Director Resources
Primary Documentation
The primary documentation is documentation written by Macromedia. You
start out with the manuals in print or PDF or Help format. But the primary
documentation includes several additional sources.
The Director Help Files
The Director Help files contain the two primary documents: Using Director
and The Lingo Dictionary. Access via Help>Director Help or Help>Lingo
Dictionary. Note the "Lingo by Feature". This is useful in
getting to know Lingo. Get to know how to use the Help files. They are
your quickest reference.
Program Files\Macromedia\Director\Learning
This directory on your machine has good (though ugly) examples of how
to do many things.
Macromedia
Director Support Center
The home page that leads to all Macromedia's Director documentation.
Macromedia.com
Director Documentation Page
There are PDF versions available here of the two main docs: Using
Director and The Lingo Dictionary. There is also documentation on the
Multi-User Server in PDF format. The What's New in Director 8.5 is huge
and to do with 3D and Multi-User stuff. I see there is also a doc on
using Real Media in Director, as well as other docs.
Director
Quickstart for Flash Users
Useful docs that compare Director with Flash. Very useful for Flash
users new to Director. For advanced inter-functionality between Director
and Flash, check out Mark
Jonkman's article.
Tutorials
and Articles
Macromedia.com tutorials and articles.
Macromedia
Director Technotes
Very useful on little details you don't find in the main primary documentation.
These are included in the search function at this page and in the Macromedia
Director site more generally, so you can search for stuff nicely.
Showmes
Useful 'show-me' examples.
Sample
Movies
Useful code samples from Macromedia.
Newsgroups and Email Lists
Email lists are an indispensable part of learning Director well. There
are several very good ones. And they are meant for different levels
of Director expertise. If you ask a lot of questions that are not appropriate
for the level of the list, be they tough or easy questions, you won't
get very far. Read the lists before posting to get an idea of what is
acceptable netiquette on them.
Macromedia
Newsgroups
This lists some newsgroups maintained by Macromedia. These are for
beginners. A good place to start is Director.basics and Director.Lingo.
This also lists other newsgroups such as Director.Multiuser and Director.3D.
Independent
Email Lists
Direct-L is a great list. Lots of pros and the levels range
from near beginner to most advanced. The archives of Direct-L are very
useful. Use them to search before posting. I read Direct-L on the Web,
have it bookmarked. The volume is too high for me to subscribe. The
Web interface is excellent. Good search results.
DirGames-L is a bit funkier than Direct-L, but most of the same
folks, eventually. A bit more discussion of game programming here.
The blue link also links to Lingo-L, Shockwave-L (which is hardly active),
MultiUser-L, and 3DDirector-L.
Stormsky.com
A good site of tutorials and web-board forums by Adam Montandon.
Director_Art
A list I started. Most Director list address technical questions (more
or less) only. The idea of Director_Art is to also address poetics of
Director (and other) Web art.
Articles and Behaviors/Scripts
Director-Online
Director Online is a fine source of articles by seasoned Director developers,
and the site is professionally edited by Darrell Plant. Good writing,
nicely searchable, all round excellent site.
Mediamacros.com
Great articles here, nicely searchable, and MANY VERY USEFUL BEHAVIORS.
A professionally done site by Chuck Neal.
Director
Developer Center
This is on the Macromedia site. Contains articles written by Director
developers.
Director
Web
This is most notable for being the home of Direct-L perhaps. Good tips
and tricks section, and lots of resources. Great site by Alan Levine.
GoMU
The most ambitious and intelligent site concerning Multi-User Director
technology. Quite a fascinating site in what it has to offer both in
behaviors and vision.
LingoWorkshop.com
This is Mecca Medialight's site (Australia), run by Luke Wigley. The
number one spot for high-performance downloadable Director interface
elements and video and image processing scripts done with imaging Lingo.
Flash is great at vector images but Director excels with bitmaps, and
no one has made public better such scripts than Luke Wigley makes. Check
out the Code
section and his Anim
FX and ImageFX3
scripts. Also check out his Testzone.
Great menus
here!
Jim
Andrews
Code and essays on audio and games.
Dave
Mennenoh
Check out both his book
and his downloadable, very useful code.
Director
Exchange
Macromedia's site for behaviors and Xtras.
Books
Available
at Amazon.com
I recommend Director Demystified by Jason Roberts and Phil Gross. If
you are interested in games, Gary Rosenzweig is the guy with the books
and the know how. He runs clevermedia.com. One of the more interesting
high-level books is by Dave
Mennenoh.
Notable Shockwave Works of Art
Nio by Jim Andrews
Arteroids
by Jim Andrews
Oeil
Complex by Frédéric Durieu
Flying Puppet
by Nicolas Clauss
Time Hunt by Danny
Kodicek and friends
Pianographique by Jean-Luc Lamarque, Fred Matuszek
Marrow Monkey/Chroma
by Erik Loyer
Stanza by Steve
Tanza
Other Resources
UpdateStage.com
by Gretchen Macdowall
MultiUserPages
by Sarah
John Henry
Thompson (creator of Lingo); see the interviews
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