MACROMEDIA DIRECTOR MX 2004-USING DIRECTOR, Use Manual, Page: 135 / 500

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CHAPTER 6
Vector Shapes
Vector shapes and bitmaps are the two main types of graphics used with Macromedia Director
MX 2004. A vector shape is a mathematical description of a geometric form that includes the
thickness of the line, the fill color, and additional features of the line that can be expressed
mathematically. A bitmap defines an image as a grid of colored pixels, and it stores the color for
each pixel in the image. For more information about using bitmaps in Director, and how they
compare to vector shapes, see
Chapter 5, “Bitmaps,” on page 99 .
You can create vector shapes in the Director Vector Shape window by defining points through
which a line passes. The shape can be a line, a curve, or an open or closed irregular shape that can
be filled with a color or gradient. You can also use Lingo or JavaScript syntax to dynamically
create and control vector shapes. You can create a vector shape entirely with script or modify an
existing one as the movie plays.
Because vector shapes are stored as mathematical descriptions, they require less RAM and disk
space than an equivalent bitmap image and they download faster from the Internet.
Drawing vector shapes
You create vector shapes with drawing tools in the Vector Shape window. You can use the Pen tool
to create irregular shapes or use shape tools to create rectangles and ellipses. A vector shape can
include multiple curves, and you can split and join the curves. Shape properties such as fill color,
stroke color, and stroke width are set at the cast-member level and not for individual curves.
When you create vector shapes, you create vertices, which are fixed points. You can also create
handles, which are points that determine the degree of curvature between vertices. These curves
are known as Bézier curves. A vertex without a handle creates a corner.
As you draw vector shapes, control handles appear on the vertices: round curve points for vertices
with handles and square corner points for vertices without handles.