User Guide

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CHAPTER 14
3D Basics
Macromedia Director MX 2004 lets you bring robust, high-performance 3D graphics to the web.
With Director, you can develop a wide spectrum of 3D productions, ranging from simple text
handling to interactive product demonstrations to complete immersive game environments.
Using Macromedia Shockwave Player, users can view your work on the web with Netscape
Navigator, Microsoft Internet Explorer, or other Shockwave-supported browsers.
Director lets you detect the capabilities of the user’s system and adjust playback demands
accordingly. A powerful computer with 3D hardware acceleration brings the best results, but users
can successfully use Director movies with 3D on most Macintosh or Windows hardware
platforms. The faster the computer’s graphics processing, the better the results. The ability to
adjust for client-side processing power makes Director ideal for web delivery.
What you need to know
You can perform many basic 3D operations by using the built-in 3D behaviors in Director.For
more information, see “Using 3D behaviors” on page 327. Most complex 3D operations,
however, are performed by using either Lingo or JavaScript syntax, the built-in scripting
languages of Director. The 3D documentation assumes that you understand either Lingo or
JavaScript syntax. If you have not yet learned Lingo or JavaScript syntax, see the Scripting
Reference topics in the Director Help Panel, which list all of the Lingo and JavaScript syntax
methods and properties that are available in Director. The Scripting Reference topics in the
Director Help Panel describe each expression, illustrate its syntax, and provide examples.
Because 3D is primarily controlled by behaviors and scripts, the 3D methods and properties are
described here in detail. You'll find them grouped by category in Chapter 15, “The 3D Cast
Member, 3D Text, and 3D Behaviors,” on page 315, Chapter 16, “Working with Models and
Model Resources,” on page 335, and Chapter 17, “Controlling the 3D World,” on page 393.