Macromedia Director MX 2004

Poor old Director. Macromedia's former flagship product has been well and truly eclipsed recently by the runaway success of Flash.

Flash was upgraded to its 2004 version several months ago, as were companion products Dreamweaver and Fireworks, so the fact that Director MX 2004 has only just arrived clearly shows where Macromedia's priorities are.

It's not a massive upgrade either - more like an update designed to bring Director in line with the rest of the Macromedia range. So top of the list of new features is the ability to import content from Flash MX 2004 or Fireworks MX 2004.

Once you've imported a Flash or Fireworks file into Director you can simply double-click on it in order to launch Flash or Fireworks and edit the file within Director. As well as working with complete files, you can also import components, such as interface controls created within Flash or rollovers created in Fireworks. This makes it easy to re-use parts of projects you've already created outside Director. There are also a number of ready made components that have been added to Director, so you can simply drag and drop them from the Library window into the main Stage window.

If you're a regular user of Fireworks you can set it as the default Paint Window, replacing Director's more limited set of paint tools. Director also includes a new plug-in that can convert Javascript created in Fireworks into Director's Lingo scripting language.

Users of Flash or Fireworks will appreciate these improvements, as they make it easier to integrate Director into your existing workflow. However, they do confirm the impression that Director is becoming a mere adjunct to these other applications rather than a major program in its own right.

That's not entirely true, since Flash does have its limitations - most notably the fact that it's primarily a tool for creating content for the web. There are other distribution methods, such as CD-Rom, DVD or point-of-sales kiosks that can benefit from Director's powerful interactivity features.

Director's strongest feature for these sorts of projects is its Lingo scripting language. Lingo itself hasn't changed that much in this upgrade, but Macromedia has made the scripting process more accessible by allowing you to use Javascript syntax alongside traditional Lingo scripting.

This means that developers with Java experience will be able to dive straight in rather than having to learn an entirely new language. There are also improved help and reference files, including pop-up menus that contain categorised lists of Lingo commands, so you can quickly locate commands relating to 3D graphics, audio controls or any other topic.

Another important addition is the ability to work with DVD video content. There's no shortage of authoring tools on the market these days, but most conventional DVD programs concentrate on standard tasks such as creating menus and navigation controls for discs.

Using DVD content within a Director project allows you to add sophisticated interactivity, such as an interface allowing non-linear playback so you can quickly jump from one scene to another or repeat a particular scene in a training video. You can also use scripting to add interactive elements such as a 'Buy Now' button to a video.

You can use Director movies that pull content from a DVD within web pages, as well as on DVD discs, so companies can use these materials on their intranet or on their website if they want to.

Whichever distribution method you have in mind, you'll appreciate the improved Publish dialogue box. This allows you to quickly output Director projects as standalone run-time applications for either Mac or Windows, or to create Shockwave files that can be played over the Internet with the Shockwave Player.

So Director hasn't entirely been outgunned by Flash. It's still one of the most powerful authoring programs available, and is the obvious choice for developing interactive applications for training, sales or promotional materials.

We would, however, like to see a bit of a price cut. At more than £1,000, Director remains very expensive, even by the standards of these specialised authoring programs.

Contact: Macromedia 0800 169 8216
www.macromedia.com/uk

System requirements:

• Windows 2000 or XP with 600MHz processor
• 256MB of Ram
• 200MB of free hard disk space