MACROMEDIA DIRECTOR MX-USING DIRECTOR MX, Use Manual

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CHAPTER 8
Vector Shapes
Vector shapes and bitmaps are the two main types of graphics used with Macromedia Director
MX. 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 on using bitmaps in Director MX, and how they compare to vector shapes,
see Chapter 7, “Bitmaps,” on page 203.
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 to dynamically create and control vector shapes. You can create a vector
shape entirely with Lingo 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.