Macromedia Director MX 2004 Bible [Paperback]

Brian Underdahl (Author), John R. Nyquist (Author), Robert Martin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 3, 2004 | ISBN-10: 0764569902 | ISBN-13: 978-0764569906

* The ultimate guide to creating professional presentations for CDs, DVDs, kiosks, Web sites, and desktop computers with Macromedia Director
* Step-by-step tutorials and reference resources help both novices and experienced users get the most out of Director
* Completely revised to cover enhancements to Director, including new support for Flash components, new ECMAScript language (based on the same standard as the popular JavaScript and ActionScript), improved dynamic and server-side support, and new 3D support and tools
* Covers both Windows XP and Mac OS X platforms and discusses working in the authoring environment, production and editing, programming with Classic Lingo, controlling assets and movies with scripts, and much more
* Bonus CD-ROM includes source files and finished projects (still images, audio, and videos) from the tutorials in addition to valuable trial software and freeware

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

If Macromedia Director MX 2004 can do it, you can do it too...

Macromedia Director joins sound, video, 3D images, and still photos into interactive presentations that can enthrall, entertain, educate, and sell – on any desktop or laptop, the Web, a kiosk, CDs, or DVDs. Director’s magic is its ability to let you author it all in a single environment, and with this comprehensive manual in hand, you can harness its amazing power. Develop multimedia presentations, create graphics from scratch, maximize Director’s versatility with scripting solutions, add interactive capabilities, and much more.

Inside, you’ll find complete coverage of Macromedia Director MX 2004

• Explore enhancements in the newest version of Director, such as new Flash support and new 3D tools
• Use the Library palette to create sophisticated interactivity and animation without writing code
• Learn the exciting new ECMAScript language, rooted in the same standard as JavaScript™ and ActionScript
• Discover Lingo and JavaScript syntax and program Director to meet your needs
• Work with vector shape members and Flash
• Delve deeper into scripting and learn to manipulate video, play sound, and manage Director’s powerful text-handling properties
• Manage memory, handle menus and dialog boxes, script for Web-related applications, and create 3D objects
• Troubleshoot Lingo and debug your scripts

All this on the bonus CD-ROM

• Macromedia® Flash™ MX 2004, Director® MX, Fireworks® MX 2004, and FreeHand® MX trial versions
• Trial of Caligari trueSpace, Sorenson Squeeze® Compression Suite, and a demo version of Swift 3D®
• Author files and finished projects from the tutorials, including still images, audio, and video

About the Author

Brian Underdahl is the well-known, best-selling author of over 70 computer books on a broad range of subjects. He has appeared on a number of TV shows including The Computer Chronicles and several TechTV programs. His books have won awards including an Award of Merit from the Northern California Technical Communications Competition and the Referenceware Excellence Award for best title in the Graphic Design and Multimedia category. He has been involved in personal computers from their beginning and has a background in electrical engineering. His last “real” job was as a Senior Programmer/Analyst for a large company where he worked hard to bring the power and freedom of PCs to the desktops.

John R. Nyquist is Software Engineer–Developer, Advisory for StorageTek. As an award-winning designer/illustrator, John became obsessed with programming when he started using a Macintosh in 1987. He went on to program in C, Pascal, HyperTalk, Prograph CPX, and AppleScript before his introduction to Lingo in 1993. Since then, he has also worked with C++, Java, JavaScript, ActionScript, and C#.
John worked as Senior Software Engineer/Project Lead for Ingenius, a Reuters/TCI company, on its award-winning, cable- and Web-delivered educational software What On Earth. He led software engineering for CurrentWorks, Inc., developing entertaining educational software—including QuizWorks, Bingo! With Mr. Vern, and Quiz 6—to encourage teamwork, group interaction, and cooperation. He is a Sun Certified Java Programmer (SCJP), a Sun Certified Instructor, and has worked as an instructor for Sun Microsystems teaching Java to programmers and nonprogrammers. He coauthored the previous editions of this book, Director 8 and Lingo Bible and Director 7 and Lingo Bible. John is technical editor for Sun Certified Programmer & Developer for Java 2 Study Guide, Advanced Lingo for Games, and The Director 6 Book.
You can reach John at [e-mail], or you can visit his Web site at http://nyquist.net/. When he isn’t programming, writing, or doing artwork, John spends his time enjoying life in Colorado with his wife, Laura, and their children, Alice and Richard.

Robert Martin is the Director of Multimedia Services for Klein Buendel, a multimedia development company that specializes in designing interactive health communication programs. He is also an instructor in the multimedia design program at a local college.
Rob has been using Macromedia Director for over 10 years to create almost every type of application imaginable, from a Web-based interactive presentation system to an award-winning daily multimedia news journal for kids.
Rob began his career over 20 years ago, creating optical special effects for film and multi-image presentations. After 10 years in the dark and up to his elbows in photographic chemicals, he decided the time was right to jump into computer graphics. Not quite ready to leave film entirely, he spent a couple of years running a service bureau that specialized in high-resolution output of computer graphics to film. He went on to design one of the first Director-based interactive presentation systems for a large data-storage company. This experience introduced him to his next career path, interface design. He fine-tuned those skills as the creative director for a company that created educational multimedia applications for kids and teachers.
When he’s not teaching or creating multimedia projects for research scientists, Rob can be found floating the rivers of the American West in his raft, taking QuickTime VR Panoramas, and writing stories for his Web site, River Journals.

Product Details

• Paperback: 910 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (September 3, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764569902
• ISBN-13: 978-0764569906
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.5 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #150,188 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Director Book and tutorials, October 7, 2004

By 

J. Kelly "GA Book Fan" (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Macromedia Director MX 2004 Bible (Paperback)

I've read many of Brian Underdahl's books and like his style of writing and how he uses examples. I'm somewhat familiar with Director, but never really knew how complex this application is... the book goes into special effects and scripting much deeper than I expected, but was glad to learn it. I've had a few opportunities since reading the book to actually implement some of the material in some multimedia presentations for some clients. They were wow'd! One client asked me how in the world I got a particular animated sequence to work because a previous freelancer couldn't do it - I told him I had a reference book that explained it quite clearly. There just aren't that many Director books out there that go deep - most of the ones I have are very simplistic and go over the basic toolbars and animation techniques... if you're looking for some advanced topics, put this book on your list. Worth the $.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars EXTREMELY HELPFUL!, June 3, 2005

By 

mufin (ny) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Macromedia Director MX 2004 Bible (Paperback)

having learned the basics of director in a class was a good start to the program, but being the MONSTER that director is, a 'beginner' like myself, definitely needs the extra help. This book is relatively easy to understand, (relative because the program itself is just so complex), and is thorough. I found solutions for problems in the book that I could not find on the Macromedia website!

In all honesty, if it wasn't for this book my site would not be as cool! so my heartfelt thanks and congrats to the authors!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars my "secret weapon" for learning Director, June 1, 2008

By 

GameMaker (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Macromedia Director MX 2004 Bible (Paperback)

I was recently taking a college course where we were required to use Director. The course didn't have a required book but I picked this one up anyway. This book has been a godsend to me. So many times I wondered "how would I do such and such?", and a quick glance inside the book gave me answer after answer. The book is very well layed out, and well indexed. The descriptions are well written, and there are plenty of screen shots to remove any doubt about what you have to do to accomplish various things. It is perfect as a reference and if you are using Director, you'll want it on your bookshelf, believe me.