Customer Reviews

Using Director 7 (Special Edition)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The book claims it is for beginners--not so. Especially if you are looking for a step by step approach. It comes with a CD, but I am still looking for the "How to use the CD with this book" instructions. More than half of the book is devoted to examples of lingo--not for the novice Director user!

I use Director about 30% of the time during work (otherwise Java and Perl). I learned Director 6 on the fly when I was given a project to complete, and searched for books aimed at an experienced programmer - there were none. Most were of the "this is a mouse" variety. Now, luckily there's this book and the Director/Lingo Nutshell books. One reason I like this book is because the examples are actually written in Director 7 syntax, which I like a lot more than the previous "wordy" Lingo. Also, it includes inspiring demos - the sort that egg you on to build a finished product out of them.

The author actually assumes you can think, and there's a lot of great tips. For example one states that text members have a graphic property (a bitmap representation), which is useful to know. Also, the author writes in a clear, concise manner, and there's no obvious padding in the book. The CD has some useful stuff one it, too.

Most Director books are a letdown, but this one has already paid for itself in time saved.

As an educator in San Francisco who teaches beginning, intermediate and advanced courses in Multimedia design, production and Lingo programming, I was looking for a Director and Lingo book that was well written, comprehensive, used the new Director 7.0 Lingo ("dot" syntax). I read them all and decided that by far Using Director 7 (Special Edition) met all my needs and much, much more.

This book was written with care and concern. All the code (some from his earlier book) was meticulously rewritten with the new Director 7.0 Lingo syntax. The list of web sites in the back of the book give my students and I plenty of supplementary resources. The accompanying CD contains most all of the examples in the book and more.

Some of my favorite exercises in the book include: simulating 3D shapes using the new quad function; hit detection for gaming and other gaming examples; Educational and Business Applications, and Appendix C, Online Resources

There are other books that attempt to cover the scope of material covered in Gary Rosenzweig's book, but none of those succeeds with such elegance and style.

I've already put in my order for Gary's not yet released "Advanced Lingo for Games" -- Given the quality of Using Director 7 (Special Edition) and the quality of his website, I'm confident this will be another gift to both the Director community and it's educators.

I have been using Lingo and reading books about it for several years! (a few of them by Gary) This book is the only one that sits on my desktop! It's all you need! And Gary has even gone as far as answering my questions personally via email. This guy knows what he's doing...and the book is loaded with USEFUL EXAMPLES. All I could ask for...is a little more explanation of the dot syntax. Best book so far GARY! Keep up the good work!

Overall I'd have to say that I'm pretty disappointed with this book. At best it serves as an overview of Director and Lingo but it lacks in delivering much real content of value. If you are brand spanking new to Director/Lingo then use this book as an introduction, but if you're ready to get down and dirty I'd suggest seeking out another text.

The Special Edition Using Director 7 book is amazing! I couldn't have gotten through my project without it. Everything that the director manual and lingo dictionary left out, Gary put in to this book. I now understand lingo and the way director works and what it can do in many different environments and this has saved me lots of time in troubleshooting and debugging. My company sent me to a very expensive training for lingo and I actually learned more from this book. If I had relied on the director manual alone I would not have completed my hybrid CD and shockwave catalog project on time. Thanks Gary for making it easier! Cameron Smith OddzOn Toys

Just received my copy and I am very pleased with the 2 month wait. My old Rosenxweig Director book was falling apart and has several dozen pages missing (never lend your books!). On top of that, it was out of print. This new version is rewritten and based completely on Director 7. All examples (about 1 every 4-5 pages) use the new Director 7 Lingo (javascript like syntax, i.e. uses the dot). About half the content is from the previous book but still worth getting just for the old stuff. Add all the new stuff makes it a great value. It is strong in Lingo examples and how to get things done. It covers most all lingo topics even the new vector shapes and how to use them (already has saved me hours of work in just one evening). One topic that is lacking is the new multiserver (real-time network communications) xtra. That topic needs a book by itself.

Like other books from Gary, it is well written and easy to understand but still covers the details. I have dozens of Director books but this would be the first book in my library if I had to start over (with Director in a Nutshell a close second).

I am a newbie and proud of it. I wanted a book that could give me the understanding of Lingo that I needed. And this book looked like a good choice to me. Untill I wanted to try out the code myself. RosenZweig.... where do I put your scripts??? It doesn't help teaching us Lingo when you do not show us where to put the code. Thanks a lot.

This is fantastic book really good lots of examples. Good use of lingo If you are serious about director this is the book I dont beleive that any software book on any subject has the wow that this one does

Great book - i programmed an interactive essay that returned users grades within 1 hour using two commands ! And im totally new to Macromedia products - you can build interactive radio stations that display company products - like TV - and T-Commerce is around the corner - Get going Y'all - this is SO EASY - and POWERFUL - and WONDERFUL - recently got my first web building contract for a travel company by showing off my shockwave animations ! Get EMPLOYED !!