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Explanation of how Macromedia Flash compares with Director for web development. Also refer to CD-ROM, games, plugin, animation, vector, actionscript, Xtra, Lingo, broadband, Ron Kurtus, School for Champions. Copyright © Restrictions Comparison of Flash and Directorby Matthew David (11 January 2002) Only six years ago the web did not support graphics and CD-ROM based games asked users if they had 4Mb of memory on their computer with possible hard drive space of 20Mb to play any games. Today, oh heck, that seems archaic. Web sites now need to buzz and zing with a full immersive multimedia experience that includes fluid graphics, sound and 3D. CD-ROM's (or should I really say "DVD-ROMs") demand users have at least 64Mb of memory, a 3D accelerator, 200Mb of hard drive space and a 200-foot video screen to play the game. Well, maybe 19" will do. The bottom line is that rich media now drives our world. And the demands for the multimedia developer have never been tougher or more rewarding. So, your next question is "what tools do I use?" Macromedia, the company that practically invented multimedia, has two key solutions: Flash and Director. Questions you may have include:
This lesson will answer those questions. There is a mini-quiz near the end of the lesson. A Flashy StartFlash is currently Macromedia's poster child for web-based multimedia. And it deserves this title. With a light plugin (for the latest version the plugin is under 300Kb - that's less than 2 minutes download time over a 28.8 Kbps modem) and light movies, often running less than 20 Kb that present a broadcast quality presentation experience, it is little wonder that designers are turning to Flash. Indeed, companies from Microsoft to Apple to Nokia are embedding support for Flash into all of their products making Flash the only true cross platform solution. But what is Flash? Vector based animationAt heart Flash is a vector based animation program. The graphics created within Flash are not bitmap based as JPEG and GIF graphics (the typical graphic format used on most web pages). What this means is that the images created inside of Flash are created mathematically - point "A" is plotted by Flash to point "B" and "C" and the color in between is filled in. Sounds complicated? Fortunately Flash has a built in graphics editor that does this for you. No need to keep your math skills at a PhD level. The core functionality for Flash has always been animation. But not the blocky animation associated with Animated GIF's (please shoot me if I have to see another animated banner blinking "click here"!). Control is the focus for Flash's animation. When a movie is created within Flash you can manage events in the movie with timelines, scenes and ActionScript. These tools manage how the movie is played back on the web page. ActionScriptActionScript is the glue that adds interaction to your movies. It is a must have skill for a Flash designer. Being able to stop, play and add pizzazz to a movie is now at your fingers. To understand how ActionScript works you do have to reach to the programmer within. ActionScript has its foundation in JavaScript - if you know the later the former will be a snap. There are many websites and books that spill the beans on ActionScript to help you. You will find a list of resources at the end of this article. Leveraging ActionScript will add the needed spark your web site is looking for. Shocking your AudienceIf you are one of the many millions that frequent Macromedia's sister site "Shockwave.com", then you may know that this site requires a different plugin to the Flash plugin - the Shockwave plugin. Shockwave allows your to construct complex 3D games and rich presentations on your web page. All Shockwave sites are created with Director. Interactive presentationsLike Flash, Director builds rich, interactive presentations. And, like Flash, Director uses tools such as a Cast and Score to manage how and where objects appear on the Stage. OK, got to point this out, the Cast performs a similar job to Flash's Library tool and the Score is strikingly similar to the Timeline. Are these two tools doing double duty? Well, the simple answer is: no. You will also find a timeline in Dreamweaver and a Library tool in Fireworks. This does not mean they all do the same job. You will see similarities between Flash and Director, however this is only to make the migration between the two products easier. Director bridges gapFor many multimedia developers Director starts where Flash ends. Yes, Flash is a powerful environment, but its forte is web creation. Director bridges the gap between the Web and CD-ROM development. First things first, Director files will almost always be much larger than Flash movies (OK, I can hear the screams from the bleachers telling me they have dozens of examples where this is not he case, but I am generalizing here). This is because the main types of graphics used in Director are bitmap. Vector graphics could not be easily implemented until Director 8 hit the shelves. Ergo, many old school Director users still use GIF, JPEG and BMP images within their movies. Additionally, Director allows for the support of Xtra's. XtraAn Xtra is a program in of itself. It has built in functionality, such as the ability to play back Flash movies within a Director movie without requiring the user to have the Flash plugin. There are hundreds of Xtra's for Director that allow you to do almost anything. The one draw back to having all of these Xtra's is that each time you use one it must be packaged with the final movie. This is "OK" for CD-ROM's but must be used with care on the web. You would not want to create a movie that is 50 Mb in size because of all of the Xtra's. Scripting languageEarlier I mentioned that Flash leverages a scripting language called ActionScript to glue elements within a movie together the same way JavaScript glues HTML elements together in a web page. Director also has a scripting language called Lingo. The main difference between the two is that Lingo can do much more than ActionScript. For the new 3D control in Director 8.5 there are over 400 new Lingo functions, while ActionScript barely has 300 for the entire program environment. Take a look at the Director games on Shockwave and compare them to the collection of Flash games on Flashkit.com and you will see immediately that the Director based games are much more complex (complex should not be confused with engaging - one of the best games I ever played was a Flash version of Atari's Breakout - I was mesmerized for hours). So, now the trick is to figure out which program you need: is it Flash or Director? To Web or CD-ROM?The difference between the two products can be defined by the type and depth of interaction you are looking to engage your clients with. Interactive web siteFor instance, if you client is looking for an interactive web site then Flash will be the answer you are looking for. Flash has a massive install base. This means that there is a good chance that when you publish your movie the client viewing the movie will be able to do so without having to download a large plug-in (plug-ins are utilities that allow 3rd party programs to play back within a Web browser). You will be up and running in no time. Broadband or CD-ROMOn the other hand, if your client is looking for a presentation that involves the use of video, 3D, rich text and expansive database integration than the best solution is Director. Generally, a complex Director movie will be created for CD-ROM. You can place Director movies into web pages but be warned, not everyone has broadband Internet connections yet. Unless your content is massively engaging (for instance, an online game) you may find that users are turned off from the "Please wait as we download your file" on your screen. Keep your files small and compact for the web - my rule of thumb is not to have a file larger than 40K. CostA second question you need to answer is "what is my budget?" Currently, the retail price for Flash 5 is $399 and Director is $1299. That's a clear difference of $900, if my math skills are still up to scratch. If you are new to multimedia development you will want to start with Flash. If you are an old hat, then you want to have both--and you will pray every night that Macromedia keeps extending the programs at the gargantuan rate they are today. Final WordThe world of multimedia is undergoing a renaissance. Creativity is booming. And, you know what, you ain't seen nothing yet. For all intents and purposes, the computer industry, particular the Internet sector, is still in its infancy. Ten years form now the Web, as we know it will be a radically different place than today: 3D will be pervasive; you will be immersed visually and aurally; content and people will be virtually reaching out and touching. Does this seem like a grandiose dream of the future? Well, with products such as Macromedia's Flash and Director cutting a path for us, we only have our dreams to stop us. Increase your knowledge every day ResourcesThe following material are resources for this lesson: AuthorMatthew David has been developing Flash based applications for over 6 years (that makes him very old in this business!). Examples of his work can be found at his web site www.matthewdavid.ws, or you can email him directly at mdavid@email.com. Matthew's most recent publications include content for Flash 5 Magic, Inside Dreamweaver 4, Flash 5: Visual FX, Web Publishing Bible and The Dreamweaver Bible. You can also see him popping up in many online magazines, such as Sitepoint.com, Windowatch.com, UDzone.com and DevX.com. Currently, Matthew is working on two books and writing articles for Element K Journal's Macromedia Solutions magazine. He is a available as a freelance consultant to work on web based projects. BooksYou can buy these books from Amazon.com or at your book store: Flash 5 Magic: with ActionScript Web siteswww.matthewdavid.ws - Matthew David's site What do you think?Do you have any questions, comments, or opinions on this subject? If so, contact Matthew at mdavid@email.com or send an email with your feedback. We will try to get back to you as soon as possible. Feel free to establish a link from your website to pages in this site. Send this link to yourself or a friend. Students and researchersThe Web address of this page is Also, tell a friend about this material. Where can you go from here?
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