User Guide

Creating an animated color cursor cast member 299
Xtra extensions that support animated cursors
The Director installation program places two animated color cursor files in the Media Support
folder within the Director application’s Xtras folder. The specific files depend on the platform
you are using.
Requirements for animated color cursors
All cast members used for an animated color cursor must meet certain criteria:
• They must be bitmap cast members.
• They must have a color depth of 8 bits (256 colors).
• They must use only the first eight or the last eight colors that are in the standard System - Win
palette. These colors provide the most predictable results when playing back across platforms.
Other colors might not appear correctly.
The cast members need not be in sequence in the cast, and they need not be in the same cast.
A cursor’s maximum size depends on the computer:
• With Microsoft Windows 98, Windows 2000, and Windows XP, you can create cursors of
either 16 x 16 pixels or 32 x 32 pixels (almost always 32 x 32 pixels, but some video cards
might support only 16 x 16 pixels).
• With Macintosh OS X, you can create cursors of 16 x 16 pixels.
When you create cursors in the Cursor Properties Editor, Director dims any size option that is not
available on your computer.
The 16 x16 and 32 x 32 pixel sizes are the maximum sizes at which Director can display a cursor
on the screen. The actual cast members you specify for the cursor can be larger than the
maximum, and Director scales the cast members to the appropriate size, maintaining the aspect
ratio as it scales them. If you specify a cast member smaller than the maximum size, Director
displays the cast member at its original size, without scaling. For example, if you select a
maximum size of 16 x 16 pixels and specify a cursor that is 12 x 14 pixels, Director displays the
cursor at 12 x 14 pixels.
Creating an animated color cursor cast member
Before creating an animated color cursor cast member, make sure that the cast members you want
to use in the cursor are stored in a cast that is linked to the movie. For more information, see
“Managing external casts” on page 47.
Windows PowerPC Purpose
Cursor Options.x32 Cursor Options This file supports the creation of cursors while you author
movies in Director. Do not distribute this file with projectors; it
is not licensed for redistribution.
Cursor Asset.x32 Cursor Asset Distribute this file with any movies or projectors that you
create using the animated color cursors.