1. Multimedia 2-D Animation: It is a 2-D multimedia animation program that allows you to create or import images and sounds and orchestrate their movement over time. This is accomplished by creating image, text, and audio cast members and placing them on a timeline based score that controls their motion and appearance.
2. Interactive Multimedia Navigation: Director allows you to divide the score up into sections indicated by markers. It allows your to create buttons, hypertext, and hot images that control the navigation among areas of the score. It has built in behaviors that allow you to link user actions such as rolling over an image or clicking a mouse button to movement to particular sections.
3 Lingo/Javascript programming support: Director incorporates a programming language which gives you many of the capabilities available in full languages such as C, Pascal, or BASIC. The language is fully integrated with the multimedia capabilities such as digital video so that you can create much more complex possibilities than are available with the simple navigation behaviors. Starting with Director MX2004, Director supported 2 different programming environments - Lingo and Javascript. Lingo is unique to Director. Javascript is the standard language used to control interactive web pages. To use either, however, you must learn the fundamentals of the language. These tutorials include examples on both Lingo and Javascript.
4. Director as control center: Director is extensible via
special
added software capabilities called Xtras . For example
with
appropriate Xtras (and in some cases hardware), Director can be used to
control speech synthesis and recognition, sensors and robotic devices,
3-D animations, and MIDI synthesizers. Most recently extensive
Internet
capabilities have been added so that Director can control web browsers
or incorporate information fetched from the Web. Saving
interactive
Director movies in Shockwave format allows them to be sent out over the
Web and appear within Web pages.
These langauges and Director have enormous possiblities but not
everything is
possible. Learning a language means learning the range of
possibilities
it possesses, learning the special vocabulary of words it understands,
learning
the appropriate syntax for expressing your ideas, and learning the
logical
organization of Lingo and multimedia components necessary to create
your
events. Computer languages require absolute precision of
expression.
One word misspelled or an extra comma will cause errors and stop your
program
cold. This inflexibility is one thing that throws many artists in
learning the language.
What kind of events does they understand? What user actions can be used to set up events? What self induced, non user actions can it work with? The first prerequiste for working with a language artisically is knowing what possibilities exist - what actions can it respond to and what are possibilities for what it can do with image, sound, text, and digital video. The list below shows specific Lingo and Javascript messages, commands and functions that you would need to tap into these possiblities. Don't worry if you don't understand the words in the parentheses; they are examples of Lingo that relate to the events and will become clearer later. Many detailed tutorial examples are offered after the list.
User Action
Movement of the mouse pointer - entering, staying within, and
leaving
the boundaries of an image sprite. ( mouseEnter, mouseWithin,
mouseLeave)
Clicking the mouse button while pointing at something, double clicking
(mouseDown, mouseUp, stillDown, hyperlinkClicked, mouseUpOutside,
clickLoc,
clickOn)
Location of the mousepointer on the screen (functions called the
mouseLoc,
mouseH (horizontal), and mouseV (vertical)
Entering text in a text entry field (the text of member "example")
Which keyboard keys are pressed (keyDown, keyUp. controlDown,
optionDown,
shiftDown, the key)
Grabbing and dragging an image sprite on the screen, contact between
images (sprite 1 itersects sprite 2)
Opening, closing, moving, and deactivating windows (openWindow,
closeWindow,
moveWindow).
The starting or stopping of the movie (startMovie, stopMovie,
preparemovie)
System Events
The passing of time since an action (the lastClick, lastKey,
lastEvent,
lastRoll, the timer, the ticks)
The time of day or date (the date, the time)
The movement of movie to different frames of the score (enterFrame,
exitFrame)
The movement of a movie to the place a sprite exists (beginSprite,
endSprite, prepareSprite)
A idle event Director continuously sends while it is running (Idle)
The touching or enclosure of image sprites (within, intersects)
The movement of a sound or digital movie past cue points
The status of a sound soundBusy(x)
The status of a digital movie (the movieTime)
Location of images (hloc,vloc)
Size and crop of images (the rect, crop)
Color of images (backColor, foreColor)
Replacement images ( the member of sprite x)
Visibility of images (the visible of sprite x)
Degree of transparency of images (the blend of sprite x)
Ink of image- for example opaque, reverse, invert, OR (the ink of
sprite)
Palette of image
Orientation (horizontal and vertical flip, rotation, layering)
Shape and vertexes of vector images
Button style
User movability
Interface features
Appearance of the cursor
Custom menus and menuitems
Sound
Play a sound, stop, pause (sound playfile, sound stop)
Control volume (fadeIn, fadeOut, the volume of a sound)
beep
Text
Control location of text, movement, size, font, style, alignment,
color,
hilight
Scroll text (by line, page)
Appearance of text box (border, boxDropShadow)
Manipulate text by character, word, item, line User editability
Generate alert boxes
Digital video
Start, stop, pause, move to particular time points (movieTime)
The size of window, crop, location, mask
The speed of movie, direction of play
The status of sound in the movie, the volume
Control of quicktimeVR movies
Navigation and timing of movie
Move to frames (by marker, next, previous)
Halt, pause, continue, stop the flow of the movie
Change the tempo of a movie
Change the transitions between frames
Mathematical and Data Functions
add, subtract, divide, multiply, sine, cosine, tan, integer, round,
log, sqrt, max, min
random
number of items (strings, lists)
manipulate ordered lists, find items, sort, attach properties, locate
items
Net
Dowload items from the Web
Control a browser
Monitor progress
| Lingo |
Javascript |
|
| This one would navigate when some one clicks a button | on mouseUp go frame "birthday" end mouseUp |
function mouseUp() { _movie.go("birthday"); } |
| This one would stop a sound when someone moved out of a sprite image | on mouseLeave sound stop 3 end mouseLeave |
function mouseLeave() { sound(3).stop()); } |
| This one would show an alert box when the movie reached a certain frame | on enterFrame alert "Why are you here?" end enterFrame |
function enterFrame() { _player.alert("why are you here); } |
General Director Guides
List
of Lingo Commands - arranged by category
Guide
to Basic Animation Capabilities of Director
Adobe Director 11 Using Director Director Manual -
http://help.adobe.com/en_US/Director/11.0/Part02_Using_Director_1.html#1028301
http://help.adobe.com/en_US/Director/11.0/director_11_help.pdf
Adobe Director 11 Scripting Manual -
http://help.adobe.com/en_US/Director/11.0/Part02_Scripting_Dictionary_1.html#1028301
http://help.adobe.com/en_US/Director/11.0/Part02_Scripting_Dictionary_1.html
Javascript Examples
Javascript
navigation demo.
Using Javascript to set up navigation using markers and sections of the
score. Naviagation.dir zip
version of Director file nav
text version
Javascript
control of sprite visual
appearance (change size, location, ink, rotation,blend, visibility
and
change image when
rollover) spritechange.dir
zip version sprite
text version
Javascript
control of text field properties
(font, fontsize, fontstyle,color) and dynamic placement of text in
field
from user input control
of text zip version textchange
text version
Lingo examples
Lingo Marker
navigation demo
Using Lingo to set up navigation using markers and sections of the
score.
Lingo
control of sprite visual
appearance
demo (change size, location, ink, rotation,blend, visibility and
change image when
rollover)
Lingo
control of text field properties
(font, fontsize, fontstyle,color) and dynamic placement of text in
field
from user input
Lingo Pause
and continue demo
Controls the flow of animation using variable to pause and continue.
=========
--Sound, Speech
Javascript examples
Javascript Basic Sound Guide.html - Play,
pause,stop. Check if a sound is still playing before playing it again.
Check if a sound is done before going to next section of movie.
Loop a sound. Start a new sound when animated sprite reaches a
particular position.Control the volume and fade-ins and outs.
Playlists. queues for sounds. Currenttime of a sound. Set up property
list for a sound - start, end, loops. Timing Delays in
Director. Javascript
sound example movie screeshot. Zip version of sound
director movie
Javacript
Speech
Commands - synthesized speech commands list (in Director MX and
later only)
This routine shows how to use the intersect function to detect
whether
sprites are touching. In this example, speech synthesis is used
to let
one sprite apologize for touching the other.
Sound
manipulation (image of handout) - play background sound and pause
while sounds plays via rollover of other sprites, sound activated when
sprite reaches particular place of the screen, activate sound
only when sprites intersect, change volume based on where mouse is
inside of a sprite, activate sound when animation reaches a certain
point, activate automatically without user action. (zip
version of acutal sound manipulation Director Movie and associated
sound files)
Speech
Commands - synthesized speech commands (in Director MX and later
only)
Sound
Demo (revised) General Principles, Controlling
animation
by sound, activating sound by user motion, Activating Sound by User
Movement,
reading collisions, Director 8 sound commands
Multiple simultaneous sounds -
plays several sounds simultaneously - rolling in and out of buttons
makes sounds audible and inaudible
Repeal loop sound -
sequence sounds and random sounds from a list - alternative exit frame
method not use repeat loops
=========
-- Randomness, mouse movement
tracking, storing user actions, repeat command
Javascript Examples
This routine shows several examples of using Director's
javascript
random function. It rotates a sprite to a random rotation; it
changes
a text field's font; it maps randomly selected cast members to a
sprite; it creates random sentences by picking different nouns and
verbs out of lists of words; it shows how to play random sounds picked
from a list of possible sounds.
-
javascript - Mouse
follow screenshot
A sprite follows the movements of the mouse javascript
mousefollow.dir zip file
-
javascript Repeat Demo screenshot
Shows how
to control movement and other actions using repeat
structure javascript
repeat.dir zip file
Lingo Examples
Text
manipulation (image of handout) - take user input into other
members, rotate text, increase size of text, speak user input, scroll
text in moving message, start and stop scrolling, random generation of
sentences from list of words, activate automatically wihout user action
(zip
version of actual text manipulation Director Movie)
Using the
random function - uses
random to control rotation, word in text field, font of the text, and
sound
that is played
^if.choice.demo.html -
Check
if buttons have been clicked 3 times, check if each button has been
clicked at least once, check if sound is done before playing, check if
2 sprites intersect before playing sound
3 property
demo. Shows dynamic
assignment of graphic cast members and text to moving sprites.
a412.3prop.demo.gif
fontsize
Shows the dyamic control of the font and size of text.
Mouse
fontsize demo
The size of text changes dynamically with movements of the mouse
Mouse
follow demo
A sprite follows the movements of the mouse.
Repeat Demo
Shows how
to control movement and other actions using repeat structure
Opinion
Storing Demo
Shows how to store and access text that users type
========
-- ExitFrame demo- Automatic
activation of functions in exitframe scripts. The text file
demonstrates automatic fontsize change, sprite rotation, fading in or
out, sprite moving across screen (staying at border), sprite moving
across screen (coming back on the other site), checking if
sprites or touching or are inside each other.
Javascript examples
Lingo examples
Examples
of exitframe scripts (text file) - automatic
rotation,transparency,
detection of sprite intersections
===========
--Control digital video
Javascript Example
Javascript
Video control screenshot -
start, stop, control rate, move to particular position, activate events
based on position Javascript Video
control.dir
zip file
Lingo Example
*Video control commands -
start, stop, control rate, move to particular position, activate events
based on position
=========
--games, arrow keys move
sprite, check for word typed, check if user has clicked all the
buttons, check if they have moved puzzle pieces to the right place,
check for intersection of sprites
Javacript Examples
This routine reads the user typing on arrow keys and moves a sprite
accordingly (up, down, right, left). It also tests for when the
sprite touches a target and responds. Makes use of keydown
function and intersects property
This routine shows how Director javascript can check what word
the user has
typed into an entry field. It uses the keydown function to test for the
user typing the enter key. Once it detects the enter/return key,
it checks for particular words the
user has typed and responds. In this example, it uses speech
synthesis to say something appropriate to what they have typed.
Lingo Examples
arrow
move - check for arrow keys, move sprite based on arrow keys
check
for buttons clicked - example 1 Only do action after 3
buttons clicked. example 2 Only do action after each of 3
buttons clicked
check
for intersection - only do action if two sprites are touching
move
puzzle pieces - example 1 Only do action if 3 puzzle
pieces moved into certain space. example 2 Only do action if
each puzzle piece is moved to its right spot
check
for word typed - only do action if particular words are
typed into a field
=========
--More complex demos - games,
time,
web control
Lingo Examples (note would need to modify for javascript)
Urgency.mole2.dir - demonstrates how to create an elapsed time and
countdown time function. Lingo can be used in many kinds of
movies This sample moves a ball down to indicate time and
indicates in text field elapsed and remaining time. Also
demonstrates a moving mole game which the user has to try to
click. If user succeeds movie goes to success frame; if time runs
out goes to failure frame. Also shows lingo to check if
user dragged ball into a box. text
version to paste into script window zipped version of the director movie
Game
Demos - simple capture game, memory game, card game, board game
Shockwave movie as alternative
browser (using netlingo to let movie access web pages, methods of
setting
up frames)
Time Demo Shows how to use the
date and time functions Text
version for pasting time.movie.sit
time movie.zip
Urgency.time.demo Shows how to
use duration lingo comands Text
version
for pasting urgency.siturgency.zip
Timeurldemo - Access web pages
every 15 seconds, other actions at intervals, act at specific second
*urgencyboxmove.txt
- user is challenged to drag 3 objects into a box before the
timing object falls below a certain level (paste the text into an
exitframe script - create the needed sprites)
http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/director/
- director stuff
http://www.shocker.com/digests/index.html
- shockwave email news subscription
http://nuttybar.drama.uga.edu/mailman/listinfo/dirgames
- director games info
http://www.acm.org/crossroads/xrds6-5/macromedia.html
- prototype testing with director
http://www.director-online.com/
- tips & tricks
http://www.herts.ac.uk/lis/mmedia/directortutorial/
- director tutorial basics
http://www.sfx.co.nz/tamahori/thought/shock_3d_howto.html
-shockwave 3d how-to
http://www.monkeyfarm.com/howtomakegames.html
- duhh - doh!
http://www.director-online.com/
-send questions get replys...
http://www.dubbus.com/devnull
- director 3d polygons using dave's engine - dave makes the most
popular
lingo 3d engine - don't ask me how it works i haven't figured it out
yet.
Dean's director video tutorial- http://www.deansdirectortutorials.com/resources/
Dean's FAQ - http://www.deansdirectortutorials.com/FAQ/
Adding que points to Director - http://www.director-online.com/buildArticle.php?id=988
Adding que points II - http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/director/tips/qt/012.html
Interesting Xtras
FFT - reads sound levels - http://www.schmittmachine.com/asFFT/doc.html
More information about the course exploring the artisitic use of
these
capabilities is available at the description of the Art
412 Conceptual Information Arts: Introduction to Art & Technology.
rev 1/5/09
| Stephen Wilson, Professor, Art,
Conceptual/Information
Arts Program, San Francisco State University Information about the Conceptual/Information Arts program (415) 338-2291 swilson@sfsu.eduWilson web page Copyright, Stephen Wilson, 1999 - You are free to use the text as long as you attribute source and do not use it commercially. |
