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Another of O'Reilly's excellent guides, this book is the definitive desktop reference for developers working with Director, Macromedia's multimedia authoring tool. Written by the author of the companion volume 'Lingo In A Nutshell', this covers versions 6, 6.5. and 7.0.1 of what can be a difficult and demanding programme to master. Director's core components are covered in depth, including delivery and optimisation (including the new System Player and ShockMachine) as are the various media types, including video, audio, fields, buttons and menus. There is a comprehensive discussion of each topic, which very usefully includes all related Lingo commands. Cross-platform difficulties are highlighted and there are also sections on optimising performance, memory usage, productivity tips, Xtras and the host of new features offered by Director 7, including new Lingo and XML Xtras.

In short, if you're a developer working with Director, you'll want this book. Although this guide is written in an open and very accessible style, if you're new to Director, you'd probably be best to start with a more basic guide first - PeachPit Press's excellentVisual Quickstart Guide To Directorwould be a good point of entry. However, those who have already grasped the basics of this huge and complex application and development system will want this desktop reference close to hand. Even if, like most people, you only use a small portion of Directors huge range of features, you'll find this guide really useful. Highly recommended.