MACROMEDIA DIRECTOR MX-USING DIRECTOR MX, Use Manual

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Chapter 15 382
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. See “Managing external casts”
on page 153.
To create an animated color cursor cast member:
1
Select Insert > Media Element > Cursor.
Director opens the Cursor Properties Editor, which you use to set up the cursor.
2
From the Cast pop-up menu, select the cast that contains the cast member you want to add as
a frame in your cursor.
The cast members used for a single cursor can be stored in different casts.
3
Use the < and > buttons to find the cast member you want.
As you click the buttons, the preview shows a thumbnail of the selected cast member. If you do
not see the cast member you want, the cast member probably isn’t a bitmap or has a color
depth greater than 8 bits (256 colors). The Cursor Properties Editor shows only bitmaps that
can be used in an animated color cursor.
You can also enter a cast member number in the Member box and press Tab; Director selects
the cast member that has that number or the cast member with the number closest to it.