Learning Lingo: The Art and Science of Programming with Macromedia(R) Director(R) [Paperback]

Michael Callery (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 27, 1995

This title is now out of printMacromedia's(R) Director(R) is the application of choice for professional multimedia developers. In order to garner the its potential you need to master Lingo(TM), the powerful programming language behind Director. To produce a top-quality multimedia spectacle you must learn programming principles and constructs as well as Lingo's commands. Lingo is the key--freeing you from the frame-by-frame rigidity of the score to allow you to make truly interactive movies.Michael Callery takes you on a guided tour through the backstage of Director providing you with the knowledge and skills necessary to create a truly interactive piece. He supplies the information to move beyond film loops, tempo commands, and color cycling. Three projects are introduced, constructed, and examined, illustrating a variety of practical programming techniques. The CD-ROM contains all of the examples found in the book in both Macintosh(R) and Windows(R) formats.This book is divided into four sections. Section One focuses on the basics: loops, conditionals, and variables. Moving ahead, Section Two takes these concepts one step further, exploring puppets--objects controlled by Lingo. Section Three focuses on data: words, numbers, lists, and files. Section Four presents advanced topics, including Digital Video, interface items such as menus and windows, and using external commands. 0201870436B04062001

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

This title is now out of print

Macromedia's® Director® is the application of choice for professional multimedia developers. In order to garner the its potential you need to master Lingo(TM), the powerful programming language behind Director. To produce a top-quality multimedia spectacle you must learn programming principles and constructs as well as Lingo's commands. Lingo is the key--freeing you from the frame-by-frame rigidity of the score to allow you to make truly interactive movies.

Michael Callery takes you on a guided tour through the backstage of Director providing you with the knowledge and skills necessary to create a truly interactive piece. He supplies the information to move beyond film loops, tempo commands, and color cycling. Three projects are introduced, constructed, and examined, illustrating a variety of practical programming techniques. The CD-ROM contains all of the examples found in the book in both Macintosh® and Windows® formats.

This book is divided into four sections. Section One focuses on the basics: loops, conditionals, and variables. Moving ahead, Section Two takes these concepts one step further, exploring puppets--objects controlled by Lingo. Section Three focuses on data: words, numbers, lists, and files. Section Four presents advanced topics, including Digital Video, interface items such as menus and windows, and using external commands.

0201870436B04062001

About the Author

Michael Callery has been an independent consultant, educator and columnistfor nearly twenty years. He has helped hundreds of students master Lingo overthe last several years while teaching at The New School, New York University,and Parsons School of Design. 0201870436AB04062001

Product Details

• Paperback: 335 pages
• Publisher: Addison Wesley Longman (December 27, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201870436
• ISBN-13: 978-0201870435
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #964,722 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Offers loads of useful information for "gamelet" programmers, April 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Learning Lingo: The Art and Science of Programming with Macromedia(R) Director(R) (Paperback)

I passed this book up several times in the store becuase it was written for Director 4 - big mistake! It's easy to update the code for Director 7, or use it as it is (I personally prefer the new D7 "sprite(1).visible" = TRUE to "set the visible of sprite 1 to TRUE" from D6 and earlier). I finally ordered it based on other online comments, and I only wish I had picked it up sooner. It covers many game-specific subjects that I haven't found in other books (most Director books are less useful than the online documentation). This book and Lingo in a Nutshell/Director in a Nutshell are all you need.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GAME PROGRAMMING w/ LINGO explained clearly. Very Effective., July 19, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Learning Lingo: The Art and Science of Programming with Macromedia(R) Director(R) (Paperback)

I recommend this book to anyone serious about developing games in Director.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Programmers: Don't waste your money, March 11, 2001

By 

PARADEEN (FRANCE LOIRE) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Learning Lingo: The Art and Science of Programming with Macromedia(R) Director(R) (Paperback)

If you are a programmer that doesn't know Director and wants to pick up Lingo, this isn't the book for you. The author doesn't use conventional terminology to refer to scalars, arrays, control structures, etc. The index is crap too. You can't use it to look up anything an ordinary programming reference would have. The only control structure in the index is IF/ELSE !

Learning Lingo is outdated (covering only Director 4), and severely lacking in content and structure. I'm sorry I shelled out... for this one.