MACROMEDIA DIRECTOR MX-USING DIRECTOR MX, Use Manual

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Cast Members and Cast Windows 149
About import file formats
Director can import files in all the formats listed in the following table. For information on
additional file formats Director might support, see the Director Support Center website at
www.macromedia.com/support/director.
About linking to files
Director reimports media every time a movie runs when Link to External File is selected in the
Import dialog box (select File > Import). Linking makes it easy to use bulky media such as long
sounds and is especially useful for showing media from the Internet that changes frequently.
Linking also makes downloading movies faster; users can choose whether to view linked files, so
the files do not download unless they’re needed.
When you link to an external file, Director creates a cast member that stores the name and
location of the file. Saving a movie saves only the link to the linked cast member. Keep linked files
in a folder that’s close to the original movie file. Paths are restricted to 4096 characters by the
system. URLs can be as many as 260 characters. If you store a file too many folders away from the
movie or using a very long URL, it might not link correctly.
When distributing movies with linked media, use the following guidelines:
•
If you distribute a movie, you also must include all linked cast member files, and they must be
in their expected locations. In addition, the Xtra extensions that are used to import the media
must be present when the movie runs (either on the user’s computer or included in your
movie). For more information, see “Setting Xtra cast member properties” on page 155.
•
When you link to media on the Internet, the media must be present at the specified URL when
the movie runs. Provide for link failure because you can’t guarantee that an Internet transaction
will be successful.
•
To retrieve media from the Internet during playback, Director requires that the projector
include certain Xtra extensions. To include these Xtra extensions automatically, click Add
Network in the Movie Xtras dialog box. Movies playing in web browsers do not require these
Xtra extensions.
Note: Select Edit > Preferences > Network to define standard network settings for the Director authoring
environment; see “Choosing Internet connection settings” on page 47.
Type of file Supported formats
Animation and multimedia Flash movies, animated GIF, PowerPoint presentations, Director movies, Director
external cast files
Image BMP, GIF, JPEG, LRG (xRes), Photoshop 3.0 (or later), MacPaint, PNG, TIFF,
PICT, Targa
Multiple-image file Windows only: FLC, FLI
Macintosh only: PICS, Scrapbook
Sound AIFF, WAV, MP3 audio, Shockwave Audio, Sun AU, uncompressed and IMA
compressed
Video QuickTime 2, 3, 4, and 6; AVI; RealMedia
Text RTF, HTML, ASCII (often called Text Only), Lingo scripts
Palette PAL, Photoshop CLUT