a Tuesday feature
Last week we looked at movie scripts in Director. I promised that if there were questions, I would cover them this week. Since I didn't receive any, we'll start looking at the process for writing original Xtras in Director. Xtra . . . Xtra . . .
Xtras extend the functionality of Director, and allow you to create some very unique Director movies. There are four basic types of Xtras that you can create and use in Director:
- Transition Xtras
- Lingo Xtras
- Cast member Xtras
- Tool Xtras
You can develop Xtras on both the Macintosh and Windows platforms. Most of this work is created in C or C++, so you'll need some programming knowledge and a copy of your favorite C or C++ compiler.
So what do each of these four types of Xtras do? Well, here is the play by play on each one.
Transition Xtras
Transition Xtras basically allow you to customize transitions in Director. You can create almost anything imaginable.Lingo Xtras
Lingo Xtras replace XObjects and can also extend their power far beyond the abilities of Xobjects in Director. You can use these to shorten the development time it takes to code your Shockwave project.Cast member Xtras
With Cast member Xtras, the user can insert them into movies and edit them the same way as built-in Director cast member types. In other words, this can quicken development time.Tool Xtras
These handy little jewels extend the Director authoring environments. Again, you can really improve your development time through the automation you can create here.So How Would You Like to Develop Your Own Custom Xtra?
The plan at this point is that over the next four to six weeks we will create several original Xtras, and then post them on the site for you to download the final Xtra from each project.Before we begin, I would like to put together a list of Xtras based on your suggestions, so please send e-mail requesting what type of Xtras projects you would like to see. I will then pick the top three to five Xtras for us to start developing.
So send your suggestions, and I'll get right to work. Until next week . . .
