MACROMEDIA ANNOUNCES MACROMEDIA DIRECTOR MX 2004
Features support for Flash MX 2004 content, JavaScript, and DVD-Video
San Francisco, CA—January 5, 2004—Macromedia, Inc. (Nasdaq: MACR) today announced Macromedia Director MX 2004, the latest version of the industry standard multimedia authoring tool. Macromedia Director has been at the forefront of multimedia development for more than a decade, and this latest version adds support for JavaScript, Flash MX 2004 content, DVD-Video, and the ability to create pr ojector files for both Mac and Windows platforms in one simple step. Macromedia Director MX 2004 enables developers to unleash their creativity and build rich, interactive experiences that deliver measurable results (see quote sheet). For more information, visit www.macromedia.com/go/dirmx2004.
"Macromedia Director defined both this company and this industry, and it remains the most sophisticated multimedia authoring tool to this day," said Norm Meyrowitz , president of products, Macromedia. "Macromedia Director MX 2004 builds on the product's rich legacy and adds new features that will enable richer content and easier development due to its seamless workflow with other MX 2004 products and the addition of an industry standard, widely used, scripting language."
Macromedia Director MX 2004 empowers professional multimedia developers, advanced Flash developers, professional DVD developers, e-learning designers, and game developers who need to create multimedia content that can be deployed anywhere, whether it be CD, DVD, intranets, kiosks, or the Internet. Director MX 2004 supports most major video, audio, bitmap, 3D, and vector formats to give developers the broadest content palette from which to deliver sophisticated, compelling user experiences. Extensive video capabilities within Director MX 2004 allow developers to stream video files in DVD-Video, Windows Media, RealMedia, QuickTime, and Flash formats. DVD-Video functionality will enable developers to embed, control, and playback DVD-Video content within multimedia projects. Director also has a powerful Xtras plug-in architecture, which enables developers to extend both the application and playback to add nearly limitless functionality.
"Gulfstream is using Director MX 2004 to develop our PlaneView cockpit simulator which integrates real-time mapping information, global satellite positioning, and weather overlays," said Will Dent, manager, Gulfstream Aerospace. "The cockpit interface enables users to drill-down into the information, and we are heavily using the shared components between Flash and Director as well as the support for JavaScript in the development of this Interactive Sales Tool. This saves us at least five days of development time."
Macromedia Director MX 2004 is also tightly integrated with other products and servers in the MX family. In addition to adding support for Flash MX 2004 content and applications, Director also has the ability to launch and edit both Flash and Fireworks to enable a seamless workflow. Director also includes support for Flash MX 2004 components, including user interface components. Flash content can be integrated into Director projects, and Flash performance within Director projects has been dramatically improved over previous versions. Like other MX 2004 products, the workspace is entirely customizable and Director now offers the ability for users to even customize both the stage and movie-in-a-window interfaces for better workspace management.
"The ability to respond quickly to changing business requirements, to reduce development complexity, and to deploy an application or changes quickly are essential to helping companies be more agile and control development costs," said Rikki Kirzner, research director, IDC. "The most valuable tools are those that not only help companies achieve these goals, but also use existing industry standards as well as allowing developers to deploy their applications to multiple platforms."
The product has also added new features to make developers more efficient and productive. Interactivity within projects can now be scripted directly using JavaScript, Lingo, or a combination of both. Content can be published to both Macintosh and Windows, and online across different platforms, in one simple step. The ability to name sprites and channels enabled workflow efficiencies for the production of content within Director. For a detailed list of new features in Director MX 2004, visit www.macromedia.com/go/dirmx2004new.
"Apple and Macromedia share a commitment to helping creative professionals achieve maximum results with maximum ease," said Ron Okamoto, vice president of worldwide developer relations, Apple. "Director breaks new ground by enabling video professionals using Apple Final Cut Pro and DVD Studio Pro to deliver cross-platform Director projectors and web-based Shockwave content that can embed, playback, and control DVD video content."
PRICING AND AVAILABILITY
Macromedia Director MX 2004, expected to ship in English in February, is priced at $1,199 for new users, and $399 for upgrades from Director 8.5 and Director MX. Education, government, and volume licensing options are available. The software works on Mac OS X v10.2.6 or higher, and for Windows 2000 or Windows XP. French, German, and Japanese versions will be available at a later date.
ABOUT MACROMEDIA
Experience matters. Macromedia is motivated by the belief that great
experiences build great businesses. Our software empowers millions
of business users, developers, and designers to create and deliver
effective, compelling, and memorable experiences - on the Internet,
on fixed media, on wireless, and on digital devices.
DEVELOPERS PRAISE POWERFUL NEW FEATURES IN DIRECTOR MX 2004
CanDo Interactive
"Director MX 2004 brings a new level of interactivity to web and CD content developers. The new 3D enhancements, along with the existing Havok physics engine, greatly enhance the ability to develop fast action 3D interactive games and virtual products."
- Mal Duffin, director
Catalyst Pictures, Ltd.
"Director has always been a good tool for multimedia developers and, since the addition of 3D in version 8.5, terrific online 3D games have been possible. But developing 3D content required us to work with Lingo to access these features. With Director MX 2004, this all changes and now we can write code in familiar JavaScript syntax. I'm looking forward to developing projects where we can use this great new feature."
- Nik Lever, programmer
Del Padre Visual Productions, Inc.
"Our company develops high impact video and interactive media so the DVD capabilities in Director MX 2004 will enable us to keep our clients on the cutting edge. We are currently developing our 2004 interactive showcase disc, a hybrid DVD that will play on standard DVD players and also serve up high quality DVD video on Windows or Macs within a slick interactive environment created in Director MX 2004 including a user interface built with Flash MX 2004. Just when you think Director can't get any better, Macromedia does it again!"
- Nino Del Padre, founder
Finite Monkey, Inc.
"We are using Director to develop educational, interactive titles based on the 'Spy Kids' movies and many of the features in Director MX 2004 will increase our productivity on future projects. The JavaScript syntax is highest on my list of new features to love in Director, and the improved Flash integration is also phenomenal. The ability to use Flash components natively in Director is a terrific addition. Our development workflow always includes a combination of Director and Flash, so any integration along those lines is always welcome. Director is the only tool on the market that allows for CD development of this type in this short a timeline and on the kind of budget that the children’s software market demands."
- Doug Brown, president and lead developer
Fuel Industries, Inc.
"The numerous enhancements and improvements to Director MX 2004 have already increased our productivity and had a positive effect on the quality of our work. The improved publish process makes it easier for us to make revisions and have them published for testing. The authoring improvements make our entire work process better, and the Flash MX 2004 enhancements significantly improve the performance of our projects. Overall, this is a very solid upgrade, to an already outstanding product."
- Brian Robbins, senior creative technologist
Integration New Media, Inc.
"After testing Director MX 2004 in a variety of tough situations, I can safely state that Macromedia is offering developers a means to dramatically improve productivity. The self-contained Flash components and sprite naming features alone deserve applause. You can now create self-contained objects that can be re-used in any situation without dependencies on graphics, sprites, and behaviors. Sprite naming has allowed us to create code that is no longer dependant on score layouts. The improvements built into this new version of Director are really on target!"
- Jason MacDonald, multimedia project manager
