Video Tutorials Walk Users through Director, 3D Basics
Macromedia DevCon 2001 – Orlando, Florida – October 24, 2001 – Macromedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: MACR) today announced the immediate availability of a series of online tutorials designed to allow new and existing Macromedia Director 8.5 users to more quickly learn how to use the product and master the creation and deployment of interactive 3D content for the Web. The tutorials include lessons on 3D for current Director users as well as tutorials for 3D artists and Macromedia Flash developers who are new to Director. The video tutorials take users step by step through building a rich media Web experience that incorporates sound, video, and 3D assets. There are also more specific tutorials for people coming from other 3D modeling and animation applications, such as Discreet’s 3ds max. The tutorials are available at www.macromedia.com/software/director/productinfo/tutorials/.
Macromedia Director 8.5 Shockwave Studio provides developers with a flexible, extensible 3D content creation solution. The studio is integrated with existing 3D solutions to ensure developers can use their 3D authoring software of choice – including 3ds max, Maya, Lightwave, and SoftImage – and import that content into Director. Developers can then add interactivity to or incorporate that 3D content into new types of magnetic Web experiences to be delivered using the 3D-enhanced Macromedia Shockwave Player, which is already installed on more than 37 million desktops, with more than 250,000 new player downloads each day.
“As a 3D developer, the online tutorials enabled me to quickly import my artwork into Director, add interactive elements, and export Shockwave content,” said Greg Meyers, executive producer, ForgeFX. “Macromedia has really made an effort to get 3D developers productive with Director, and there will be more 3D content online as a result.”
“The tutorials enable me to use my existing Director experience and more easily incorporate 3D into my projects,” said Steve Zehngut, president, Zeek Interactive. “Even without using a traditional 3D authoring tool, I am able to create interesting projects with the built-in functionality of Director 8.5”
The new video tutorials, as well as print-ready text and graphics, are part of Macromedia’s ongoing commitment to ensuring its developers can quickly learn how to create immersive user experiences with Macromedia Director.
There are four tutorials available: Director Basics, Behavior Basics, 3D Basics, and Publishing Basics. Users can also download the tutorial source files to enable them to do exactly what is being shown in the tutorials.
Director Basics walks users through the Director user interface and starting a new project. Behavior Basics instructs users to use the pre-built behavior library to make it easy to add interactivity. 3D Basics shows users how to import 3D files and deliver an overall 3D experience. Publishing Basics dictates how to deliver complete projects to CD-ROM or on the Web as Shockwave content.
“Online tutorials are a great way to help Macromedia Flash users both learn the benefits of and how to work with Director,” said Manuel Clement, founder of mano1.com. “The amazing new 3D features in Director are clearly explained so that anyone can start using them immediately.”
In addition to the tutorials, 3D users can find print-ready quick start guides to help them bring 3ds max content to the Web with Shockwave Player, Macromedia Flash users can get started with Director, and 3D artists can get started with Director.
