Description:
When a book calls itself a "bible," it usually raises skeptical eyebrows. However, the Director 7 and Lingo Bible, written by a trio of experienced and notable multimedia developers, fulfills its promise and shows an enlightened path to getting the most from Macromedia's multimedia development environment. The book shows you everything from the basics of Director (starting with installation, setting preferences, and the user interface) through making finished Director movies for CD-ROM and Web delivery. Along the way, it demonstrates all of the features available in Director 7, including Lingo, OOP programming, Behaviors, and of course all the Director basics. The book is more than a tutorial for Director. The most important chapters may be 9 and 10, which cover multimedia presentation and production methodologies from a Director developer's point of view. In chapter 9, "Creating an Interactive Presentation," the book explains the reasons and methods for creating a handsome and accessible interface. And in chapter 10, "Designing a Production Process," it discusses strategies for evaluating the scope of a project such as laying it out as a flowchart to help determine the amount of work involved. These are important issues that all developers face and beginners often overcome only after stumbling. One of the best things about this book is that its entire contents are included on an accompanying CD-ROM in Adobe Acrobat format. Think about it: a huge reference volume like this, online, and at your fingertips. You can even copy and paste the Lingo examples from the PDF pages right into your project. Overall, the book is a good value for beginners and intermediate users alike with its real-world examples and practical advice on making the most of Director 7. --Mike Caputo
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