Previous editions of Director Demystified have been hailed as the essential companion to Director — the book that stays next to the computer rather than on the shelf. This new edition will cover features new to Director 8, such as improved design and authoring tools and the ability to sort cast members by name, size, and date with the Cast Manager. Additional features include enhanced media control, multiuser connectivity, and one-click publishing of Shockwave content.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 12 Ratings

The Search is Over .... - 2001-12-25
Reviewer Rating:
Of all the applications I've self-taught, Macromedia Director has got to be the toughest one to find a concise tutorial publication for. I tried the Visual Quickstart, which is just that: program features in depth, with no practical exercises. I tried Training from the Source, which focussed mostly on the 3D capabilities, only slightly skimming the rest of this massive program's productivity tools. It seemed for a while there was no one book I could use to get up and running with Director; at one point I literally had four books piled on each other to use as a cross reference!

The reason I put off checking out this title was because it didn't cover 8.5, which is what I'm using .... now I'm kicking myself for all the time and money I could have saved picking it up to begin with. The only difference between 8.0 and 8.5 is the 3D tools, and frankly (at least for now) that is a trivial plus to this industry standard, interactive media development tool that I've wanted to get a handle on since getting my first Mac back in '93.

Starting with a guided tour of the interface, working through simple step-by-step fundamental exercises, and culminating in a massive Lingo glossary, I'm happy to say my search for the all-in-one-book beginner's guide to Macromedia Director is over. Replete with screenshots galore, as well as a CD rom with tutorial materials and tantalizing sample files (including one created for Oingo Boingo, now how cool is THAT), I must concede with the other reviewers in this section that "Demystified" is the ultimate starting place for Macromedia's defining application, hands down. Now, if only there were more hours to the day ....

Learning Director/Lingo - 2001-07-03
Reviewer Rating:
So you wanna learn Director? It's a daunting task, esp if Lingo is your 1st language (but it's also an excellent choice! You can do so much w/ Director to keep you engaged, and it's no where near as convoluted as Java. Closer to VB but much more fun.) Spend some money ... and read these books in THIS order (and do every tutorial!) 1. Demystified. Gets into concepts more than just typing in stuff that you don't understand. Great short, straightforward examples. It will provide a fantastic basis for the next book (you'll actually know what you're doing...) 2. Authorized. Basically a bunch of tutorials. Mandatory! 3. LINGO in a Nutshell. Granted it only goes to Director v. 6 but it's still the best pure LINGO book for the money. Dry, but you will have mastered the language if you carefully get through it. Invaluable albeit dated as a reference. 4. (Optional) Advanced Lingo for Games. Games put programmers and programs through their paces. Great, fun book.

Do 1 through 4 and you will have mastered this great Macromedia program! Take your time, don't get frustrated. Learning Director and Lingo is a process. Good luck!

Excellent! - 2001-06-23
Reviewer Rating:
This book was an excellent read and it kept me entertained from cover to cover. Even the Lingo lexicon was a good read filled with explanations and examples. I have never used Director before, but now we are publishing our multimedia, video-enriched software demo CDs for the company. I must also mention that one of the reasons why I am so impressed by this book is because I'm also highly impressed by Director. I've been using other authoring tools before, but nothing comes even close to Macromedia Director. This, however takes nothing away from the authors of this great book. Some said before that the examples are pretty basic and it's true, but this book is not about graphics design, but about teaching all aspects of Director. And it's a jolly good one in that! Buy it, you'll love it.

Director 8 Demystified - 2002-02-12
Reviewer Rating:
Extensive wealth of knowledge for beginner to intermediate multimedia users. Good buy, especially because when broadband catches on, Director will be the premier program for the web.

one book for you... - 2001-10-24
Reviewer Rating:
I am a student at the moment, We use this Big Book for learning advance Director, mostly for Lingo. This book is just what anyone needs to learn Director, how can you go wrong with a big book like this. The order of this book is little odd, could of done better job for the starters, Next step learning 8.5... here I come..

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