0 Director 2000 Macromedia Apple, Windows Introduction of Imaging Lingo, revision of the old sound engine and Multiuser-Server 2.0. General stability update.
Older version; no longer supported: 8.5 Director 2001 Macromedia Apple, Windows First import option of Adobe Flash content (version 5). Introduction of a hardware-supported 3D engine ( Shockwave 3D ). Update of the multiuser server to version 3.0.
Older version; no longer supported: MX (9.0) Director 2002 Macromedia Apple, Windows Products are compatible with macOS . Import option for Adobe Flash Version 6. Setting of the multiuser server and the multiple Xtra.
Older version; no longer supported: MX 2004 (10.0) Director 05/01/2004 Macromedia Apple, Windows Introduction of ECMAScript , a Javascript-like programming language and a new Document object model (DOM). The first time you can on Mac Runtime for the PC compile and vice versa. Integration of DVD-Video and DVD-Video control functions.
Older version; no longer supported: 11.0 Director 03/25/2008 Adobe Apple, Windows After the purchase of Macromedia by Adobe (on April 18, 2005) the first version under the new owner. Again, a complete overhaul of the tool to ensure full integration of Unicode. Support for Direct X9 and Flash 8. Revival of the Multiple Server and Multiuser Xtras. Native runtime support for Windows Vista and Apple Macintosh systems running on Intel CPUs. Creation of "Universal Binares".
Older version; no longer supported: 11.5 Director 03/23/2009 Adobe Apple, Windows New sound engine with new real-time audio mixers and filters, 5.1 sound. New actor type "byteArray". 3D hardware anti-aliasing support. Support for other video formats: H.264, MPEG-4, FLV, F4V and generally Full HD. Streaming support for sound and video via RTMP. Audio and bitmap filters applicable to videos. Support for Mac OS X Leopard.
Older version; no longer supported: 11.5.8 Director 09/06/2010 Adobe Apple, Windows Extended character controller capabilities for 3D models, simulation of clothing, cross domain policy improvements, improved 3D hardware antialiasing, improved audio format settings, support for Flash Player 10 / ActionScript 3 films, support for Flex / FlashBuilder, Shockwave for Mac 64 bit .
Older version; no longer supported: 11.5.9 Director 08/18/2011 Adobe Apple, Windows Parallax mapping, cube mapping, normal mapping, "Render to texture", Collada import.
Current version: 12.0 Director 02/11/2013 Adobe Apple, Windows Publication on iOS devices possible for the first time (Apple development environment for Director is required). Stereoscopy, new post-processing effects, textures and shaders. Support for Flash 11.0.

Last official version: End of sale on February 1st, 2017.

Examples

literature

  • Daniel Kaune, Peter Kehne: Historical multimedia products - specialist opportunities and key qualifications with job guarantee, in: Jörn Kobes / Kai Ruffing / Wolfgang Spickermann (eds.), 20 years history and EDV work group (= treatises of the history and EDV work group (AAGE) Vol. 2), Gutenberg 2013, ISBN 978-3-940598-22-6 , pp. 67-79
  • Christophe Leske, Thomas Biedorf, Regina Müller: 3D with Director , Galileo Press, 2001, ISBN 3-89842-103-1
  • Martin Kloss: Lingo object-oriented. Use Director optimally. , Galileo Press, 2001, ISBN 3-89842-219-4
  • Christophe Leske, Thomas Biedorf, Regina Müller: Director 8 for professionals , Galileo Press, 2000, ISBN 3-934358-04-7
  • Gerd Gillmaier, Joachim Gola: Director 8 Workshop , Addison-Wesley, 1999, ISBN 3-827316-76-6

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c The Future of Adobe Contribute, Director and Shockwave
  2. ↑ Shockwave Player: PC Penetration . Adobe. Retrieved July 18, 2010.
  3. ↑ Macromedia Director and Adobe Shockwave Player: FAQ. (No longer available online.) Adobe, archived from the original on November 6, 2011 ; Retrieved July 18, 2010 .
  4. ↑ Adobe Director version comparison chart . Adobe. Archived from the original on May 31, 2010. Retrieved September 26, 2010.
  5. ↑ a b Top new features of Adobe Director 11.5.8 . Adobe. Retrieved September 26, 2010.
  6. ^ New Director version. Retrieved August 18, 2012 .
  7. ↑ What's New in Director 12. Retrieved March 18, 2017 .