Adobe Director

Adobe Director
Director MX 2004 running on Windows XP.
Developer	Adobe Systems, formerly Macromedia
Latest release	MX 2004 (10.1.1) / March 14, 2006
OS	Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows
Genre	Multimedia Content Creator
License	Proprietary
Website	www.adobe.com/products/director

Adobe Director (formerly Macromedia Director) is a media application created by Macromedia—now part of Adobe Systems. It allows users to build applications built on a movie metaphor, with the user as the "director" of the movie. Originally designed for creating animation sequences, the addition of a powerful scripting language called Lingo made it a popular choice for creating CD-ROMs and standalone kiosks. Currently it is widely used for online 3D game development. Its scripting language motivated some to use this application. Many companies deliver demonstrations or use it as a user interface (UI) for content on CDs and DVDs. It can incorporate many different bitmap, audio and video file formats making it possible to integrate media. It also supports vector graphics and 3D interactivity (via Shockwave 3D). Since Version 8, Director also natively incorporates Flash animation files. Director's functionality can be extended through plug-in applications named Xtras. These can be created by users or purchased from third party vendors. They are created using Macromedia's XDK (Xtra Development Kit), a C++ SDK. Director started out as MacroMind "VideoWorks", an application for the original Apple Macintosh. Its name was changed to "Director" in 1987, with the addition of new capabilities and the Lingo scripting language in 1988. A Windows version was available in the early 1990s. One type of file created by Director can be viewed in a web browser using the Shockwave plugin. These files have a .DCR extension. Director can also create stand-alone executable applications from a project, called projectors, which can be compiled for Macintosh or Windows operating systems.

Product Timeline

• 1985 VideoWorks
• 1988 Named Director 1.0
• 1993 Macromind Director became Macromedia Director (v 3.1.3)
• 1993 Macromedia Director 4 was released
• 1996 Macromedia Director 5 was released
• 1997 Macromedia Director 6 was released
• November 16, 1998 Macromedia Director 7 was released
• 2000 Macromedia Director 8 was released
• 2001 Macromedia Director 8.5 was released (Shockwave3D)
• 2002 Macromedia Director MX was released
• January 5, 2004 Macromedia Director MX 2004 was released
• 2008 Adobe Director 11 (expected release date)

Adobe stated that Adobe Director 11 will be announced in January 2008. Adobe, however, had not published an official time frame and will not disclose details of this release at least until 30 days before the expected shipping date. ^[1]

External links

• Official site of Adobe Director
• Director Online
• Macromedia History
• IEEE History Center: John Thompson, inventor of Lingo Programming Language
• Future of Adobe Director
• Sneak Peek of Adobe Director 11 on Adobe MAX 2007

References